On October 15th, the "2021 Bologna Building Materials Exhibition Trend Viewing and Enjoyment" was held grandly, and the venue was full of seats. Ms. Tang Jieming, assistant to the president of Foshan China Ceramics City Group, said, "Only when the perspective changes, the behavior will change." Therefore, this stage welcomes guests with unique perspectives to display on this platform.
Chen Gaozhao believes that most of the time, we analyze trends not to follow the trend, but to find our own position. What is he "against"? It is currently "a lot of so-called 'trends' that look like trends and are being done by many brands. They are harmless in the short term but not beneficial in the long term." He divided his views into three aspects. The opposite ones are "product-centered", "learning from Italy to build a brand" and "following the Bologna Exhibition".
All guests are studying trends and sharing trends, trying to find the logic and laws behind the trends, jointly looking for the diversification of China's architectural ceramics industry, and analyzing more possible futures of China's architectural ceramics industry.
Special guests for this issue:
Felona Cement Tile Founder Mr. Chen Gaozhao;
Mr. Huang Yongcai, founder of RMB Republic City;
Dr. Yin Hong, Secretary General of Guangdong Foshan Ceramics Industry Association;
Mr. Hamberto, General Manager of ICC Ceramics and Mr. Zhu Wei, Managing Director of Huayanpinzhi Slate;
01
One of the “Counter Trends”:
Product-focused? Not necessary!
The brand is so obsessed with the product that it has to innovate on the product process? It's really not necessary. Chen Gaozhao does not agree with the product-centered approach.
Every industry must go through three revolutions. The first stage is to improve production efficiency to win the competition in the product era. The second stage is to improve organizational efficiency to win the competition in the channel era. The third stage is to improve brand efficiency to win the consumer mind era. competition. So what era is China's architectural ceramics industry in? Chen Gaozhao believes that Chinese architectural ceramics is moving from the second stage to the third stage.Three stages of evolution. In other words, China's architectural ceramics industry is evolving in the direction of branding and has moved beyond the product-centric era.
Roger, the founder of Zhongchuangshe, once praised Italian Marazzi in a video account update as "the largest ceramic tile brand in the world, with annual sales of 27.7 billion." What is the concept of 22.7 billion? Chen Gaozhao believes that China is very likely to catch up with Marazzi in the next five years. Take Marco Polo as an example. Its annual sales reach more than 10 billion, with an annual growth rate of 15%. If it continues to grow for 5 years, it will surpass Marazzi's current size.
In the past, in the era when channels were king, when talking about brands in China's building ceramics industry, they followed a linear ranking logic, based on the share of channels: head brands, neck brands, waist brands, and little finger brands. ...Chen Gaozhao believes that in the future, Chinese architectural ceramics brands will only be divided into two categories: top brands and non-top brands, and rankings will no longer be divided along linear logical dimensions.
Head brands can use their channel advantages and corporate strength to further expand channel advantages; non-head brands can establish their own niche through differentiated labels. Non-head brands and top brands can form a dot layout, with the top brand as a large dot and the non-head brand as a small dot.
No matter what the distinction is, it means that the development of enterprises in China's architectural ceramics industry must take the road of branding. Chen Gaozhao pointed out that to be a brand, you must imprint a differentiated label that can be conveyed in the minds of buyers.
And "product craftsmanship" is not a label that is easy to pass on and can be passed on sustainably. Do consumers care about product technology? At least not the primary concern. Because consumers will not have to worry about whether the ceramic tiles they buy are made of digital molds or digital glazes. During the decoration process, many consumers' first concern is whether it looks good, secondly whether it is easy to use, and thirdly whether it is durable. Finally, additional functions such as sterilization and heating are considered. From another perspective, there is basically no big gap in the manufacturing level and technology of domestic brand ceramic tiles.
Therefore, it is difficult for Chinese ceramic tiles to make absolutely differentiated products in terms of product technology.
