Author丨Wu Junfu
General Manager of Southeast Asia Cathay Investment Co., Ltd.
If you don’t plan for the eternity, you can’t plan for a moment; if you don’t plan for the overall situation, you can’t plan for a region. Facing the comprehensive competitiveness at home and abroad, Chinese entrepreneurs have reached a critical moment to build a century-old business and expand their global presence. Especially ceramics entrepreneurs must seize the new opportunities of upgrading the ceramic industry, continue to go abroad, and compete with world-renowned enterprises. Ceramic enterprises compete together on the same stage and continue to carry forward China's excellent ceramic culture.
01 china＜China＜World
Hundreds of years ago, Chinese porcelain was regarded as a symbol of noble status, and even as a rare treasure, whether it was the Dutch, Spanish, British, or royal families, wealthy businessmen, celebrities, and literati who dominated the oceans! Along with foreigners' admiration for Chinese porcelain, the English names of China and porcelain china were born. This is also the world’s high recognition and high praise for Chinese ceramics!
However, it is a pity that china was mistaken for China. What's even more regrettable is that when I communicated with the owners of individual ceramic companies about ceramics, I was immediately surprised and speechless. Some ceramic company owners stubbornly understand that ceramic china (the English pronunciation is homophonic to the Chinese word "tear down" or "tear down") means that Chinese houses are demolished and rebuilt or built and then demolished. In this way, china ceramics business will definitely be very good, but most of their peers are not. Such cognition. It is such a narrow understanding of ceramics and such a narrow understanding that makes one not fit in with the crowd. Even if one does not fit in with the crowd, he will not be recognized by most ceramic peers. And the more he is not recognized by his peers, the worse he will be. The management became more and more unconventional, and in the end, they resorted to price war competition that did not seek quality but only small profits. Unexpectedly, this kind of price war competition that did not focus on product quality led to the defeat of this ceramics company and declared bankruptcy four years later. This is really painful and not regrettable. Although the finest ceramics are China’s national quintessence, they are definitely not all of them. China is definitely N times larger than china. How much do you know about China, and how much will you gain?
In the current real estate downturn, ceramic companies have gone abroad and actively participated in engineering projects in more than 100 countries, which may lead to greater development. For example, Li Ka-shing’s recent investment in Ho Chi Minh City has accelerated the development of real estate in Vietnam.In terms of construction, ceramic enterprises should aim at the Indo-China Peninsula. The world is so big, only if we dance with wolves and spread out around the world will we have business opportunities.
02 Product VS Price
About products and prices, this is an interesting topic that is often discussed in all walks of life, and it is also a strategic positioning proposition of an enterprise. Good quality and low price, genuine goods at a reasonable price, good goods are not cheap, cheap goods are not good, these are neither contradictory nor contradictory to each other. It can only be said that benevolent people have different opinions and wise people have opinions. Enterprises must achieve contradictions and non-contradictions: they must not only satisfy the wishes of customers and consumers, but also meet the expectations of the company and shareholders. I have worked for a well-known IT company in Shenzhen for eight years, and I have a deep understanding of the competition between products and prices in the IT world. In particular, the competition for mobile phones in various countries around the world is more intense.
The IT industry started very late compared to many industries. But according to Moore's Law, founder of Intel Corporation Gordon Moore, electronic products in the IT industry are upgraded every 18 months or so. To a certain extent, it can be said that it is the invisible hand of Moore's Law that promotes the rapid development of the IT industry! Therefore, Moore's Law is also known as the first law of the IT industry, especially accelerating the vigorous development of the mobile phone communications industry. In the fierce competition from 1G to 5G, it can be said that you sing and I come on stage, each leading the market for decades. G stands for Generation. From the first generation of 1G to the fifth generation of 5G, it only took 45 years. It has been almost 10 years of 1G and ten years of sharpening a sword. There are many bitter business war stories, and there are also many essences that are worthy of learning and reference from all walks of life. Please take a closer look at whether ceramic companies take the route of price being king or the route of product being king.
In 1973, Motorola of the United States launched the first mobile phone in human history. It was as heavy as a brick. After watching the movie, I learned that it was Big Brother. Although Big Brother was overweight in the hand and could only be used to make phone calls, at that time, Big Brother was a standard equipment for those with noble status and an honor for successful people, which was enviable. Motorola Mobile has monopolized the market and dominated the world. From then on, mobile phones entered the 1G voice era.
