The dispute between Danone and Wahaha was analyzed and discussed.

In the lively Wahaha War, Zong Houqing added "comrades-in-arms". After the distributors, suppliers and some employees of Wahaha Group denounced Danone Asia, another program host began to openly challenge Danone.

On June 14, Hejun Venture published an open letter to Danone in France in the domestic media, demanding that Danone return the Wahaha brand and compensate the minority shareholders of Bright Dairy.

One of the reasons that prompted Hejun Venture Capital to buy 100 shares of Guangming in early June was to sue Danone, on the grounds that horizontal competition violated the interests of Guangming shareholders. This is a strategic mistake of Danone in China.

Strategic mistake one

Horizontal competition ignores rules

Since entering China, Danone has participated in seven local enterprises in China, including Wahaha, Robust, Guangming, Huiyuan, Mengniu and Meilin Zhengguanghe. These brands are aimed at low-end consumer groups, and many products have horizontal competition.

This situation is most obvious in the cooperation between Danone and Mengniu. Su Li, general manager of Hejun Venture, said: "Danone directly confronts the bright yogurt business in fostering the development of Mengniu yogurt business, resulting in a continuous decline in bright performance." According to an industry insider, there are signs that Guangming is planning to give up the yogurt market.

Not only Mengniu and Guangming's yogurt business, but also Robust and Wahaha under Danone were suspected of horizontal competition. You know, Wahaha and Robust were once known as the "three outstanding figures in the water market" in China, but now Robust's water market hegemony has long been taken off. We used to be familiar with "Did you drink today?" Robust's advertisement is no longer audible.

Horizontal competition is like a chronic suicide for Guangming and Robust, wasting China market resources and consumers' feelings. As a foreign capital, Danone will certainly not feel bad. But this practice of consuming market resources is a forbidden business rule all over the world. Many multinational companies are ashamed of this and regard it as taboo, but Danone enjoys it and its spirit makes us young people cry.

Strategic error 2

Climate change is unstoppable.

Since the Xugong incident, subtle changes have taken place in China's social and political forces. In the past, governments and departments at all levels rejoiced at the arrival of foreign capital and gave a green light all the way. However, after the Xugong incident, criticism continued and the green light was not as bright as before. However, Danone ignored the forward-looking consideration of social and economic structural changes in China, and still adhered to the original planned development strategy for several years or even longer, so the fuse of "the dispute between Dawa and Wahaha" appeared.

In fact, the attitude of social and political forces sometimes determines the fate of an enterprise in the local market. For example, the Indian market has always been a dull pain in Coca-Cola's heart. Coca-Cola was unwilling to quit because of the "courtesy" of 1977 being deported by the Indian government. After 16, 1993 landed in India again, but it was always in trouble. In 2003, the Indian health department warned the people all over the country that Coca-Cola contained pollution and was not suitable for drinking. On February 26th of the same year, 65,438+,a local judge in India ruled that Coca-Cola lost the case because of the local indiscriminate exploitation of groundwater. On February 7, 2004, local women's organizations sued Coca-Cola in the name of protecting national interests, and the local government sent a letter to close the factory. Last year, two music "poisoning" incidents broke out again in India, and the Supreme Court of India ordered two music to announce the secret recipe.

Today, Coca-Cola seems to have no solution to the Indian market. Insiders pointed out that Coca-Cola should reflect on "improvisation". Ironically, "improvisation" is one of the 30 important successful experiences of Coca-Cola. In the same way, Danone should use improvisation flexibly, pay attention to the changes of macro-environment and political power, and not stick to fixed strategies.

Strategic error three

Industry mergers and acquisitions are extremely dangerous.

Only Kodak and Danone have acquired foreign capital in China. At that time, Kodak invested $654.38+0.2 billion through the "98 Agreement" and acquired and reorganized six film factories except Le Kai. In return, within three years, Kodak won the franchise of China film market. However, the dominance of China film market bought by Kodak cannot stop the fate of digital transformation of the whole industry. Today, the industry is still joking about Kodak's acquisition of the "sunset industry" of the whole industry. Kodak can gain a foothold in China, relying on the huge chain stores developed through the brand, rather than a series of mergers and acquisitions.

In the eyes of the industry, the typical practice of foreign capital to M&A enterprises in various industries in China is still to make short-term use of local resources in China, and then gradually monopolize, weaken and eliminate China enterprises. In this case, the people will not watch the national brands fall into the jaws of death, and the government will not sit idly by. At that time, Danone did not necessarily have a good life, and there were too many unknown factors.

At the beginning of May this year, the M&A expert season designed a way to ease the sharp opposition between the two sides by introducing third-party investors, but now they have missed the best opportunity for reconciliation. However, in the face of the current deadlock between Wahaha and Danone, an appropriate compromise between them will be more conducive to the development of both sides. If you fight blindly, you will only lose both sides. However, as far as the current situation is concerned, there is little room for manoeuvre between the two sides.

Today's fruit is a concentrated outbreak of the sequelae left by Danone's original strategic choice. As the saying goes, "As you sow, you reap." The problem lies with yourself.