[Face-to-face interviews with people in the ceramic industry] Issue 16
Interviewed Guest｜Zeng Junhong, Chairman of Tao Yuanshuai Ceramics
Interviewer｜Director of New Media Division of China Ceramics Network Zou Sijin
Interview time｜The afternoon of January 11, 2022
Interview location｜Tao Yuanshuai Tile Foshan Marketing Center
Text writing｜Liu Sitao
Video shooting｜Yang Xuelian
Everyone should be familiar with the term "new first-tier", such as "new first-tier" cities, but have you heard of "new first-tier" ceramic tile brands?
On January 11, China Ceramics Network brought the "Ceramic Industry Face to Face" column to Tao Yuanshuai Ceramics (hereinafter referred to as "Tao Yuanshuai"), and had an in-depth discussion with Tao Yuanshuai's chairman Zeng Junhong on the brand development. Zeng Junhong said that due to the downturn in the real estate market, the construction and ceramics industry, which is closely related to it, is gradually shrinking and the reshuffle is intensifying. Under this situation, more and more ceramic construction companies are responding to the current predicament by reducing capital investment, but he saw "opportunities" in this "crisis", chose to increase investment, and proposed for the first time in the industry The "new first-line" ceramic tile brand concept is the first of its kind to create a new first-line ceramic tile brand.
01
The era when big fish eats small fish
No brand, no future
"Tao Yuanshuai is a ceramic tile brand that is going very steadily." Zeng Junhong used "stable" to describe Tao Yuanshuai's brand development in the past 15 years.
Tao Yuanshuai was founded in 2007. At the beginning, it only had a single product of porcelain tiles;
After 2009, a new 400×800mm mid-plate was added;
In 2011, the industry began to transform into large-sized ceramic tiles, and Tao Yuanshuai also entered the era of glazed tiles;
In 2013, it seized the trend of marble tiles and developed rapidly.Invested 300 million yuan to build a production base in Guangning, Zhaoqing, and successfully put it into production in 2014;
In 2017, modern style "swept" the entire ceramic construction industry. Tao Yuanshuai took this opportunity to enhance the brand image of the terminal and refreshed all the European-style decoration of the terminal store;
In 2019, Tao Yuanshuai signed the international superstar Donnie Yen as the brand spokesperson, and then entered the fast lane of rapid brand development. It was also in this year that his brand value was evaluated by authoritative organizations as high as 12.858 billion yuan;
In 2020, Tao Yuanshuai once again expanded its production scale and invested 500 million yuan in upgrading and expanding the original production base. At the same time, the new exhibition hall at the headquarters was renovated and upgraded; it invested heavily in the research and development of "molten rock" products;
In 2021, Tao Yuanshuai released the latest brand slogan "I choose Tao Yuanshuai for ceramic tiles". The new image of its brand spokesperson Donnie Yen will be launched in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Fuzhou, Chengdu, Changsha, Sanya, Xiamen, Haikou, Kunming, Harbin and Shenyang are the 13 largest airports in the country.
Tao Yuanshuai Airport advertising dominates the screen< /p>
At present, Tao Yuanshuai's production base in Zhaoqing, Guangdong covers a total area of more than 1,500 acres and has 8 complete sets of ceramic automation equipment production lines imported from Italy, with an annual output value of more than 2 billion yuan.
Tao Yuanshuai Zhaoqing Production Base
While rapidly improving the brand image, Tao Yuanshuai has always paid close attention to product innovation and research and development. Based on strong scientific research and manufacturing capabilities and outstanding innovation capabilities, Tao Yuanshuai has always been branded as "original" in product research and development. In 2018, he launched “Li Bai Porcelain Polished White Bricks" launched vertical and horizontal large slabs in 2019, launched Marshal Slate in 2020, and in 2021, it launched two high-end series of "Lava Mantle Rock" and "Suzhou" products.
Since its establishment in 2007, with the rise and fall of the industry, Tao Yuanshuai has remained strong despite the ups and downs. In recent years, its development momentum has been even more rapid, with outstanding performance in brand marketing, product research and development, investment and franchising, etc. , full-year performance in 2021 increased by 35%.