However, technology has no borders or borders. Finland's Nokia only added simple Internet functions such as sending text messages and pictures to mobile phones. Nokia became famous and became popular around the world. It also dominated the world like Big Brother did. From then on, mobile phones entered the 2G text era.
Nokia is the representative of European mobile phones, and Nokia's seizure of the Motorola mobile phone market is just the beginning of the war between 2G and 1G European and American mobile phones. The duel between Nokia and Apple mobile phones is the current final of European and American mobile phones. Back then, Nokia phones could smash walnuts without breaking, but they laughed at Apple phones that broke when dropped. Finally Apple IPhone 3G mobile phone won, and mobile phones entered the 3G smart era.
4G changes life... 5G changes society... And the competition between 4G and 5G is even more intense. 5G was first launched by China's Huawei, but Western countries led by the United States were unreasonable and detained Huawei's Ren Zhengfei's daughter Meng Wanzhou in Canada for 1,028 days. On the surface, it was to suppress its technology, products and prices, but its real intention was It is to destroy Huawei 5G. Meng Wanzhou's return to China is another major victory for Huawei and the Chinese government. But this is not just a victory. Perhaps the world can learn more from the Meng Wanzhou incident, and perhaps that is the most important thing.
Obviously, it is not difficult to find that in every G vs. G era duel, new technologies lead the way and win. In the face of absolutely new technology products, big companies like Motorola and Nokia cannot escape failure, let alone our ceramic companies.
Never forget the past and be the teacher of the future. It is strongly recommended that ceramic enterprises take the route of product being king and not the route of price being king. Comparing the price of ceramics will only lead to a dead end and end up selling ceramics as mud. Environmentalists think this is a waste of resources, and ceramic colleagues think it is a desecration of ceramic culture. After communicating with many ceramic company owners, they lamented that IT is a sunrise industry in the world. Some ceramic enterprises pessimistically believe that ceramics is a sunset industry, which is a misunderstanding. Today's ceramics is neither a rising industry nor a sunset industry. It is still a traditional industry that has been passed down for thousands of years, but it will never go out of style. With the continuous improvement of living space and quality of life, ceramics have also evolved from glazed tiles to glazed tiles, wear-resistant tiles, polished tiles, antique tiles, fully polished glazed tiles, marble tiles, large ceramic slabs, and then to rock slabs. Many ceramic tiles The company is also continuously carrying out technological upgrades and developing new products. In a word, good products are the key.
03 Added value>Value
Added value is greater than value. This is a topic that bosses from all walks of life have been studying seriously, but it is also a brand strategic proposition. Only a strong brand will have more added value, and Musk has been particularly successful.
The imaginative Musk is not only a knowledgeable technology geek, but also a strategist who shapes brands and creates more added value. Musk owns nine high-tech companies, of which Tesla is perhaps the most familiar to Chinese people. Cars have been around for more than 200 years. It is extremely difficult to carve out a new path in the automotive field and build a big brand.
However, Musk did it, and there are several points worth learning from Tao QiLearn or learn from:
First, Musk followed the trend. New energy vehicles were the future trend and he seized the opportunity.
Second, Tesla is not only an environmentally friendly car, but also a multi-functional smart car.
Thirdly, the car Tesla just produced is the Roadster. It started as a high-end electric sports car and was positioned as a high-end car as soon as it was launched.
Fourth, Tesla’s technology patents are open to the public, allowing peers to learn and establish itself as an industry leader, while also forcing itself to continuously innovate.
Fifth, the advertising placement is unique, especially the US$100 million advertising fee, which is unmatched by peers. On February 7, 2018, the Space N multiples of billion.
Sixth, Musk has his own marketing propaganda, which has a huge role and influence. Musk once told the CEO of a Chinese group that he doesn't like marketing, but he has his own marketing and naturally takes it to the extreme.
Looking at the development of ceramic companies over the past 30 years, there has yet to be a leading group like Tesla. Leading companies such as Dongpeng, Hongyu, New Pearl, Marco Polo, and Mona Lisa have done well in terms of product empowerment, brand building, and added value, but they are not authoritative leaders at the moment. The future landscape of ceramics will be subject to rapid changes, and every company will have a promising future amid uncertainty.
Dances with Wolves, facing various challenges, the road is long and long, I will search up and down. Only when Chinese entrepreneurs unite as one, work together with the motherland, and work hard to become stronger can the Chinese nation stand at the top of the world.
The above content is submitted by people in relevant industries
Does not represent the views and positions of China Ceramics Network
