[Face-to-face interviews in the ceramics industry] Issue 17
Interviewed Guest｜Yan Lijian, General Manager of Jinduo Tile Brand
Interviewer｜Director of New Media Division of China Ceramics Network Zou Sijin
Interview time｜The afternoon of March 4, 2022
Interview location｜Jinduo Navigation Hall, Nanzhuang Avenue, Chancheng District
Text writing｜Liu Sitao
Video shooting｜Yang Xuelian
As we all know, there are many ceramic tile brands in the building ceramics industry, but only a handful of them have been established for more than 30 years. And Jinduo ceramic tile is one of them. Jinduo Ceramics, founded in 1993, will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2022. After 30 years of ups and downs from 1993 to 2022, Jinduo Ceramics has always stood tall among the well-known brands in the building ceramics industry, and has also become one of many new brands. example.
In recent years, affected by factors such as the downturn of the real estate industry, overcapacity in the industry, and the fission of consumption channels, the building and ceramics industry has fallen into a difficult development dilemma. In this environment, many ceramic companies quickly changed their development direction, trying to get out of trouble and move towards the fast lane of high-quality development. Faced with the difficulties of industry development and brand breakthrough, Jinduo Ceramics Brand General Manager Yan Lijian expressed his insights in an interview with the "Ceramic Industry Face to Face" column of China Ceramics Network.
▲Exclusive interview video
Invest 500 million yuan to upgrade equipment
Price reduction at the beginning of the year, significant cost control effect
In 2021, the situation in the construction and ceramics industry will be ups and downs. Energy and raw material prices are rising, real estate companies are experiencing thunderstorms, and "dual carbon and dual control" have triggered a wave of power and production restrictions. Many Ceramics people all say that they have experienced "ice and fire", and the pattern of the building ceramics industry has gradually changed; and at the beginning of 2022, price increases have begun to appear again. This year is still an uneasy one for the industry. Year. Many people are pessimistic about the future market environment.
Yan Lijian said that a "price increase" in the industry is bound to occur, but this phenomenon is beneficial to Jinduo Ceramics.
The proposal of the "dual control" plan for energy consumption in 2021 shows that the country has considerable control over energy and resources. As a high-pollution and high-energy-consuming industry, the construction and ceramics industry development will inevitably be greatly curbed. At the same time, the current rising cost of ceramic production has also brought greater challenges to the transformation and upgrading of ceramic companies. Yan Lijian said that under the "dual control" policy on energy consumption, ceramic companies are indeed facing great pressure to survive. In this regard, Jinduo Ceramics has successively made corresponding response strategies since last year, including improving the equipment of the two production bases.Carry out upgrades and renovations, sign contracts for photovoltaic power generation projects, etc. After the preliminary preparation and layout, the production process control of Jinduo ceramic tiles has become more refined, and the cost control effect is quite significant. In early March this year, at a time when peers were raising prices one after another, Jinduo Ceramics lowered the price of its products that had increased last year.
▲Jinduo Tile Green Intelligent Manufacturing Production Base
It is understood that as early as October 2020, Jinduo Tile was based on the draft for comments on the "Ceramic Industry Pollutant Emission Standards" of the Ministry of Environment and Ecology, combined with the requirements put forward by the local Environment and Ecology Bureau. In order to achieve ultra-low emission goals, an environmentally friendly ultra-low emission plan was formulated and quickly put into construction. With the full promotion of the company, the new environmental protection equipment was officially put into use in March 2021 and achieved remarkable results. With the promulgation of the national "double carbon" goal, Jinduo Ceramics has accelerated the pace of green and low-carbon transformation and upgrading. On October 29, 2021, it signed a "Distributed Photovoltaic Power Generation Project Cooperation Agreement" with Zhuhai Integrated Energy Co., Ltd., with an expected investment of 8 Wanwan is building a photovoltaic power generation project at its Guangxi production base. This move further promotes the energy saving and consumption reduction of Jinduo ceramic tiles and optimizes the energy structure.
▲Jinduo Ceramics signed photovoltaic power generation project
Jinduo Ceramics also spares no effort in upgrading and transforming production equipment. According to Yan Lijian, in order to allow the company to develop stably and rapidly, In 2021, Jinduo Ceramics has invested a total of 500 million yuan to upgrade and transform equipment at its two production bases in Xiqiao, Foshan and Tengxian, Guangxi. At the same time, two new rock tiles have been put into production. Board/large board production line to further meet the supply needs of the terminal market.
