Integrate and spread international fame_x000D_

Li Xiulian, who is tall and graceful, wears a soft white top and black trousers that flow in the wind, looking neat, neat and gentle. Such a beautiful lady who looks like water, leads the world's largest stone production and processing enterprise, and often deals with granite and marble as hard as iron.

As the director responsible for the company's decision-making affairs and international market business, she has led the Gaoshi Stone Group to achieve remarkable performance in the international market. The 4,500-employee company based in suburban Shenzhen has sold half of its products abroad in the past year, with an export value of $75 million, an increase of more than 90 percent.

When it comes to successful experiences, the one word she says most is: communication. Communicate with external customers and communicate with the company. After conducting in-depth interviews with a number of outstanding Chinese export companies, this publication found that this is not her exclusive secret. Common to the success of these businesses, including High Times, is the integration of corporate communications (communications) and marketing communications (communications). Marketing guru Don Schultz in his 2004 latest edition of "Integrated Marketing Communication" gave eight guiding principles of integrated marketing communication, most of which are successfully used by these exporters to varying degrees.

Principle 1: Be a Customer-Centric Organization

“In a customer-centric organization, all functional activities, elements and units are directed and focused on delivering customer benefits, catering to Customer needs or meeting customer requirements." - Don Schultz

China's outstanding export companies have been able to not only take customers as the center of the company in concept, but also in organization, resources , services and other aspects to make corresponding arrangements and innovations.

Resource support Xiulian Li understands that marketers play a vital role in achieving customer centricity. In Gaoshi Company, marketing is the largest single functional department of the company, and the company gives a lot of resource support to the marketing department.

In China's stone manufacturing industry, there are not many qualified marketers. As a leading company in this industry, Gao Shi has naturally become the target of poaching by other companies. Even so, Gao Shi still insists on cultivating excellent marketers and does not relax. "We are recruiting some completely inexperienced personnel and training them. We are training them with painstaking efforts, but also to make them happy at work, so as to ensure that they are not poached." Li Xiulian said that the new employee had just After entering the company, they have two weeks of training, and receive training in each department. The purpose is to let them understand what other departments do and what kind of relationship they have with the marketing department.

Next, there will be various trainings of various sizes, such as how to communicate with customers, how to communicate within the company, and product training on more than 500 types of stones, so that employees can understand which stones are suitable for large-scale projects and which are suitable for indoor use , which are suitable for outdoor use. Several large-scale trainings are held each year, where people come together to share key successes and lessons learned.

Effectively develop marketers so that they play a central link in delivering customer benefits, catering to customer needs, or satisfying customer requirements. They ensure that any inquiries to customers must be answered within 24 hours; they can accurately provide customers with the information they need; they can also ensure that the goods are 100% in line with customer standards even after customers get off work. Export. "They are a reliable bridge between customers and factories," Li Xiulian said.

Organizational arrangement For Shenzhen Hi-Tech Co., Ltd., "customer-centric" is prominently reflected in the innovation of organization and service. This leading company in the manufacture of high-tech telephones has successfully established the "GAOXINQI" brand in developing markets such as Southeast Asia while effectively expanding into developed markets such as Europe through OEM. In order to meet the needs of the market and customers, Xu Ruiqiang, the general manager of the company, is personally responsible for the international marketing and product development, forming a dumbbell-shaped customer-oriented modern enterprise organization.

Under this organizational form, the company uses a variety of specific methods to closely cooperate with marketers and developers to ensure that the technology is the technology needed by the market, the product is the product that the market needs, and the product can be finally sold. Xu Ruiqiang attaches great importance to the value brought by each opportunity to contact customers and the integration of development and marketing forces. Every time he goes abroad to participate in a trade show, he brings a strong lineup, including key developers and marketers, allowing them to broaden their horizons and accumulate experience, and more importantly, let the developers directly contact the front line of the market . "The developer sits there and talks to the customer about how the technology can meet his needs, such as how large the capacity of the IC chip is, and what kind of software can be designed to meet his functional requirements and understand the needs of the market," Xu Ruiqiang said.

Within the company, marketers are divided according to the market, and different marketers are responsible for the market in different countries and regions. Developers are organized by product category, and different engineers track orders for different products. Whenever a customer comes to visit the factory, a team of marketers and developers will communicate and negotiate with the customer according to different markets and products. "Crossing, not only allows them to obtain technical information, but also obtain market information."