So, how should brands build their own differentiated labels to win the next stage of competition? Chen Gaozhao pointed out the complexity and randomly listed several of the most commonly used differentiation labels, including brand strategic positioning, brand image, corporate culture, service system, etc. But it is worth noting that every brand that wants to establish a differentiated label must have a core product.
So, can core products become the main driving force for brand differentiation? The industry is usually divided into two factions. One faction isConstantly learning new techniques, the other school creates differentiated products and builds a brand that is decentralized in the ceramic industry.
How to create differentiated products in the construction and ceramics industry, should it be driven by design or products? Take Apple as an example, a leader in design-driven brands. Is there any difference between the "design" in the design-driven brand created by Apple and the "design" in the construction and ceramics industry? The difference is huge! Behind Apple's design are more than 10 billion US dollars in R&D investment, more than 1,000 patents, more than dozens of core components, a unique operating system, and near-perfect industrial design... Together, these are the It has produced an absolutely differentiated product like Apple.
So can ceramic tiles make absolutely differentiated products?
Take slate as an example. In just three years from research and development to popularity, competition in the slate market has become fierce, showing deep involution and even serious homogenization. The investment in rock slab equipment can easily reach hundreds of millions of yuan. In this context, rock slab products cannot yet create absolutely differentiated products. So why do non-leading brands think that buying some manuscripts and adding some mold effects can completely produce differentiated products? Chemical products!
Of course, this does not encourage brands to stop making products. Chen Gaozhao summed up a formula: building a moat for core products = product × focus × professionalism. Among these three words, concentration refers to breadth, and professionalism refers to depth. Among them, the most difficult thing to achieve is concentration, because behind concentration, it means giving up.
Chen Gaozhao made two conclusions for the first part:
Conclusion 1: Good products are the basic support of a brand. It is necessary to focus on the brand and create its own differentiated label. The core of the conclusion lies in the word "basic", which means the rigid requirements of the product. Without good products, there is no possibility of building a high-quality brand.
Conclusion 2: Product development has moved from the original single technology field to a multi-disciplinary field. Product development must be aligned with brand strategy.
In the past, the logic of product development was that new equipment came online so we made this product, or the glaze company we cooperated with learned new techniques and made new products; we even bought new artwork in Italy, so we made new products. , the initiative seems to be in one's own hands, but in fact it is just a matter of "doing whatever you can". In the future, when entering the brand stage, companies will have to actively choose between “what to do” and “what not to do”.", from "do whatever you can do" to the level of strategic planning. Instead of fighting with "product-centered".
02
"Counter Trend" 2:
Learn from Italy to build a brand? No need!
Why is it not the need of Chinese companies in the construction and sanitary ceramics industry to learn from Italy in making brands? Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win every battle. Chen Gaozhao carefully analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of Italian brands.
Who is the audience of Italian brands? What's the market situation like?
Affected by the epidemic in 2020, Italian production lines also started and stopped. The total export volume for the year was 318 million square meters, accounting for 92.4% of the annual output value, and the average price was 13.9 euros per square meter. The Italian ceramic industry is an absolutely export-oriented industry.
Among them, Italy's total sales to Europe, North America and Australia accounted for 77.9%. Taking into account the data exported to Japan, South Korea, Singapore and other developed countries in the Middle East and Asia, nearly 80% of Italian brand exports are Sold to developed countries. The market in developed countries is an olive-shaped market, while the Chinese market is a pyramid market; the market formats are completely different.
Secondly, the audience’s aesthetics are also different. Italy faces the different aesthetics of nearly 100 countries. Product application standards are also very strict and detailed. Speaking of anti-skid standards alone, different spaces have different application standards; except for curtain walls, China has strict application standards, but other standards are relatively loose.
In general, Italy faces complex aesthetics and application standards, while China faces a single and traditional aesthetics and standard system. Singleness does not mean that everyone only likes luxury and dislikes simplicity, but it means that the structure is single.