In an interview with China Ceramics Network, Zeng Junhong repeatedly emphasized that without a brand, there would be no future, especially as the current reshuffle of the building ceramics industry intensifies and it has entered the "oligopoly era". Without a brand, the final outcome is most likely to be acquired and reduced to As a "producer" for large enterprises. Therefore, Marshal Tao did not want to follow the crowd and wanted to control his own destiny.
Tao Yuanshuai Chairman Zeng Junhong
"At present, we still have a chance." Zeng Junhong analyzed that the building ceramics industry is relatively traditional and online sales are underdeveloped. The sales of ceramic tiles are not only functional products but also touch the consumer service level. At the same time, decoration styles are diverse and changing rapidly. Ceramic tile products also show different characteristics due to different decoration styles. Multi-category, multi-style and multi-functional features. Therefore, the "oligopoly era" process of the building and ceramics industry will be slower than that of other industries such as automobiles, because it is difficult for leading companies to meet all the decoration needs of consumers in a short period of time. "Our opportunity lies in first leading the market with innovation, and secondly keeping up with market changes and taking a younger approach."
02
It’s more about hard work than talent
The original intention is to make products with soul
Products are the carrier of corporate value. It is understood that in 2021, Tao Yuanshuai had an insight into the market environment, grasped the market trend according to consumer demand, and carried out strategic upgrades of products. He launched two high-end series of products, lava mantle rock and plain writing, and passed two large-scale national events in the middle of the year and the Double Festival. LinkageThe promotion of the event has been baptized by the market and has received many praises from the industry and consumers.
In terms of product research and development, Tao Yuanshuai divides the market target groups into two types, one is high-end people, who enjoy a noble and luxurious high-end lifestyle; the other is young consumers, who prefer simple and simple decoration experience. Lava mantle rock and sketch are the core products developed based on the characteristics of these two groups of people. Among them, lava mantle rock is a "sharp tool" for terminal market development and quick profit.
Map mantle rock product space renderings
Mentioning the original intention and background of the research and development of lava mantle rock, Zeng Junhong said that "everything remains true". The current high-end decoration market is still dominated by natural and rare stones, while ordinary marble tiles only meet basic practical needs, and high-end ceramic tiles The market is in urgent need of a product that truly restores natural rare stones and fills the gap in the market. The research and development concept of lava mantle rock is to restore natural high-end rare stones 1:1 to achieve the realistic effect of natural rare stones of "same color, same shape, same quality and same feel".
Due to his early self-employment experience and accumulated rich experience in material selection, Zeng Junhong is very sensitive to the quality of products. He knows which products can be sold, whether they sell well, and whether they are dark or light in color. "I always believe that products have a soul. Some products just don't feel like it, and their soul is gone. I can't pass the test here. It's not so much talent as I am more attentive. When you make a product with your heart When I see a product being recognized by others, the sense of relief I feel is far greater than my desire to make money.”
Zeng Junhong explained molten mantle rock products to reporters
According to Zeng Junhong, the material selection of lava mantle rock is very sophisticated. During the research and development process, he personally led the team to inspect stone mining sites. There are many different categories of stone, and they have to find the best, most complete and flawless layout in this category. In order to find high-quality products, they spend countless efforts and costs, and often return without success or even discard many stone samples. After deciding on the material selection, Tao YuanThe Shuai R&D team uses a 150 million times ultra-micro camera to take pictures and reproduce the stone texture 1:1 without any modification. It strictly requires the production process and ensures that the color and light sensitivity of the product surface completely restore the natural texture. In addition, in order to facilitate customer comparison, when the lava mantle rock is put into terminal sales, Tao Yuanshuai's headquarters will issue raw stone samples to the specialty store for display simultaneously with the product. Customers can freely compare natural stone and lava rock products in the exhibition hall. This move shows that Marshal Tao is highly confident in the advantages of mantle rock products.
Real comparison between mantle rock and stone
The product concept of another product is derived from the popular trend of "taking plainness as beauty". To select foreign high-end designs for sketching, Tao Yuanshuai's R&D team went to Bologna to visit and inspect foreign design companies, draw inspiration from classic aesthetic masters, and extract the spectrum of "primary colors" with modern technology, using digital molds, digital glazes, and nanoparticle plain surfaces. , particle water grinding and other advanced processes reproduce the original color and natural light of things.