Yan Lijian said that through a series of strategic layouts, Jinduo Ceramics has strengthened its ability to control production costs and quality, while further reducing the cost pressure caused by rising energy and raw material prices. , which is more conducive to the market competition of Jinduo Ceramics in the severe industry situation.
Establish an information collection platform
Use digitalization to solidify the foundation of marketing channel services
As the national regulatory policies continue to tighten, the real estate industry will usher in a major reshuffle in 2021. The capital chains of many real estate companies represented by Evergrande are broken, and thunderstorms continue. , directly triggered a crisis of trust in big B-end channels. At this stage, the real estate dividend is ebbing, and home decoration, building materials and home furnishing companies have begun to re-examine the risks and benefits of the tooling channel, and are gradually turning their attention to the whole decoration track. In recent years, the decoration track has been booming. Home decoration companies such as Dongyi Risheng and Yizhifeng have entered the decoration mode. Pan-home furnishing companies such as Oppein, Sophia, and Baidusheng have also set off a round of "whole home" craze. Tao Not to be outdone, enterprises are also arranging decoration channels, such as turning to large home furnishings and setting up decoration departments.
Yan Lijian said that the thunderstorms of real estate companies directly affected and affected a large number of upstream and downstream suppliers. The subsequent impact of this is that ceramic companies will change their sales strategies and re- Shift focus to terminal channels. Therefore, competition in the packaged goods channel will become more intense this year.
For Jinduo Ceramics, the whole decoration channel is also one of its future directions. It is understood that Jinduo Ceramics has established a decoration engineering department since last year to strengthen professional communication and better serve large-scale home decoration projects. In addition, Jinduo Ceramics has also been actively connecting with large-scale home decoration and decoration companies across the country in recent years, and has continued to cooperate with the home decoration and decoration fields to further integrate advantageous resources and help terminal dealers expand regional decoration channels. "By cooperating with home decoration companies, this also prompts the terminal dealers of Jinduo ceramic tiles to improve and optimize service details," Yan Lijian said.
It is worth mentioning that at the 7th Tubatu Ecological Conference in December last year, Jinduo Ceramics was awarded Tubatu’s 2021 New Partner Enterprise. This marks that Jinduo Ceramics’ integrated channel layout has achieved initial results.
▲ Representative Yan Lijian (fourth from left) attended to receive the award
With the development of the times, today’s consumers are paying more and more attention to sales services, especially finished product delivery services. Many people believe that this is the best entry point for ceramic companies to adapt to the trend of decoration. . In Yan Lijian's view, the delivery of finished products in the ceramics industry is still in its infancy and development stage. The top priority for Jinduo Ceramics is to work with dealers to meet the actual needs of the market and implement terminal services accurately and meticulously. As far as brand development is concerned, the delivery of finished products is inevitable, but the premise is to integrate its own resources, consolidate the service foundation, and then gradually meet the market's delivery needs.
Yan Lijian also mentioned thatthe delivery of finished products requires strong background data support. Jinduo Ceramics is working on a digital information collection project. This project is supported by digital technology and continues to introduce outstanding craftsmen, large home decoration companies, designers, etc. from all over the country to the platform to promote the delivery of finished products in a digital form. .
"Quality Beauty Thousand Stores" Winning Terminal
Renew store image and enhance user experience
In November 2021, Jinduo Tile Quality Meiqian Store Brand Strategy and 2021 Autumn New Product Launch Conference were held in Foshan. At the meeting, Jinduo Ceramics announced the launch of the "Thousands of Quality Stores" plan. In the future, it will create a brand display window with strong brand characteristics and ultimate user experience by upgrading product visualization and spatial visualization experience.
▲Yan Lijian explains the brand strategy of "Quality and Beauty Thousand Stores"
“‘Quality Beauty Thousand Stores’ actually embodies Jinduo Ceramics’ dual thinking on brand transformation and upgrading under the changes in the industry”, Yan Lijian said.
The first consideration is to base on the development trend of the times, the brand image of Jinduo Ceramics must be iteratively upgraded. Specifically speaking, "quality" represents the good quality of products and the ultimate in services; "beauty" is the concept of aesthetics, which refers to good appearance and good image. Jinduo Ceramics proposes the brand positioning of "quality and beauty", hoping to form brand characteristics in terms of image, products, services, etc., adhere to the quality commitment with ingenuity, build terminal quality and beauty space stores, and bring quality and beauty to thousands of households. Life.