From the perspective of consumer values, the developed countries that Italy faces are countries with extremely rational consumption. In large ceramic tile consuming countries such as the United States, their ceramic tile products are sold in supermarkets, and even the paving is DIY. . It is so rational that the gross profit of every product property transfer is visible: the brand adds a gross profit of 1 point and sells it to the distributor, the distributor adds 3% of the gross profit to the wholesale tile store, and the tile store adds a fixed gross profit of the sale to the distributor. consumer. Therefore, as long as you specialize in export trade, you only need to see the price of ceramic tiles in the store to estimate the ex-factory price of ceramic tiles.
In China, relatively rational is still a polite term.
How irrational is China’s ceramic tile consumption? flowerWhen I bought a villa for 20 million, I didn’t even start designing the house. I just decided what materials to use without considering the price at all: I wanted it to be made in Italy, and I wanted the best Italian brand.
From the perspective of promotion and communication, it is also different. In the past 5 to 10 years, the logic of information transmission in China has been the push logic of the 5G era; while in Italy, it has been the retroactive logic of the previous generation of Internet. But from this perspective, China is already at the forefront of the world. We use the metaphor of “looking for beautiful women” to distinguish the difference between Italian communication logic and Chinese communication logic.
Italian communication logic: You see three beauties from a distance in an alley. The one with short hair is your type, but it is too far away. You have to walk up and take a look to tell whether they are beauties. , and when I got closer, I saw that she was indeed a beauty.
China’s communication logic: If you want to find a beautiful woman, you will go directly to Taikoo Hui. The street is full of beautiful women. You will be thrown directly into the center of beautiful women. From a distance, a person with long red hair is the ideal type. If you get closer, you will see the ideal type. Look, it's a man.
The most annoying thing is that even a man must be recognizable and differentiated. He must first be able to move from "being seen" to "being selected." The same goes for Chinese brands. Only when they are recognized among the stars can they continue to compete in the next step. This is the difference between Italian promotion logic and Chinese promotion logic.
The most important difference is in the sales system. Italy and China have two completely different sales systems. China has an agent system and Italy has a distribution system.
Using a metaphor that is easy to understand but not very pleasant: the agency system of Chinese brands is essentially a 2B model. That is, a brand can develop many small agents at the same time, and the brand is in a strong position. The brand and the agent have a "polygamy elimination system". Both parties need to get a license to get married (sign an agency contract) and have "children" (expand the store); in addition, the brand has a "wife" in each city. There will also be many "girlfriends". If the "main wife" is disobedient, the mistress or mistress may take over at any time.
As for Italy's distribution logic, it is essentially a 2B distribution model. Both parties can have a very open "boyfriend-girlfriend" relationship, and can have several girlfriends or boyfriends at the same time. Then the products need to be divided into different series and sold to different customers.
What is the current situation facing Italian brands? There are hundreds of brands in Italy, and their agents may beThere are dozens of them, and they occupy the mainstream international market. The B-side is so powerful that you can choose whichever brand you want.
Therefore, the biggest essential difference between the distribution system and the agent system is that the distributor system is for big B, the agent system is for small B, and Italian brands have a broad but shallow brand structure.
Why wide? Because the top 20 Italian brands are basically multi-brand operations and do not put their eggs in the same basket; why is it so shallow? They only need to be responsible for the big B-side, not the back-end operations and sales, and do not need to contact the C-side; while China needs to reach the C-side through the small B-side.
Chen Gaozhao gives the conclusion of the second part:
Conclusion 1: Don’t learn how to make a brand from Italy. If you must learn, just learn from Italian brands to do the back-end (such as brand architecture, product architecture and brand image, etc.).
Conclusion 2: Learn from domestic advanced brands to do front-end (brand communication, terminal operations and customer service, etc.). In the next few years, brands in China's building ceramics industry will catch up with Italy in some professional fields. For example, Dongpeng's front-end sales to back-end services and even return visits have exceeded international standards.
03
"Counter Trend" Three:
Keeping up with the Bologna show trends? Not ideal!