Simple product space renderings< /p>
Through two original high-end product series to get rid of the "abyss" of product homogeneity in the building ceramics industry, Tao Yuanshuai strives to create a high-profit, differentiated product strategy. It is reported that since their launch more than half a year ago, Mantle Rock and Suzhou have received extremely high praise and satisfaction rates from terminals, and are especially popular among high-end designers.
03
Build a big store with steady steps
Adjust the dealer's operating status
In recent years, with the rising operating costs of ceramic tile stores, channel segmentation and traffic dispersion, many ceramic tile dealers have begun to reduce store investment, and the "low-cost, light-investment" small store model proposed by many brands has become popular. However, Tao Yuanshuai, who also focuses on retail stores, proposed to "build a big store at all costs." Why is this?
Zeng JunHong explained, "Early ceramic tile stores were all big stores. We didn't worry about business at that time. In the past few years, when the market was not good, ceramic tile stores were reduced to small stores, but now we want to go back to big stores. Large ceramic tile stores have stronger product capabilities. , the product line is rich and comprehensive, the overall space effect is better, dealers can dominate pricing, and the overall customer transaction rate is higher. Therefore, we must support dealers at all costs to build larger stores. Of course, we will also focus on it. Choose quality dealers.”
Tao Yuanshuai’s “2+1＞3 Store Win-Win New System” Training
Tao Yuanshuai 2022 Product Seminar< /p>
Tao Yuanshuai’s terminal layout is mainly dedicated to specialty stores, and he attaches great importance to supporting dealers.
The first is store image construction. Tao Yuanshuai has established a strong logistics service team to handle the construction of dealer stores, from design and construction to soft decoration matching, striving to demonstrate product differentiation and brand tone, and enhance the terminal brand image. "The logistics service team is definitely necessary. If there is no standardized and systematic management, the high-end sense of the store will be very different."
Secondly, we need to help dealers develop channels. As we all know, as consumption channels are gradually segmented, terminal traffic is becoming more and more dispersed. Therefore, Tao Yuanshuai gathers brand resources to help dealers develop channels, such as entering high-end stores and large-scale assembly companies.
The last step is to change the thinking and adjust the dealer's operating status. Zeng Junhong said frankly, "Dealers' thinking must keep up with market changes, and customers' business conditions are also different every year. Timely changes in dealers' thinking and business models are required courses for manufacturers." In this regard, Tao Yuanshuai has established a complete training mechanism. Regularly require dealers to receive training, change the traditional wholesaler model, support dealers in the construction of distribution channels, cooperate with customers to sink channels, and expand terminal market share.
2022 Tao Yuanshuai New Product Launch Conference Jiujiang Station
"Manufacturers can do greater things and go further by working together." Zeng Junhong emphasized.
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Zeng Junhong said that Marshal Tao has now entered a stage of rapid development. In the next three years, Tao Yuanshuai will raise the brand image to a new level. In 2022, Tao Yuanshuai will fully embed the star effect of spokesperson Donnie Yen and the differentiated advantages of products into terminal stores to accelerate the process of promoting the "new first-line" leading ceramic tile brand. Regarding the brand strategic plan for 2022, in addition to promoting the construction of terminal stores, Tao Yuanshuai will also work hard on brand marketing, such as all-round hard advertising, investment in media promotion, and participation in various large-scale exhibitions.
Before the interview ended, Zeng Junhong revealed Tao Yuanshuai’s first major marketing move after the new year. At the end of 2021, Tao Yuanshuai renovated a new exhibition hall with an area of over 1,800 square meters in Jinjiang Tiangong Ceramics City as a benchmark store in Fujian. The exhibition hall has greatly enhanced Tao YuanShuai's brand image in the terminal, enhanced the market competitiveness of local dealers, and will also promote Tao YuanShuai's investment promotion in Fujian.
On February 6th (the sixth day of the first lunar month), Marshal Tao will "meet friends over tea" in the exhibition hall, inviting new and old customers to gather together to "explore" the latest 1,800 square meters exhibition hall and "appreciate" the most popular new products in 2022. The future development direction of "Shang" brand.
