Lucky fights both sides

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●Case study

What makes Lucky survive today? One is the relatively cheap price, and the other is the appeal of national brands to a certain extent. In the short term, Lucky's low price, coupled with a decent quality, is not in danger of falling in the short term. However, if you want to achieve a great cause, you must take a long-term plan. When discussing the strength of an enterprise, management guru Michael Porter repeatedly mentioned that the real strength of an enterprise is ultimately reflected in two aspects: one is cost advantage, and the other is differentiation. Correspondingly, in strategic choice, there are costs. Leading strategy, differentiation strategy and focus strategy. When discussing Lucky's case, we can start from these aspects.

Can the cost advantage be maintained?

It is undeniable that Lucky has a certain price advantage, which is related to the cheap labor cost and the purchasing power of the Chinese people for film. However, with the implementation of the localization strategy of multinational companies, it is impossible for local companies to monopolize the advantages of labor costs for a long time; secondly, with the increase of consumers' income, their requirements for the quality of film will also increase accordingly. long method.

To maintain cost leadership, Michael Porter's prescription is: 1. Invest in production assets on a large scale to reduce costs and form barriers to entry; 2. Form unique advantages in production processes to make production more efficient High; 3. There are many high-level engineering experts in the production process, who can continuously improve the production process; 4. An efficient distribution system. Lucky may wish to evaluate these aspects when thinking about cost leadership strategies. However, Porter also pointed out that even if a manufacturer has an advantage in these areas, there is no guarantee of peace of mind, because competitors may start from scratch and change the rules of competition, and some focused manufacturers may do better than you in terms of cost. These will make the company's cost advantage to naught.

What makes the difference

From the current position of the photosensitive industry, Lucky is undoubtedly a follower of the market, not a leader and a pioneer. In the book "Marketing Warfare" co-authored by A. Rees and J. Trout, three sets of tactics, namely offensive warfare, flanking warfare and guerrilla warfare, are specially formulated for market followers.

Offensive warfare: avoid its edge, attack its lazy return The point of this strategy is to temporarily put your own situation aside, first consider the strengths and weaknesses of the leader, and then take the narrowest possible position. The leader attacks. Look at your opponent's weaknesses and see which ones are real and which ones can be overcome. To attack Kodak, it is not advisable to fight on price or try to make a fuss about quality. Trout et al. point out that Kodak's biggest weakness is the aging process of film at room temperature. Can Lucky do better than Kodak in this regard?

Many netizens also believe that Lucky should not enter the digital market in a hurry. It is better to consolidate the original market. When Kodak and Fuji snipe and clam compete, they should identify their weaknesses and propose their own better solutions. "Jason Ma" of a certain company believes, "In the new competitive landscape, Lucky's price advantage no longer exists. If we join the competition in the digital printing market, it will undoubtedly be self-defeating."

Flanking war: "Ghosts" quietly enter the village to find the blind spot in the market, take the lead in seizing the uncompeted area, or the market that other competitors are no longer interested in but actually have potential to tap, after gaining a leading position Continuing to secure positions rather than shifting resources, lowering or raising prices, making products larger or smaller, and changing promotions and product types are all ways to flank.

"CUBNA" of a business company in Nanchang pointed out, "When Kodak and Fuji are fighting in the digital market, why doesn't Lucky take the time to fight back in the traditional film market? If you are not a giant, it is best to avoid The edge of a giant, attacking its flanks!"

"Philipzhang" of an auto parts company emphasized "the need to develop chain printing shops for middle and low-end consumers in urban and rural areas, where the economic affordability and consumption concept are different from those in cities. , When consumption in big cities tends to catch up with the digital trend, the demand in these places is still at the stage of only going to photo studios during the festivals,” so these markets are worth continuing to cultivate.

Guerrilla Warfare: Seize New Markets This strategy requires finding a market segment that is large enough to be profitable and small enough to interest other market leaders. If you find that you can't do it, you will quickly withdraw. Trout said: "A conditional surrender is not a shame. A general will never fight until there is only one person left, and a good chess player will not be defeated. For Lucky, such a market segment exists, and "jooh" from a consulting firm said, "The development of technology has made photocopying technology less complicated, through cheaper equipment. , the family can print their own photos. Is there a device that costs less than 1,000 yuan and can easily print 4-inch or 5-inch photos with a digital camera? Is there a cheaper external device that can scan negatives? , and output the image of the negative to a small photocopier or computer, both positive and negative? Is it possible to serialize the above-mentioned small photocopiers to meet different individual needs, and can the cost of special paper be as low as 0.15 yuan?" Develop a product like, "Why do you need Kodak?"

Also, in the digital age, where personalized shots are more common than ever, people don't want to take their photos to a lab for reasons of privacy, for example. If Lucky can fulfill the dream of ordinary photographers who can print photos at home, they will undoubtedly find a breakthrough and become the leader of this market segment in one fell swoop. And, don't worry too much about Kodak coming to grab this market, "jooh" said: "If Kodak did the same, how would it convince thousands of photocopy shop owners?"

Whether to form a strategic alliance

In the current era of increasingly competitive business, it has become a common strategy to jointly develop new products, share costs, and acquire the strengths of each department through the establishment of strategic alliances. Philips and Sony have worked together to develop CD products. Lucky can also use this method to learn from each other's strengths.

"Xu Huawen" from a certain college said that Lucky's alliance with some companies "is beneficial to break trade barriers, expand the market, complement each other's advantages and enhance competitiveness; it can share huge product development costs", a telecommunications company said. "Quyi" suggested, "Lekai should make strategic alliances with major domestic scientific research institutions and colleges and universities, and should know how to use external resources, cooperate with major photography institutions, establish photography clubs, and play a role in brand building."

In addition, a communication company's "yidong" suggested that Lucky could "cooperate with courier companies to actively carry out photo delivery, and on this basis, segment and evaluate customers and provide higher-level services, such as Free related magazines, photos, and activities such as competitions can be carried out if the customer agrees."

Some netizens suggested Lucky's distributor strategy. "CUBNA" believes that "the enthusiasm of distributors for products determines the frequency of product promotion to customers and the potential usage rate. If a roll of Lucky film is sold The profit obtained is twice or more than the sale of Kodak, can he not be motivated?"