Marketing promotion or product innovation, which is more important?

Question 1: Which is more important, marketing promotion or product innovation?

Q: Even though the prices of raw materials are rising, customers have repeatedly demanded price reductions, making it more and more difficult for manufacturing companies to survive. I would like to ask, in the case of limited investment, which one is more important, marketing promotion or product innovation?

Wang Yang: I think it depends on the actual situation of the industry and enterprise. If you feel that your product innovation is not absolutely convincing in the market, or there is no absolute price advantage, marketing is very important.

For our company, it takes a multi-pronged approach to stand out from the competition. The brand is our left hand. We have hired a company that helps Huawei and the cotton era to do brand design consulting to operate the brand. The right hand is product development. We spent nearly 1 million yuan to develop a research and development system and introduced the industry's top research and development. engineer. If you want to break the game, research and development is the top priority.

IT is one leg. Sales, dividends, and ERP systems can all be monitored through IT. We can no longer participate in market competition by drilling wood to make fire. Foreign countries are already very advanced in this regard. The other leg is marketing. Marketing includes advertisements and exhibitions. It is necessary to integrate offline and online resources. We participated in the exhibition of Global Sources. The booth has grown from 9 square meters to 54 square meters. The role of marketing is becoming more and more important.

Wan Fengchi: Our company is mainly engaged in DIY home security, including anti-theft alarm, video surveillance, and smart home. In the past, we were mainly OEM, but now we also try to take our own brand path. Recruited some digital specialists and increased investment in brand marketing.

In the past, we paid more attention to marketing, but in the past two years, the focus is on research and development. We found that only novel products can gain the attention of customers, with fewer competitors and higher added value.

With innovative products, it's too late to go back and focus on marketing. I myself went to Russia, the UK, Germany, and France this year to see how the security products on the market have changed. In recent years, the foreign market has changed a lot, and security products have entered the supermarket. We open a store on Amazon, test the acceptance of new products in the market, and find innovative ideas for products from consumer feedback. In the past, the market feedback we received through our agents was not only too slow, but also had a lot of noise. Everything we did in the market was for the end user. What he needs, we make statistics and make products that meet customer requirements.

Zou Dan: Our company has made OEM from mobile phone processing, and now it is our own brand. We do marketing more to create profits based on product quality and value, not just for OEM volume. At present, our marketing is divided into two parts, the online use of Global Sources' Samsung promotion, I think the effect is good and then increased to four stars. I participated in the exhibition of Global Sources offline. When I first participated in the exhibition, the booth of 9 square meters cooperated with the magazine promotion of Global Sources. It was very popular and the effect was very good. Because the promotion is in place, there are already some brand agents in Europe and Southeast Asia to represent our brands. In addition, we are doing cross-border e-commerce. We have just opened Amazon and are ready to supply the above mobile phone sellers.

Question 2. How can marketing be truly innovative?

Q: In order to enhance the competitiveness of the enterprise, we are always silently cultivating internal strength and innovating products. Innovation is not only reflected in products, our marketing model can also be innovative and diversified. I would like to ask you how to innovate in marketing?

Wang Yang: I think there are several key words for marketing innovation. The first point is to go out and come in. Use the exhibition as a point to go out, walk over to the guest, and invite him in. Foreigners are very talkative. I have a circle of American Jewish friends, and Jews are very relational.

Second, to promote multiplicity, we use land, sea and air operations. The sea is the slowest, but slow work and meticulous work. Through traditional mail and exhibitions, customers can continue to see Your existence; Lu is to make good use of SEO and search keywords; Kong is to use multimedia and communicate more face-to-face with guests. When promoting, the salesperson must be very professional. They should check the customer's website every week to see what new things are available and know what the customer needs.

Zou Dan: There are a lot of inquiries from buyers. In the past, our email response rate was not high. Later, I wrote the customer's name on the title and made a PPT-like thing in the email. Product parameters, with pictures and selling points of our products. For example, we launched a new mobile phone last year, and my selling point was "the world's only 3D mobile phone", and for the following new products, I wrote "the world's only ultra-thin and large battery fast charging" mobile phone to attract customers focus on. For customers in Southeast Asia, we will often hold new product launches to bring users a different experience with new products.

Wan Fengchi: Regarding marketing innovation, I believe that we should directly enter the buyer's market and obtain first-hand buyer information and materials in order to better meet the needs of consumers. After our salesmen go to a certain country to participate in the exhibition, they will stay for a few more days to visit some new and old customers and good buyers they have met at the exhibition, to understand their feedback on the products, and to establish appropriate after-sales services. Service outlets. After-sales service is very important, especially for industrial products. Many manufacturers will send people to inspect the market. At this time, the ability to fight for after-sales service is the ability.

Note: The Q&A content in this article is from the Shenzhen Station of the CEConline "Outsmart the Future Export Series Forum".

The host of this issue/Lifeng