Article/Zen Can
Some experts predict that with the explosive development of rock slabs, the building ceramics industry will develop in the direction of pan-home furnishing sheet-based, material-based, and de-branding; some experts believe that to do well in rock slabs, the first step is to Branding and de-branding of rock slabs is the direction that rock slab brands are currently considering. It is a revolutionary cross-border transformation of ceramics... There are endless views on the de-branding of slabs in the ceramics industry.
However, experts may have overlooked one point: for ceramic companies that produce and sell slates, slates bring them the opportunity to move from industry brands to consumer brands.
This is by no means a sudden whim of the author, but an indirect quote from Mr. Bao Jiejun, a scholar-entrepreneur in the construction and ceramics industry. It comes from Bao Gong's new work "Bao Jiejun: Who is in charge of the ups and downs of the rock slab industry chain?" ", the original words are "For us ceramic people, the greater opportunity is to move from industry brands to consumer brands."
So, should rock slabs be de-branded?
Is de-branding a false proposition?
The so-called de-branding means that companies no longer deliberately emphasize the brand and return the focus of operations to the product itself. The reason why companies have this understanding is that people's consumption concepts have changed to a certain extent in recent years. They no longer easily pay for brand premiums, but pay more and more attention to the actual value and practicality of products.
Both domestic and foreign brands, there are brands that have been very successful in de-branding, such as Japan’s Muji and China’s Pinduoduo.
Muji means "no trademarks and high quality" in Japanese. One of its biggest features is minimalism. The products have no trademarks, unnecessary designs, and all unnecessary processing and colors. It’s so simple that only the materials and functions themselves remain. In addition to the logos on store signs and paper bags, it is difficult for customers to find their brand marks on all Muji products.
Pinduoduo needs no introduction. I believe that even if you are reading this article and have never bought anything on it, you have received group buying links on WeChat from relatives, friends and even strangers asking you to help negotiate prices. Its business model is C2M, which means direct-to-consumer manufacturing, omitting intermediate links, mark-up pricing on production costs, de-branding, de-marketing and packaging, and extremely low prices.
Yes, both Muji and Pinduoduo are taking the path of de-branding, but don’t forget: the de-branding of Muji and Pinduoduo is to dilute the brands of their respective products, not their own brands. . While other people's products are gradually moving away from the road of de-branding, the brand influence of Muji and Pinduoduo is becoming more and more important.My wallet is getting bigger and bigger.
In this sense, de-branding is a false proposition that leads many companies astray. In fact, many companies pay more attention to brand building than before, but they have just moved up to the brand IP stage with the times.
If slate manufacturers in the construction and ceramics industry embark on the road of de-branding without thinking, they are likely to "make wedding clothes for others" and lose their right to speak in the slate industry chain.
What products do not require a brand?
No matter what industry it is in, most products require brands, especially products with low consumer participation, products that can show consumer taste and status, and products whose quality and credit are difficult to evaluate before use. The latter two types of products require brands that are relatively easy to understand, while products with low levels of customer involvement require branding that requires some explanation: low levels of consumer involvement means they lack understanding and confidence in the products, and the role of the brand becomes apparent; This is especially true for products such as ceramic tiles and slate, where attention is low and the total purchase price is large.
Only a small number of products do not require a brand, but only relatively speaking.
First, products with monopoly nature. Needless to say, all products in the era of my country's planned economy, resource products such as water, electricity, coal, oil, and gas in the current market economy era are very representative. Their pricing power is determined by monopoly rather than the market, and will not be based on average cost. Pricing.
The second is products whose quality is much lower than the average price. For example, for counterfeit products from all walks of life, their manufacturers and operators would like the market to be as chaotic as possible, and to fish in troubled waters as chaotic as possible
The third is products whose brand premium is far less than the cost of brand promotion. This is the reason why many manufacturers currently focus on OEM, because the cost of building a brand is too high.
But even so, they don’t necessarily need brands.
Take monopoly products as an example. After they enter the circulation field, they will also have service differences and still need brands. For example, state-owned monopoly giants such as State Grid, China Petroleum, and Sinopec are listed in the "Top 500 Most Valuable Brands in the World" Ranking at the top of the brand list all year round is the most powerful proof. Taking products whose quality is much lower than the average price as an example, it stands to reason that the low-priced inferior tiles in the building ceramics industry and the so-called bargain tiles whose quality cannot be guaranteed do not need brands. Their advantage and selling point is that they are cheap, but those with People who make a living like to hold the brand flag high and claim that the biggest advantage of their products is that they are not only extremely low-priced but also have a strong brand. Taking products whose brand premium is far less than the cost of brand promotion as an example, it is still necessary to build an OEM brand.
Judging from the current situation, rock slabs are not among these three products. It would be unwise for rock slab manufacturers in the ceramics industry to focus on branding.
What does ingredient branding mean?
Kevin Lane Keller, an international pioneer in comprehensive research on marketing communication and strategic brand management and an American brand expert, believes that ingredient branding refers to suppliers providing necessary raw materials and ingredients for their downstream products. and components the process of building brand equity. It is a collaboration between two different entities, ingredient suppliers and product manufacturers.
