On 20 April Beijing time, Chnbrand, a leading and authoritative brand rating organization in China, published the 2021 11^th China Brand Power Index (C-BPI) brand rankings and analysis report.

The Report states that in the past few years, Chinese brands have afforded substantial results in brand building. Overall competitiveness of Chinese brands has been improving year after year and demonstrating strong vitality in different aspects. Brand competition persists and the race is to be the top brand in industry. Of the three key industries, competition for that title is especially keen in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. Over 50% of the 29 new product types taking the top spot this round are from the FMCG sector.

Blue Moon liquid laundry detergent and liquid soap have continued to boast brilliant performance in the fast moving daily chemical product sector, again becoming the top brand in the liquid laundry detergent and liquid soap industries scoring 710.1 points and 664.0 points, respectively. They are also winner of the 2021C-BPI “Golden Brand” award. Blue Moon fabric softener also snatched top ranking in its category with 622.9 points. As understood, including this year, for 11 consecutive years since the debut of C-BPI in 2011, Blue Moon liquid laundry detergent and liquid soap have ranked first in the industry.

The long-standing leadership of Blue Moon is evidence of its solid strengths and development vitality, worth looking into in greater depth.

Photo: Blue moon liquid laundry detergent and liquid soap have ranked first in C-BPI for 11 consecutive years between 2011 and 2021.

Innovative DNA drives industry reform

Established in 1992, Blue Moon focuses on consumers and is an innovation-driven provider of home cleaning solutions. Currently, the over 80 products carrying the Blue Moon brand can be divided into three major product segments, namely fabric care, personal hygiene and home care. 

R&D innovation has been Blue Moon’s brand DNA and also the driving force behind its continuous development over the years. Looking at the Group’s development history, there are three points in time worth noticing.

In 2000, Blue Moon, with home cleaning products as its initial business, had the foresight of filling the gap for liquid soap in the China market and launched its first aloe vera anti-bacterial liquid soap product, opening itself to and claiming first mover advantage in the liquid soap market in China.

In 2008, when laundry powder still dominated in the detergent market in China, with shrewd understanding of the needs of Chinese consumers, Blue Moon saw the many merits of liquid laundry detergents, such as easy to dissolve, easy to rinse, gentle on clothing. It was able to overcome technical barriers and forcefully promoted the use of liquid laundry detergent across the country, which marked the beginning of the era of “liquid” laundry detergent in China.

As the industry continued to develop and the traditional liquid laundry detergent market became saturated and stock started building up, again Blue Moon captured the trend and actively explored the “Blue Ocean” of concentrated liquid laundry detergents. In 2015, it introduced China’s first “concentrated+” liquid laundry detergent product branded “Supreme” in a bottle with a measurable dispenser pump for use in washing machines, making doing laundry easier, more efficient and eco-friendly. The product has given the industry the drive to go “concentrated”.

Looking at the several decades’ history of the brand, it is not difficult for one to conclude that the brand has gone through time and again “disruptive” evolution, which explains the high brand standing it enjoys today. In recent years, Blue Moon has stepped up effort in product innovation.

In the liquid soap segment which it boasts brilliant performance, in 2020, Blue Moon not only upgraded its high-end liquid soap product Jinxiang Amino Acid Liquid Soap”, but with consumers’ growing demand for cleaning products that also protect in mind, it also launched a new type of foam Antibacterial Liquid Soap. For the kitchen usage scenario, Blue Moon launched the upgraded Foam Time Kitchen Liquid Soap. Since the product is able to effectively remove odor and grease, it has been well received by consumers. In 2021, Blue Moon vows to continue its product development efforts and launch innovative products, including automatic liquid soaping machine and rinse-free anti-bacterial liquid soap. Its aim is to build a portfolio of liquid soap products for all types of consumers and usage scenarios, thereby fully meet the niche demands in liquid soaping of consumers.

Photo: Blue Moon Foam Antibacterial Liquid Soap

From another perspective, the stronger portfolio of liquid soaping products has also reinforced Blue Moon’s edge in the personal care products realm, which is reflected in its business performance. Recently, Blue Moon published its 2020 annual results, with sales revenue from personal hygiene products amounted to HK$836 million, a 99.7% growth year-on-year, and the contribution from the products to total revenue rose from 5.9% in 2019 to 11.9%.

Consumer education assures the brand’s long-term value

       As the society and economy develop and the media environment changes, more opportunities and challenges have surfaced for brand building and development, but only those brands that are truly customer-centric and keep creating value and meaning for customers will be able to capture customers’ attention and be the force that helps them build a better life, meeting the needs of customers while fostering its own prosperity at the same time.

       For Blue Moon, the strengths of its products have won the high satisfaction of consumers and opened up market for it. It emphasis on nurturing the habit of consumers in adopting scientific washing methods has brought it close to consumers and kept the brand strong and full of life, critical to boosting its long-term competitiveness.

       Blue Moon believes good products need the complement of scientific methods to create genuine cleaning solutions for consumers, so it has set up the Blue Moon Applied Sciences and Laundry Academy to develop and assess laundry methods. It also organized such activities as “Laundry Master” and “Scientific Laundry Across China” on different media platforms including CCTV in its bid to pass along cleaning knowledge to the public.

       Starting from 2013, it hosts the “Blue Moon Festival”, which coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival. Online and offline interactive activities are held to promote professional laundry knowledge among general consumers, letting consumers experience the benefits of quality and clean living. Blue Moon has worked with CCTV and Hunan TV for seven consecutive years during the Mid-Autumn to send special clean laundry wishes to consumers to build unique ties with them and promote the brand as the key to realizing their dreams of living a clean and carefree life.

        Moreover, to realize closer and real-time communication with consumers, be able to answer their questions at any time, Blue Moon has set up a 24-hour online laundry consultant team, allowing consumers to call its hotline 400-111-1118 whenever they have problems about cleaning, or they can reach Blue Moon’s customer service staff on its official WeChat or Weibo accounts and make inquiries.

        Over the years, Blue Moon has put consumer needs first and persisted with its value-oriented approach. It has organized different activities to not only promote consumers’ knowledge of its professional products and scientific cleaning methods, but also strengthen communication with consumers, helping bolster their confidence in and positive perception of the brand.

        According to industry sources, with Blue Moon pushing constantly to introduce new and innovative products, expand product types and promote scientific cleaning and personal care methods, its brand value will keep strengthening. Also, in light of the consumption upgrade and rising public health awareness in China braced by the internal circulation trend, Blue Moon is set to see enlarging room for development for it to achieve success long into the future.