The second consideration is that in order to achieve the brand sales target, the terminal market share of Jinduo Ceramics must be at least 1,000 stores. Yan Lijian believes that the reason why a brand is a brand is that it must have a certain production scale and market share, and it must also have user recognition, that is, the brand display window can reach consumers. Terminal stores are a favorable place for establishing brand image and an important platform for communication with consumers. Good marketing scenarios reach consumers directly through sensory stimulation of appearance, which has become a way to break through the competition of homogeneous brand products. The appearance of the store determines the market position of the brand. A good store image is a guarantee of high customer flow and is crucial to promoting primary marketing and secondary conversions. Therefore, Jinduo Ceramics has set the goal of "thousands of stores". It can be said that building 1,000 terminal image stores is not only the basic indicator for Jinduo Ceramics to achieve its brand sales goals, but also a major strategy for promoting brand building.
▲Jinduo Tile Quality Terminal Store
It is understood that theJinduo Tile Quality Meiqian Store plan has been implemented since October last year. Due to the clear work direction and fast terminal response speed, it took just over 4 months. During this time, Jinduo Ceramics has built or renovated more than 300 quality terminal stores. Yan Lijian said that judging from the feedback data collected by the brand, since the products and visual experience of terminal stores have been upgraded, Jinduo hasThe terminal image and influence of ceramic tiles have been greatly improved, and a good store experience has also greatly improved the sales conversion rate. He revealed thatJinduo Ceramics’ terminal sales growth rate from January to February this year was the highest in the past five years.
Six dimensions to change sales status
Achieve 2 billion brand scale in five years
Jinduo Ceramics has always insisted on deeply exploring the terminal retail market. This year, it proposed the goal of changing the sales status of terminal stores and clarified future store operations and management from six dimensions. focus of work.
The first is store display. Through the comprehensive implementation of the Jingmei Thousand Stores plan, Jinduo Ceramics strives to refine and create an image showroom with brand recognition.
The second is product competitiveness. Jinduo Ceramics has always maintained an open and innovative attitude to continuously develop new processes and launch highly differentiated core products to accurately meet the needs of the consumer market. At the same time, it combines brand strategic upgrade elements to provide new growth for terminal store operations. point.
The third is channel construction. Integrate headquarters resources to help terminal stores develop channels such as decoration, home decoration, craftsmen, and designers. At the same time, we will gradually enhance the service capabilities of the store team and expand the scale of regular customers with the help of word-of-mouth.
The fourth is store marketing and promotion activities. In order to effectively implement the brand's development strategy of "Thousands of Quality Stores", Jinduo Ceramics' planning and promotion department will collaborate with dealers at the terminal to focus on the planning and implementation assistance of various types of activities, so as to enhance the store's sustainable transaction power and more It can effectively help channel expansion and increase market share.
The fifth is training and empowerment. Establish a multi-dimensional training system and introduce online business schools+Multiple offline multi-dimensional special course training, including design, sales, activities, new retail operations, etc.
Sixth Sales Dynamic Management. Use the digital platform to accurately control the store sales process, help dealers attract traffic, operate and manage, and improve sales power by strengthening terminal management.
▲Jinduo Tile 2021 Autumn New Product - True Color Series
In addition, Yan Lijian revealed that Based on the need for heavy investment and rapid development of the brand, Jinduo Ceramics has proposed a goal of achieving a brand scale of 2 billion within five years.
In order to achieve this goal, in addition to vigorously implementing the Jingmei Qian store strategy and continuing to improve terminal store sales, Jinduo Ceramics has also determined three work priorities：
First, increase efforts in product research and development. In 2021, Jinduo Ceramics has invested heavily in upgrading and renovating production equipment. This year, it will use technological innovation as support, increase product research and development efforts, and strive to launch representative products with strong brand characteristics.
The second is to increase brand promotion efforts. Jinduo Ceramics should make great efforts in brand building and increase the intensity, breadth and depth of brand promotion through media, advertising, etc. to further enhance brand awareness.
▲Jinduo ceramic tile advertising dominates the high-speed rail station
The third is to actively carry out terminal marketing activities. Taking the 30th anniversary as an opportunity, Jinduo Ceramics will launch a series of celebration marketing activities in terminal stores across the country, not only to double the brand’s reputation, but also to ensure that the storeSales increased significantly.