Essentially, ingredients are hidden in the final product as intermediate inputs in production and do not come into direct contact with users. Usually users do not pay attention to the ingredients.
Ingredient branding breaks this convention and pushes ingredients from the backend of production to the front end of sales, allowing end users to have an impression or even form a preference for a certain brand of ingredient contained in the product. The final possible ideal outcome is: a certain brand of ingredients contained in the product. The brand's ingredients will gradually become a standard ingredient in the end product industry, and users will not buy products that do not contain this ingredient.
Therefore, the essence of ingredient branding is the process of trying to create an industry standard.
For suppliers, labeling the intermediate product brand, that is, the ingredient brand, on the manufacturer's terminal product, and jointly marketing it with the brand of the terminal product can bring consumers' attention through the terminal market appeal of the ingredient brand. The "pull effect" makes the use of ingredients become the standard in downstream industries, thereby expanding the sales of ingredients and obtaining higher product premiums. For manufacturers, they can increase the perceived value of end products by using ingredient brands, making their products more acceptable to the market and improving product profitability.
Having seen the positive significance of building ingredient brands, many companies in all walks of life have implemented ingredient branding strategies. There are also many successful cases. The most influential one is the company that dominates the field of CPU processors. Intel.
Intel's ingredient branding strategy has reached the highest level of "strengthen A and ask for money from B" in marketing. It uses PC manufacturers to paste the "Intel Inside" logo on their computers, uses advertising to directly convey its brand connotation to consumers, and deeply binds PC manufacturers with the "advertising rebate" model, and has become the number one brand in the market through "joint marketing" , let the saying "A computer is good depends on whether it uses an Intel processor" deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and occupied the minds of consumers.
Whether rock slabs are sold as ceramic tiles or as new materials, it would be a huge pity if rock slab manufacturers in the building ceramics industry dare not try ingredient branding strategies.
Like ceramic tiles, rock slabs are actually a product that is easily homogenized. When the production capacity of slate slabs is growing too fast, the demand is far from being activated, and the prices are falling again and again, only the slate manufacturers in the ceramics industry can actively focus on all aspects such as deep processing, design, application, delivery and service of slate slabs. It is possible to achieve differentiated competition and implement ingredient brand strategies, thereby enhancing brand premium capabilities, ensuring the profit margins of slate and expanding the development space of slate; otherwise, it may cut off its own path and enter a desperate situation.
“Deep processing is the core of the slate industry chain.” “Stone slabs give us the opportunity to extend down the industrial chain, from semi-finished products to products, to make slate furniture, which can be sold directly to consumers. At this time, we spend It will definitely become possible to seize the minds of consumers and build consumer brands." "With a more proactive attitude, we will create more, substitute, and seize the right to speak in the process of building the slate industry chain." Bao Gong is in "Bao Jiejun: Who is in charge of the ups and downs of the rock slab industry chain?" "The view put forward in the article should also be based on this reason.
In addition to deep processing, design, application, delivery and service, building a slate brand is also inseparable from publicity and promotion.
In order to promote the building ceramics industry to establish a benchmark brand of rock slabs, promote the overall progress of the research and development, production, processing, application, marketing and other aspects of rock slabs, promote the healthy and vigorous development of rock slabs, thereby helping the ceramics industry get out of the downturn, Returning to the peak of tens of billions, China Ceramics Network has taken advantage of the situation and launched the Golden Rock Award, which focuses on promoting outstanding slate brands.
What is the significance of the name of the Golden Rock Award? "Jin" means gold, and "Yan" is the abbreviation of slate. Gold symbolizes nobility, glory, brightness and splendor. The Golden Rock Award means that the future development of slate will show infinite bright and brilliant prospects.
What are the organizational advantages of the Golden Rock Award? The guiding unit is Foshan Ceramics Industry Association. The host and organizer is China Ceramics Network, which has high weight (remaining at 6 all year round, ranking first in the industry), large traffic (about 15,000-20,000 natural IP traffic per day), and high value (ensuring that the published industry information and The information of ceramic enterprises and dealers is permanently included in the headlines on Baidu homepage), and the "Top Ten Brands of Chinese Architectural and Sanitary Ceramics" founded by Basic Lao ("China's Top Ten Brands of Building and Sanitary Ceramics" has been successfully held for 10 times since 2011, and is held every year at the Great Hall of the People, Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, National MeetingCenter, the CPPCC Auditorium and other top honor halls in Beijing to award awards. Relying on the top three advantages of China Ceramics Network, it has consistently ranked first on the Baidu homepage all year round. It has grown into a value list in the minds of consumers and is known as the "Hundred Flowers Award of the Ceramics Industry") The four core competitiveness help the slate brand seize the minds of dealers and users through the entire network publicity and promotion campaign in the initial stage of slate development. The advantages are very obvious.
The Golden Rock Award seeks out and commends benchmark brands of rock slabs, and empowers the development of rock slab brands and the ceramic industry!
Author: Zen Can
