From Made in China to Chinese Brand

Speaker: Mr. Pei Kewei, President of Global Sources Corporate Affairs and Publisher of The CEConline

Guest Profile: Pei Kewei, President of Global Sources Corporate Affairs Jane, Publisher of The CEConline, Responsible for the company's sales, marketing and operations in China's leading business management magazine, CEConline, as well as managing Global Sources' marketing and communications.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for the support of Xiamen Municipal Government. I am very happy to have this opportunity today. Our theme today is also very important, which is brand strategy. For decades, China, as the world's factory, has been an obvious position for all to see, but we can see, especially today after the financial crisis, many changes in the environment and new challenges. Of course, we can also see the rapid development of China in China. The domestic market, and can understand its importance today especially after the financial crisis. No matter from the perspective of the government or from the perspective of enterprises, if it is the world economy today, there are also many data that can show the importance of the domestic trade market. For example, this year's GDP is the ratio of China's economy in 2010. The growth rate last year was just over 10%, and the per capita income of urban residents has increased by 11%.

Made in China and the development status of Chinese brands

Of course, as an export base, China occupies a very large position in the minds of many large buyers. Although the growth rate has slowed down in recent years, it is still very important. The high numbers, if compared to other markets, are unmatched by any other market, but there is still a lot of pressure. As a supplier, you are faced with rising costs, appreciation of the RMB, and rising pressure on raw materials and labor. At the same time, the flow of funds is becoming more and more tense. Many companies know that there is only one way out. The way to move up the value chain, one of the very important factors is actually the brand, but at the same time some information views of consumers cannot be ignored. The consumers I am talking about are not only overseas consumers, but also domestic consumer demand. As many changes occur, the requirements will become higher and higher. Whether it is in terms of product quality or function, the requirements for cost performance and value themselves are also very demanding, and they are becoming more and more sensitive. So many years as the world's factory, many domestic companies like to take a line, which is the so-called brand effect. They know best that by producing an ordinary T-shirt and putting a hook on it, the price can be increased dozens of times. It seems very simple and very encouraging, but in fact, how to do it? This is the question we are going to discuss now.

We have known for a long time that brands can expedite purchasing decisions and can bring many products beyond that factor, and I emphasize its added value. In terms of brand, it is actually an asset of a company and an asset beyond the scope of products. As a media, we publish "CEConline", "CEConline" is also a window, we can hear or see Chinese companies To what extent, I would like to share the results of some surveys. This survey has been conducted in recent months. We found that 70% of the companies interviewed believe that establishing their own brands is very important for Chinese manufacturing. Next, we asked them what kind of plans their companies have, and found that more than half of them must have some specific plans for brands, and about a third are under consideration, so it seems that the brands are indeed in many countries. plays an important role in the minds of the bosses. However, we must admit that there are also many restrictive factors. At present, it is not easy to produce real successful cases of brands in China. What are these environmental conditions? For example, we know China's domestic production tradition. If we focus on low-cost production bases, there will be a lot of price competition. In addition, in the domestic or Asian environment, the concept of intellectual property rights is not so strong, so there are often A situation where I spend a lot of money developing a great product, or a brand, and maybe someone will steal it the next day. You can still think about it in terms of history. The Asian Silk Road has a history of traders for thousands of years. Traders don't pay much attention to the producer of the product, and they don't care who produces the product. The value of the product is determined by the product. Now many companies are thinking that I need to change, I need to pay attention to this brand, but there are also many misunderstandings. Perhaps the first important misunderstanding is that many people think that a brand is a LOGO. Like I said about the T-shirt, I put a logo on it. The price can be increased by 20 times, but it is actually very complicated. Of course, many factors including products, product quality, customer service, customer experience and sense of belonging, as well as innovative ideas, company culture and many other factors add up to the company's brand. . An academy in Shanghai once commented on several domestic companies. They do not understand that owning a brand does not mean owning a good brand. Perhaps the only solution is to refer to some cases.