What is the difference between 2B and 2b? Italy's "2B model" is based on series agents; China's "2B model" is based on brands. China's "2b model" is that when a brand launches a new product, an agent must buy it. If the brand doesn't sell it, the agent will be replaced. The Italian "2B model" is a brand that works hard for a whole year to "come out" with 1 or 2 series of products through the efforts of the entire company, and then goes to find a willing super agent to cooperate.
For Italian brands, it is difficult to establish relationships with mainstream customers who have already entered the market. This also means that Italian brands need to take advantage of the competition between the big B markets to find a foothold for their new series of new products.
Therefore, Italy's "2B model" will focus on breakpoint development of complete series, supplemented by continuous development. After all, there is a very small chance that two similar series will be represented by the same agent. However, the brand will also carry out continuous development of the Ace series at a frequency of 1-2 years to fill the gap in the market. China's "2B model" is mainly based on continuous and continuous development, especially for non-head brands. Once the brand differentiation label is established, it cannot be easily changed, and domestic agents are basically "small B&B"rdquo;, there is no way to accept a large number of new products every year. Often the next product series is coming before the previous product has been launched and the market has not adapted. Therefore, for the Chinese market, brands can do some experimental innovation and development, and if it works, they can move to continuous development.
What is a complete series?
What is continuous development?
Does an agent really need to change his main series of products every year? In fact, not necessarily, at least not for the next two years. The Filona concrete series in the picture above has been developed and put into production since 2018. It initially has 12 colors and 2 specifications; this year (2021) it has been expanded to 18 colors and 3 specifications, and some co-branded models have been added. This series It will continue to be developed for 5 years and will be sold for another 10 years in the future.
What can we learn from Italy when it comes to product development? ——Brand architecture and product architecture.
The brand structure of EMILGROUP is taken as an example. Although it was acquired by Marazzi, its multi-brand layout remains unchanged. ERGON is a cement brand and LEVEL is a slate brand. The brand positioning is very clear and will not conflict with each other.
In the domestic market, from the early product era to the channel era, large groups have followed the multi-brand path, but the products between brands are also becoming homogeneous. The original intention of creating a multi-brand structure was to achieve "exclusive agency" and increase market share, and it did not start from the role of building the brand itself.
In terms of product structure, the four major categories of "marble, stone, cement, and wood grain" are eternal. In the past ten years of development, these four major categories have occupied the most mainstream in Italy and become the basic structure of products. In addition, they cooperate with the research and development of weaving, leather, metal, mix and match, etc. There is still a slight gap between the infrastructure of most domestic full-category brands and that of Italy.
In order to straighten out the basic logic of brand architecture and product architecture, Chen Gaozhao believes that classics are better than popularIt is more worthy of research and more worthy of learning.
How to study? You can learn Western thinking to “copy homework”.
In English, copying homework ≠ plagiarism. Plagiarism is called "copy" and copying homework is called "inspire". The original meaning of "inspire" is to be inspired.
How do Western brands study classics and "copy their homework"?
Previously, Chen Gaozhao once put forward a point of view: "There is no originality in this world. Originality is just a recombination of different elements in different time and space." And thus put forward the "original creation concept". He believes that the current mission of domestic brands is to dig out the sources and find out the patterns, so that they can make better products.
Chen Gaozhao gives the conclusion of the third part:
Conclusion 1: From the perspective of satisfying customers and the market, following Italy does not meet the actual needs of current Chinese brands. Green jade is popular in Italy. Does China have to follow suit and make jade immediately?
Conclusion 2: Learn more about Italy from the brand backend, brand architecture and product architecture. To fill this gap, studying classics is far more pragmatic than studying popular ones.
Conclusion
Industry changes will come several times faster than expected. Using the super certainty of the brand itself to hedge against the uncertainty of the outside world is the only way for non-leading brands to firmly occupy their territory!
Chen Gaozhao sends best wishes to his peers in the industry: I hope that all brands will be able to find their own share of spring in the near future.