Service innovation Many products in China are exported to developing countries. In these non-mainstream markets, importers are large in number, small in scale, lack of business awareness, and many do not have professional teams. Therefore, Chinese enterprises provide value-added services to these customers, which has become a unique means to expand these markets.

From market research, to the style and color of the purchased products, to the sales proposition and marketing method of the sales link, Gaoxin has a professional team to propose a complete set of solutions to help customers in the market. In this way, it is very easy for customers, and it is very simple to do business with Gaoxinqi. Customers only need to tell Gao Xinqi the market situation and how many products they need, "We will do the rest." Xu Ruiqiang said, "These customers find that they not only buy our company's products, but also a series of services. We can't do without us."

In fact, many Chinese export companies have a weak understanding of service, thinking that "sell the product to you and it's over, how you sell it is your business", and the service awareness is not particularly good, And don't make a fuss about the service. However, Gaoxinqi is able to innovate and practice in serving overseas customers, proving the value of services in overseas markets.

In the eyes of Wu Xiaohong, chairman of Qingdao Qianfeng Caps Co., Ltd., the concept of "customer-centric" is not just a literal understanding, it seems that the balance of interests is tipped to customers. In his view, his company has also achieved significant improvement in the process of achieving customer-centricity. In particular, the company has established a customer-first philosophy with the help of customers.

At Qianfeng Hat, the concept of customer first is embodied in two words "Attention", that is, work with care, make products with care, and serve customers with care. "The so-called intention is to constantly surpass, constantly improve, and constantly strive for perfection," Wu Xiaohong said. "This concept is exactly what Mr. Cai, who is very knowledgeable in management, was sent by one of our major customers in the United States to help us build it up. Our cadres The team and workers also gradually understood it and applied it to our production."

Principle Two:

Adopt an outside-in plan

“When planning and budgeting for marketing, integrated marketing communications An outside-in approach." - Don Schultz

China's outstanding export enterprises have completed the transformation from an inside-out model to an outside-in model in their marketing planning. This is not only the inevitability of the history of economic development, but also the inevitability of the active efforts of enterprises.

On the whole, most Chinese export enterprises lacked marketing planning in the early stage. Under the "three to one supplement" model, many enterprises do not worry about the market and focus on production. With the development of export trade and the intensification of competition in the domestic supply market, in order to compete for international buyers, export companies have begun to pay attention to the research on overseas markets and customer needs and preferences to guide their production. Among them, excellent export enterprises are at the forefront in accurately selecting target markets, conducting market positioning, and determining marketing communication methods from the outside to the inside.

The target markets EU and the US are now the largest markets for Zhejiang Zhengte Industrial Co., Ltd., and the two markets together account for 80% of the company's exports. However, this manufacturer of outdoor furniture and leisure products only chose Europe as its target market when it first started exporting. "The main raw material of our products is textiles. The US textile quota is difficult for small enterprises in China to obtain, but Europe is relatively loose." Chen Yonghui, deputy general manager of the company, said that the company first contacted the European market for export business, and has always been By the end of 1999, more than 99% of the company's markets were in Europe.

Although it was difficult to enter the US market before 1999, Chen Yonghui has always been concerned about this market, and he knows what the US market means to the company. In his eyes, the US market has some characteristics different from the European market, which is related to the long-term development of the company. The biggest difference is that the United States is a single country of 260 million people, about the same population as Europe, which is made up of dozens of countries. A single country is more conducive to the growth of the sales system, which has led to the birth of supermarket giants such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot. "With such a huge logistics terminal system, the purchase orders for suppliers are very large. This requires very good factories, with large production capacity, stable quality, and strong coordination and financial capabilities."

American The consumption concept is also different from that of Europeans. Americans adopt extravagant and wasteful consumption methods for leisure-use products, and basically replace them very frequently, once a quarter. Europeans use it as a durable product, usually for at least the second year.

The United States has stronger development capabilities than Europe, and their innovative thinking can be said to be the strongest in the world. When doing business in such a country, the product update must be very fast, which is a very big test for the company's development strength and ability. At the same time, the United States is stronger than Europe in protecting intellectual property.

Chen Yonghui regards all these characteristics and requirements of the US market as the company's development opportunities, and guides the company to innovate in products. In less than half the time, the company's performance in the US market caught up with the European market.

Market Positioning If you quickly answer "Is there a difference between high and low grades of stones?", the answer is generally no. However, this answer, Li Xiulian will say: "Wrong!" The quality, texture, color, pattern and style of the stone determine the grade of the stone, as well as its use and value.

