Weekend slow reading: Under the impact of traffic, no one can stand alone!

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The cause of the incident was due to self-media articles claiming that Nongfu Spring in Hangzhou, where Wahaha is located, had “old grievances”, and that “Nongfu Spring founder Zhong Yuyi's first entrepreneurial income came from Wahaha” and “was expelled due to flushing.”

On the evening of March 3, senior officials from Nongfu Spring responded intensively, saying that the rumor was untrue. While we're talking about this, let's first take a look at the “slightly sweet” Nongfu Spring's founder: Zhong Yuyi.

In the Chinese beverage market, the rise of Nongfu Spring is a remarkable miracle.

Under Chung Yuk's leadership, the brand has not only won the trust and love of consumers for its high-quality products, but has also established its leading position in the industry through a series of unique and innovative marketing strategies. Convinced of the importance of brand image and market perception, Chung Chung has embarked on a series of forward-looking marketing plans.

One of the most prominent marketing activities was Nongfu Spring becoming a sponsor of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This move has not only significantly raised Nongfu Spring's brand awareness, but is also closely linked to its positive image of internationalization, health, and vitality. Through the Olympics as a global stage, Nongfu Spring successfully showed itself to the world and won wide recognition and respect.

In addition to high-level sponsorship activities, Nongfu Spring has also adopted multi-channel strategies such as ground promotion and social media marketing to further expand the coverage of its brand. Zhong Yuyi's careful planning and execution of marketing activities ensures that Nongfu Spring can effectively communicate with consumers and establish strong brand loyalty.

In the face of the changing market environment and consumer needs, Zhong Yuyi did not choose to settle for the status quo, but instead continued to push Nongfu Spring to challenge and innovate. He realized that as consumer demand for healthy drinks increased, a single bottled aquatic product could no longer meet the diversified needs of the market. As a result, Nongfu Spring began to expand its product line, gradually expanding from the initial bottled water to various beverages such as tea drinks, juice, and coffee.

This innovation is reflected not only in product diversification, but also in production technology, packaging design, and marketing methods. Through continuous technological innovation, Nongfu Spring has improved production efficiency and product quality; through innovation in packaging design, it has better met the aesthetic needs of consumers; through innovation in marketing methods, such as social media marketing, interactive marketing, etc., it has effectively enhanced interaction and brand loyalty between brands and consumers.

Zhong Yuyi's forward-looking thinking and innovative spirit ensure that Nongfu Spring always maintains a leading position in the fierce market competition. Through continuous self-challenge, Nongfu Spring has grown from a single bottled water producer to a comprehensive beverage company. Its products spread all over the country and overseas markets, becoming one of the benchmarks in the Chinese beverage industry. The story of Nongfu Spring is not only a story of commercial success, but also a story of continuous progress in market competition through unremitting efforts and innovation.

According to data, in 2000, Wahaha formed an alliance with six large pure water companies, including Shanghai Zhengguanghe and Le Baishi, to jointly criticize Nongfu Spring. Zong Qinghou led Wahaha to file a lawsuit with the Hangzhou Shangcheng District Court, accusing Yangshengtang Drinking Water Company (the parent company of Nongfu Spring) of unfair competition. On June 8, 2000, Wahaha held a press conference at the West Lake State Guest House during the day, while Nongfu Spring held a press conference at the same location at night, creating a delicate confrontation.

In 2009, Nongfu Spring fell into an “arsenic” crisis due to a report from the Haikou Administration for Industry and Commerce. The report claimed that the total arsenic content in its drinks exceeded the standard, which dealt a heavy blow to Nongfu Spring. At this critical moment, Zong Qinghou supported Zhong Yuyi and publicly expressed doubts about Nongfu Spring's test results. Zong Qinghou's move attracted widespread attention at the time. Outsiders generally believe that they are both from Zhejiang, and that they have the same Zhejiang businessman spirit — diligence, innovation, unity, and honesty. This spirit enables them to understand and support each other on the business stage.

