Harbin Beer boosts sales 18.7% by keeping products hidden but cold /

Beer different / Harbin flipped the conventional product placement strategy by leaning into what really matters when someone’s grabbing a cold one, and that is how cold it actually is. Instead of chasing prime shelf space at the front, the brand claimed the coldest real estate in the fridge: the back. It’s a reminder that smart product placement isn’t about visibility alone; it’s about aligning with what shoppers already know – the cold ones are at the back. By rethinking what ‘the best spot’ means in a street shop context, Harbin turned overlooked space into a competitive edge.

It’s a smart way for Harbin to increase appeal and market share (CR Beer, one of China’s largest beer producers, owns 31.1% of the beer market in China. Its portfolio does not include Harbin Beer). As Shin Shen, planning manager at BBDO Shanghai told Contagious, ‘Harbin Beer operates in an intensely competitive landscape, where dominant local players heavily outspend rivals with large-scale marketing budgets. As a result, Harbin is often perceived as a challenger brand, one with fewer resources but a strong emotional connection to young consumers seeking authenticity and refreshment. Strengthening Harbin’s reputation for ‘icy-cold’ refreshment at the critical point of purchase was essential to reinforcing its brand distinctiveness in a crowded, price-sensitive market.’

Tailor your strategy / This campaign is a good reminder that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for the off-trade, but when it comes to mom-and-pop stores, don’t just treat them as points of distribution – they’re points of opportunity (lucrative ones at that given that Harbin Beer generates 62.2% of its sales from mom-and-pop shops).

Colombian beer brand Poker also has some excellent examples of getting creative in smaller retail spaces. For example, it turned neighbourhood stores in Colombia into social spaces by providing the stores with the furniture they needed in exchange for ordering Poker Beer. Sales volume increased by 30%. In another initiative, the brand encouraged local shopkeepers to create customised posters for in-store Poker promotions, increasing sales by 14%.

Harbin didn’t just provide eye-catching point-of-sale material; it has invested in improving the physical retail space and the consumer experience within that space. By making it easy for retailers to participate (simply place Harbin Beer at the back) and providing them with a tangible asset, Harbin Beer created a win-win for both stores and consumers.

Locksin Chong, ECD at BBDO Beijing, told Contagious, ‘As a retail product, giving up the prime front-row shelf space to competitors was a bold and unconventional move, one that risked Harbin losing immediate visibility to competitors. But it was precisely this counterintuitive choice that made the Back Rack Hack so distinctive. This physical experience quickly translated into digital momentum. The playful search became social currency among young consumers, who proudly shared their cold beer discoveries online, fuelling organic buzz far beyond the store and giving Harbin a fresh, irreverent edge exactly where it mattered most.’