Due to market demand and business competition, Gaoshi has positioned its products in high-end products, focusing on producing high-end products for large-scale construction projects, and focusing on product innovation, which are sold to the United States and Japan. These two markets are very conducive to the establishment and consolidation of high-end product positioning. "The American market likes high-end, exaggerated colors, is open to new products, and customers are willing to pay." Li Xiulian said, "Japan has very high quality requirements for products, prompting us to increase the corresponding operating procedures to produce products that meet their needs. The required products. If the product can stand a foothold in Japan, it is equivalent to getting a passport to the world market."

The high-end positioning of Gao Shi suddenly separated itself from thousands of factories in the industry that compete on price , in a favorable position in the market competition.

Communication method Whether the target market can clearly accept the company's market positioning, the communication (communication) method between the company and the market plays a big role. Excellent Chinese exporters provide successful examples (see the section "Principle 8: Focused Marketing Communications Activities").

Principle 3: Focus on the Holistic Customer Experience

"A strategic integrated marketing communications approach that focuses on the customer's overall experience of the product and the company, not just the experience of the marketing campaign. "——Don Schultz

When asked "what information do you want to convey to the market or customers", China's excellent export enterprises invariably said "company image and product information". They want customers to feel not just the impact of a marketing campaign, but the overall impact of the company and product.

When asked "What is the company image and product information you want to spread", these excellent exporters said "professional", "integrity", "quality" and "internationalization" respectively.

Professionalism is high and novel, and special emphasis is placed on professionalism in everything we do. Xu Ruiqiang hopes that customers who see and come into contact with Gaoxinqi can feel "this is a very professional supplier of communication products". To this end, the company has invested heavily in the construction of professional talents and professional equipment. At the same time, it requires employees to look at problems with a professional perspective, think about problems with professional ideas, and do things with professional requirements, so as to continuously increase customers' confidence in the company.

"To be more specific, the company must pay attention to every detail professionally." Xu Ruiqiang said, for example, the company once sent a sample to a testing company designated by a foreign importer for testing, and the testing company disassembled the prototype After inspection, it was found that every structural part and detail was designed very professionally and carefully. So the testing company told the importer, "This company is very strict, you must visit it when you come to China." This is how the professional image is built through every detail.

Wu Xiaohong, chairman of Chengxin Qianfeng Hat Co., Ltd., deeply felt the importance of honesty to the company's development. The company has established a reputation for integrity among its customers, who in turn help it recommend new customers. "50% of our export business is obtained through customer referrals."

Wu Xiaohong continued, The company maintains the image of integrity in treating customers, business units, and employees all the time and without interruption. The simplest concept of corporate integrity is to do a good job in products and people, so that customers can benefit, suppliers can benefit, and employees are full of confidence.

High-quality and high-end market positioning is compatible, Gaoshi Stone Company pays special attention to establishing a "high-quality" company image and product image. The stone industry has a characteristic, some architects must use a certain kind of high-quality stone when designing architectural projects. For this kind of personalized customer demand, Gaoshi company always spares no effort to find in all kinds of quarries and carry out high-quality processing.

Internationalization In addition to a high-quality image, Gaoshi also takes measures to establish an international image. In addition to buying different mines in China, the company is also buying different mines in the United States. The company also has multiple branches in the United States, Italy, the Middle East and other countries and regions, and recruits local talents to become a company that can communicate in English, Japanese, German, Italian, French, Korean, Arabic and other foreign languages. And communication company, which is second to none in China's stone industry. "All of these are in the hope of continuing to promote our international image," Li Xiulian said.

Principle 4: Align Communications Objectives with Company Objectives

“Integrated marketing communications must go far beyond traditional communications objectives, such as building brand awareness or recognition, and must also meet management’s financial objectives.” ——Don Schultz

Don Schultz pointed out in the book "Integrated Marketing Communication" that the goals of integrated marketing communication must be fully aligned with the company's goals and directly achieve the financial goals of management. The following points:

1. Increase long-term and short-term cash flow for the company, and exceed the cost of marketing and communication required to accomplish this.

Second, to accelerate cash flow, that is, to move forward the income from customers and potential customers in time, or to accelerate the speed of obtaining these cash flows.

3. Stable and continuous cash flow. The cash flow of many organizations has highs and lows, that is, a peak in a certain month and a trough in a certain month. The ability of marketing and communications to smooth out and diversify these cash flows can reduce a company's operating costs.

4. Create shareholder value by improving company equity or brand equity. Stable brand equity is recognized by the financial markets and often boosts a company's stock price. This can all bring value to shareholders.