The brand cannot be imitated, it grows from the heart

I would like to share a case, I believe that many people present also own Apple's IPH0NE, the one who listens to music, maybe a few compatriots from Taiwan There are also some perceptions, that is, Apple launched the Ipad. After the Ipad was launched, no one remembered Creative, saying that Apple focused more on promotion and marketing. Perhaps the main mistake Creative made in Singapore was that they thought they were selling products and technology. , and Apple recognizes that he's selling an experience, they're selling emotional belonging, and I think I have IPOD because we're a brand, and branding sounds like magic. I would also like to ask if there are any representatives from Li Ning Company present? It doesn't matter whether it is there or not, because in fact, I think this case has taught us a lot, and we can learn a lot from it. It turns out that we can feel from this picture, what is the original idea? To imitate, I thought that if I wanted to tick, I could increase the price dozens of times, and I learned the overall performance method and the overall design language, but in fact, the real successful brand is not as simple as production. OEM manufacturers all know that they can imitate very successfully. We don’t necessarily look down on imitation, but it is not so simple in terms of branding. Later, the company realized this and felt that it had to change itself. It has become another logo, changed from the original slogan to another slogan, and the overall order volume has dropped from the net profit in the third quarter, with a double-digit decline, which is quite scary. The important question is why? Many analysts are expressing their own opinions. The real reason is complicated. I believe, anyway, some people say that the administrative aspects of Li Ning may have underestimated the difficulty of brand transformation and its time. Maybe they will change the price strategy as soon as possible. It's just up. In addition, the power of the original brand is still not good enough. Maybe it is based on imitation as I said just now. I also consulted the opinions of many brand masters. They also constantly advocate that the brand must be determined by itself, and it must be determined by itself. When you grow out of your heart, don't avoid your true sources and don't imitate others.

But another point that cannot be denied is that, anyway, such a strong and old brand is still promoting its own brand today. Nike has an advertising budget of more than 2 billion US dollars every year, so you must really To become a brand that consumers around the world are more interested in, it is still necessary to prepare a lot of investment, especially in advertising promotion, Adidas is also similar.

But we do believe that what methods and means should Chinese companies have to start building their own brands? Perhaps the first is to aim at your own positioning, aim clearly, and then start to create a brand. At the same time, if you want to promote this brand, you need to plan at that time, and you must have a certain investment budget, which is difficult. Our "CEConline" also did a survey and asked the managers in China, that is, our bosses. What do they think are some of the obstacles to the main implementation of brand strategy in the country? The first is to identify the brand positioning. They think it is difficult. Maybe we should say why? Because it may not grasp the real needs of consumers. As an OEM production, you don't have to worry too much. You can tell you what you want to do if you have overseas buyers, but you can only aim at your own positioning and put yourself positioning is clear. The second problem or obstacle is the difficulty of brand promotion strategy. The third most important thing is the lack of experience in brand management, but I think it can be said that anyway, the first step to solve the problem is to understand the problem and admit it, so in this regard, we can see what many companies have already seen. .

Then going back to some other cases, I don't think I need to say a few words. For example, Starbucks doesn't sell coffee, and its price is so high that if you go to buy coffee, you can buy it for very little money. It sells an experience, an environment, a culture, a sense of belonging. This is a brand strategy for consumers, but you can still mention Global Sources itself, because I have been with this company for about 25 years, and I found out early on that many people said that what we sell is not advertising, not magazine advertising, Website advertisements are not exhibitions. What we sell is a solution, an integrated promotion, and an experience in promotion planning, so it is a professional positioning. I think because of such a value, a brand can be produced consistently. But if you want to do a strategy or a strategy for your company, maybe it can be simply described as a few steps. Of course, the first important thing is to get the quality of the product, which is the base of the brand; the second is Whether the product has its own differentiation, is it different from others? The third is to find out why my customer wants to buy my product, whether he has any emotional response, and will he buy it only if it solves his needs , which is the so-called emotional aspect. Then, with the positioning of these brands, the next step is to have a very in-place promotion strategy, including multi-channel, not only marketing, but also customer and overall concept management.

Multi-channel promotion of the brand

So as Global Sources, we have been advocating such a multi-channel promotion, because this year is our 40th anniversary, and we have also gone through an evolution process of the overall Four Little Dragons. There are many factors to see the success of a brand. When you want to promote it, you cannot rely on a single publicity channel. The multi-channel promotion plan we provide is integrated and utilized. So if you have a brand, if the information of your brand can be released at the same time, that is, it is released across channels, it will have a stronger impression on the other party. Well this year, we are honored to have the opportunity to hold such a leisure and sports exhibition in Xiamen. I believe it is more professional, but here I want to emphasize that because the exhibition is also a channel, the exhibition can allow you to build a brand, or more importantly, build your own corporate identity. In many aspects, for example, the overall booth design will also reflect your image, your positioning, and your values; the second is to ensure that your more representative products and leading products can be presented to visitors; Third, we must be responsible for the service personnel, that is, the service personnel at the exhibition, and their every word, every behavior, every action must reflect the image of the company consistently. If these three aspects can be achieved, I believe that the exhibition is a very effective channel, which may even be more effective than TV or the mass media to build one's own brand and image.

Of course, we can spend a lot of time discussing this topic, but I think my task is to give you a background idea of what role brands play in today's Chinese market. Next, we will have the opportunity to hear analysis from different perspectives from the buyer, from the brand master, and from the supplier, and in the afternoon, there will be opportunities for free exchanges and questions, so I am here to say, I recognize that China is now the main way out, so everyone must be prepared, because this road is a long one, but it is very important to take the first step. I hereby wish you all the best on the road of this brand. The more successful, thank you for listening!

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