Recently, Nongfu Spring and Wahaha, as well as their founders Zhong Yuyi and Zong Qinghou, have become the focus of public opinion. From mourning Zong Qinghou, praising Wahaha, to accusations of Zhong Yuyi's entrepreneurial experience, to criticism of the Nongfu Spring brand, some discordant, irrational, and even rumor-making voices have intensified.

Zhong Yuyi's argument was not valid, and Nongfu Spring's response was unhelpful. The latest controversy has focused on mocking “Nongfu Spring Gansu Earthquake only donated 24,000 bottles of water” and a fierce attack on “Oriental Leaves (Nongfu Spring's tea brand) packaging design elements beautiful day”.Consumers who are a bit rational, check authoritative sources a little, and make an emotionally stable judgment will know that the above two “charges” are almost untenable: public welfare is never based on the size of the amount of money, and it is necessary to make firm and clear arguments to humiliate China.

However, people with bright eyes are often unable to stop internet fanatics with ulterior motives, and are even likely to be driven off the rhythm by highly skilled rumor-making activities. This is like a blogger who “revealed that Nanjing shopping malls use the rising sun flag pattern” in January of this year. Seemingly filled with outrage, they actually went to the end to gain emotional support from the public with untenable arguments. The real purpose was to treat patriotism as traffic and business.

In contemporary society, ** “traffic first” ** has become an increasingly common phenomenon. With the rapid development of information technology, getting attention has become the primary goal of many people, and they do not hesitate to use various methods, including unfounded criticism and accusations against companies and their founders. Nongfu Spring, once a leader in the Chinese beverage industry, has unfortunately fallen victim to this vortex of public opinion recently.

What is the so-called “crime” of Nongfu Spring? From the commemoration of its founder, to admiration for the brand, to criticism of Zhong Yuyi, and even questioning the overall image of Nongfu Spring, the series of changes is puzzling. Some of the accusations, such as Nongfu Spring's donation to the Gansu earthquake was limited to 24,000 bottles of water, and that the packaging design of its Oriental Leaf Tea brand was accused of being “Beautiful Day,” are actually unfounded. True public welfare should not be taken into account, and the interpretation of a brand's cultural demands requires more careful and rigorous care.

These unfair treatments are essentially a form of harm to Nongfu Spring. This damage goes beyond damage to brand image and affects suppliers, agents, and even the stability of the stock market. This kind of impact cannot be measured by money alone.

More seriously, this traffic-centric approach misleads consumers. In an age full of information, what the public needs is accurate and unmistakable information rather than being fooled by traffic-driven illusions. Consumers expect a real understanding of products, services, and the social responsibilities behind them, rather than being bound by emotional biases.

Therefore, “traffic charges” should be a topic of deep thought for us. While pursuing attention, we must not lose our original intention and sense of responsibility. What is needed is objective and true information, fair evaluation, and rational judgment, rather than being swayed by traffic and prejudice.

In this age full of information, finding the truth has become particularly difficult. Many attention-seeking acts attract public attention by fabricating facts or manipulating public sentiment, not only mislead the public, but also cause significant harm to target companies and individuals.

The pursuit of fairness and truth is our ultimate goal. What we urgently need to be exposed to should be factual information, unbiased evaluations, and logical judgments, rather than being swayed by traffic-driven bias. For statements that are not supported by sufficient evidence, we should not make judgments easily; instead, we should be rational and treat every issue and individual with a fair attitude.

In our quest to find the truth, we must not lose sight of our mission. It is our responsibility to seek true information, make fair evaluations, and make rational judgments. We must not let the pursuit of traffic and profit disorient us and forget our original intentions.

In today's age of information overload, the values of truth and justice are even more important. We need to keep thinking rationally and face everyone and everything with an impartial mindset. Only in this way can we find the light of truth in this intricate world.