Simply put, the point of this principle is to determine the financial return a company earns on its investment (spend) in marketing communications, so that marketing communications activities are based on the company's strategic resources. In this sense, outstanding export enterprises such as Gaoxinqi and Gaoshi have successfully applied this principle to a certain extent.

Due to the relatively weak foundation of data and digitization, this principle still needs to be further improved by export enterprises.

Principle 5: Set Customer Behavioral Goals

“An important component of the integrated marketing communications process is influencing behavior, because behavior is the source of revenue for customers and prospects for the company. ” - Don Schultz

Don Schultz divides customer behavior goals into four: win new customers; retain and retain existing customers; retain and increase sales or sales from existing customers Profits; migrating existing customers through the company's products or services, allowing existing customers to purchase other products or services of the company that are more priced or more profitable.

Through interviews with China's outstanding export companies, the magazine found that these companies influence customer behavior in different ways of communication, hoping to fully achieve the above four goals. Although they have not clearly divided and set different behavioral goals, most of them realized in actual operation that they should be based on different industry characteristics, the communication habits of the target market, the company's own development stage, and the IT foundation of itself and the target market. Facility level, set corresponding customer behavior goals and communication methods.

For example, in word-of-mouth communication such as customer referrals, the main goal of customer behavior is to win new customers. For another example, an export enterprise like Qianfeng Hats, which has grown up in a county-level city, can consider borrowing the power of third-party professional institutions such as Global Sources to effectively integrate electronic method used in marketing communications.

Principle Six: Treat Customers as Assets

“Taking customers as assets means investing in customers and potential customers, and then predicting the return on those investments.” – Don Schultz

China's top exporters recognize that customers are assets that generate revenue for their companies. They know that investing in customers means building and maintaining good customer relationships. They also know that innovation, sincerity, and empathy can win solid customer relationships.

Innovation is the same as Gaoxinqi stabilizes customers with innovative services. Zhengte Industry establishes long-term cooperative relations with customers through innovative products. In Chen Yonghui's view, innovation in products and management is the key to gaining long-term support from customers. This kind of innovation needs to be based on understanding and grasping the needs of customers, and "changes because of customers". At the same time, in the process of cooperating with customers, it is necessary to make customers feel that the cooperation between the two parties is indeed a "strong alliance", rather than a short-term relationship such as cooperation on a certain production line.

In order to maintain the continuity of innovation, Zhengte actively invests in research and development, doubling the number of developers. This input has produced positive results and products are continually being innovated. Its high-end sun umbrellas and awnings are equipped with automatic sensing controllers, which can automatically open, close and adjust according to wind speed, temperature, humidity, wind, sunshine, rain and other weather conditions, and become a unique selling point to win customers.

When talking about customer relationship, Wu Xiaohong, a sincere former hat maker, said that he especially believes in a saying: "Sincere and sincere, gold and stone are open". It is with a sincerity that the company has made its greatest efforts, even exceeding the company's tolerance, to meet the requirements of customers. "Whether the customer's request is for workmanship or equipment, no matter how difficult it is for us, no matter how tight the funds are, we must purchase advanced equipment for the customer."

This kind of sincerity moved the big customer in the United States and won the Customer respect and trust. The customer then turned back and helped Qianfeng make hats in technology, production and management. This kind of return is invaluable to Qianfeng. "The data standard of workmanship and product overview they provided at that time was the first time for us," Wu Xiaohong said.

In the opinion of Liu Jun, general manager of Dalian Junming Garment Co., Ltd., from the perspective of customers, considering how to ensure delivery time, product quality, and providing the best service is related to whether or not to establish a good customer relations. "In this process, try to find the maximum problems, and minimize the quality problems after the products are finished." He said, "At the same time, the service system and supply system must be established firmly and completely."

Principle Seven: Streamline functional business activities

"Breaking and streamlining different communication categories into information and incentives creates broader categories of communication options. The greatest value in breaking down marketing communication categories is in enabling managers to think strategically. , rather than thinking in terms of communications strategy." - Don Schultz

As marketing guru Don Schultz points out in his book "Integrated Marketing Communications," companies are developing their marketing communications plans in the first place. At times, it can be helpful to adopt an information- or motivation-centric concept that simplifies planning and development. The message here refers to the company image and product image that the company wishes to communicate to the market. Incentives are short-term offers or feedback that companies offer to the market.

The concept of information or motivation at the core of developing a marketing communications plan is to look at a company's communications activities from the customer's point of view. "From the customer's point of view, the company is really only dealing with two basic marketing communications activities, and that is information and incentives." This kind of communication that looks at the company from the customer's point of view is invisible to the company when viewed from within the company. The organizational barriers seen are thus conducive to the integration and streamlining of internal organizations.

When Gaoxinqi Co., Ltd. determines that the information communicated to the market is "professional", when the current Feng Hats determines that the information communicated is "integrity", when Gaoxin Company determines that the information communicated to the market is "high-quality", "international" When they take into account the wide variety of possible communication tools (see the section "Principle 8: Centralize Marketing Communications Activities"), the planning and organization of communications becomes simpler, easier, and more Useful for strategic thinking.

The communication and dissemination of Qianfeng Hat Co., Ltd. by participating in the exhibition is the result of a strategic thinking. This year is the first time that Qianfeng Hats Co., Ltd. has participated in the Spring Canton Fair. It is not because there are no orders, but it is precisely because of the favorable conditions of a large number of orders that the Canton Fair is used to display the company's image and understand the international market information. "Exhibiting in this state is more leisurely, more confident, and more rewarding," Wu Xiaohong said.

Principle 8: Concentrate Marketing Communication Activities

"The core content of any marketing communication plan must be concentration. Today's concentration has a new connotation, which is to combine traditional marketing communication with electronic marketing communication Events come together." - Don Schultz

In today's business world, there are many ways to communicate, from direct salesperson visits, trade magazine advertisements, trade fairs, printed product catalogs, direct mail, etc. There are also modern electronic methods such as the export enterprise's own website, third-party online transaction website, e-mail, electronic product catalog, and search engine marketing. When exporting companies disseminate and communicate information to the target market, whether they use dissemination channels in a separate and decentralized way, or integrate traditional and electronic methods, the impact on the achievement of export business is very different. According to American Business Media, 87% of buyers prefer to buy from suppliers who use multiple methods of marketing communications.

The good news is that China's outstanding export enterprises have begun to concentrate and integrate their communication methods and activities, showing the characteristics of unified implementation, gradual progress and characteristic implementation.

Unified implementation After determining the company image and brand image that the information to be disseminated is "professional", Xu Ruiqiang has formulated a "High Novel Visual Identity Management Manual", which provides a unified guide for integrating company and marketing communications .

The whole manual is divided into eight parts: "Basic System", "Office System", "Environmental System", "Advertising System", "Transportation System", "Clothing System", "Display System", "Gift System" , respectively make visual identification specifications for corporate logos, office supplies, office environment, advertising, company vehicles, company uniforms, product displays, and gift appearances.

In Xu Ruiqiang's view, every contact point between the company and the outside world, whether it is in the company's internal plant facilities, external advertising displays, or even every employee, is an opportunity to spread the company and brand image. . Therefore, in addition to standardizing the internal environment and employee clothing through the visual identity management manual, Gaoxinqi also conducts marketing communications through the Internet, trade shows, magazines, outdoor billboards and other means.

Features The stone industry has a characteristic. Suppliers send samples or photos of products to customers, but it is not enough to convince customers. "Just the samples or photos, the customer can't feel it. He has to see the product in person to know whether it is good or not." Li Xiulian found that the most effective way of communication in the stone industry is that customers come to visit for face-to-face communication.

Step by step In addition to face-to-face communication, Gao Shi also uses the means of communication such as trade fairs, the Internet, and customer referrals. Li Xiulian believes that the choice of communication method should also be done step by step. "We are relatively low-key now. Of course, after some of our new products are completed, new marketing communication strategies may be adopted, because our production capacity can meet the launch of these new products. For the company, marketing communication is also done step by step. Yes."

It should be pointed out that integrated marketing communication is a strategic management practice, and China's excellent export enterprises have only just taken the first step in this regard. The purpose of their marketing communication is more on the reputation of "being a reliable supplier", and only a small number of enterprises have directed the target to the brand.

As export enterprises still need to improve the digitalization of information, the integration of communication and communication is still in its infancy. At the same time, because export enterprises are relatively weak in dataization, it is difficult for the company to determine the specific investment income of integrated marketing communication, so the company is still indecisive when allocating strategic resources to integrated marketing communication.

However, China's outstanding export enterprises have taken a crucial step after all, and the bright future is worth looking forward to. Don Schultz - a well-known American scholar who often visits China - predicted that Chinese companies can use the tool of integrated marketing communication to win the global competition.

Integrate and spread international fame_x000D_

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