There is a huge cave at the northern foot of Songshan Mountain, which is dark and unpredictable, and people are constantly going to play in groups around it.
In the early years of Jin Dynasty, a man went astray and fell into a cave. The lost man searched for the exit of the cave in the dark. He walked for about ten days, and suddenly his eyes suddenly opened up. There is a small room in front of us, in which two people are playing chess. The man who fell into the hole told them that he was hungry and thirsty. The chess player pointed to the cup and said, "Drink." When the lost man finishes drinking, he feels more powerful. He asked the chess player for directions, and the chess player told him, "From then on, I went west and saw a yard with a dragon in it. Go in and you can go out. If you are hungry, you can eat the food in the well. "
It took the lost man about half a year to walk out of the hole according to the instructions. After returning to Charlotte, he asked a hermit named Zhang Hua, and Zhang Hua told him, "You met a fairy. What you drink is jade pulp; That is the essence of the dragon cave. "
-According to Tao Qian's Postscript of Seeking God in the Jin Dynasty.
Introduction: In 2 1 century, China's economy maintained a strong development momentum, and residents' income increased rapidly. Residents' bank deposits grow at a rate of over one trillion yuan every year. By the end of 2002, the total deposit had exceeded 8 trillion yuan, and by the first half of 2003, it had exceeded 10 billion yuan. The strong purchasing power of China consumers determines that China has become the largest consumer market in the world.
At present, the consumption of diamond ornaments in China is increasing at an annual rate of 15%. Domestic brands of gold, platinum, diamond ornaments and all kinds of colored gems, jade and silver ornaments dominate, especially gold, platinum and diamond ornaments have great development potential.
However, when we focus on the big pattern of brand competition in the domestic market, we have to face the fact that well-known brands of multinational companies are popular in China, but the awareness of China products in Europe and America is not very high. Among the 100 most valuable brands in the world evaluated by foreign authorities in recent years, none of them are China brands. At the same time, it is worthy of our attention that after China's entry into WTO, domestic enterprises will encounter the brand "containment" of multinational enterprises together in China.
The rapid development of China's jewelry industry in recent years is obvious to all. However, the primary market characteristics of China's jewelry industry also show us that the competition in the domestic jewelry market is still at a low level of price competition, which will inevitably damage the overall interests of the industry and restrict its healthy development. In the words of industry veterans: At present, domestic jewelry enterprises are absent from class collectively!
"The brand positioning is inaccurate, the brand core value is unclear and lacks individuality, and the brand temperament tends to be similar." These problems have almost become the common language for many industries to evaluate the brand marketing of China enterprises, and price wars and channel wars have become black holes for national brands. If these problems are only attributed to the price that must be borne in the primary stage of marketization, it is not terrible. The key is whether many domestic enterprises can collectively wake up after paying the price!
It can be said that everything encountered in other industries seems to be surprisingly reproduced in the jewelry industry. "Brand marketing is the shortest piece of wooden barrels of local brands in China's jewelry industry, which determines the water volume of wooden barrels." The speech of Mr. Xu, vice president of China Jewelry and Jade Association, vice president of China Gold Association and president of Shenzhen Gold Jewelry Industry Association, broke through a common problem in Chinese jewelry industry.
After the "Beauty of Diamond Jewelry-2006 Carina Lau's Press Conference on Mingfeng Diamond Jewelry" held in Hong Kong, our reporter invited several famous experts in the jewelry industry at home and abroad, that is, Dai Liquan, one of the top ten famous planners in China and a famous marketing expert in China, to attend the meeting on several hot issues that readers are currently concerned about in the Chinese jewelry market. Xu, Vice President of China Jewelry and Jade Association and China Gold Association, Edward Watson, President of Shenzhen Gold and Jewelry Industry Association, a veteran of British jewelry industry and chief representative of Mingfeng Diamond and Jewelry (China) Representative Office in Hong Kong, discussed with the readers, hoping to inspire them.
Reporter: Since the 1990s, China's jewelry industry has entered a stage of large-scale development characterized by a sharp increase in the number of enterprises, and from 2 1 century, it has developed into a stage of brand development characterized by shaping corporate image. Many international jewelry brands, such as Cartier, Chow Tai Fook and Mingfeng diamond jewelry, have entered the domestic market, which has injected impetus into the upgrading of China's jewelry industry.
It can be predicted that with the further maturity of the domestic jewelry retail market, the upgrading of the industry will not only be limited to the terminal, but also involve the manufacturing, circulation and related services of the entire industrial chain. Since the promulgation of the Regulations on the Management of Franchise in China, franchise chain enterprises have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, and the franchise field is full of vitality. It can be said that after more than ten years of development, China's jewelry industry is facing unprecedented development opportunities. We believe that with the continuous improvement of the industry development environment, China's jewelry industry will maintain a healthy, sustained and stable development. With the diversification of jewelry consumption, China's jewelry market will continue to be subdivided, and we will be delighted to see China's jewelry industry upgrade in all directions.
I am honored to invite three people today, all of whom are authoritative figures in the industry. Here, I would like to ask three people to express their views on jewelry marketing and the development trend of jewelry industry.
Xu: The reform of the diamond tax system, the further reduction of the diamond tax level and China's accession to the WTO will certainly promote the stable development of the diamond jewelry market. The normal operation of the Shanghai Diamond Exchange will also make the diamond trading process more transparent. It is revealed that the value-added tax on bare stones is expected to be reduced to 4% in 2006, which makes the diamond exchange become the mainstream of raw stone import, and jewelers do not have to smuggle it because of the 4% profit. On the whole, the jewelry market will present the following characteristics: diamond retail enterprises will increase their marketing efforts; Coastal areas, economically developed areas and rural markets will start to start. We are delighted to see that international jewelry brands such as Mingfeng Diamond Jewelry have entered the domestic market. Mingfeng Diamond Jewelry's profound brand culture accumulation and mature management and marketing concept will definitely bring vitality to the whole industry, so I think the diamond retail stores of this kind of brand will have great growth in the future. Their participation will bring impetus to the upgrading of the whole jewelry industry.
It can be predicted that with the further maturity of the domestic jewelry retail market, the upgrading of the industry will not only be limited to the terminal, but also involve the manufacturing, circulation and related services of the entire industrial chain.
Dai Liquan: In the next few years, it will be a process for domestic diamond retail enterprises to grow and develop in the competition. In this process, we have reason to expect that jewelry retail enterprises that have established a retail business network in the whole country or a certain region will expand on a larger scale on this basis; There are also some jewelry retailers whose fronts will shrink. Regional diamond retail enterprises, while stabilizing the existing market, will intensively cultivate in the nearby regional market; Some powerful jewelry enterprises and channel operation group alliances will gradually form.
Edward Watson: With the popularity of diamond jewelry consumption in China, the market brands will increase rapidly. At present, although Chinese jewelry enterprises are in the stage of rapid development, competitive brands have failed to occupy an absolute share. According to the results of our research, the top five enterprises only account for about 20% of the market share, indicating that the market competition pattern has not yet formed. With the increasingly mature consumption of diamond jewelry, the high gross profit space of the industry will attract a large number of small and medium-sized investors. Low-grade price war will also become the main means of competition for most jewelry brands. The serious homogenization of product style and marketing model will puzzle the development of the industry for a long time, and at the same time, there will be a phased upgrade of suppliers, brands and marketing power in the industry.
Reporter: Judging from the market situation in Beijing and Shanghai, "price war" is the main competitive feature of the current market. Teacher Dai, can you analyze the current price war in the market for us?
Dai Liquan: The jewelry industry in China is still in the primary market development stage. A thousand stores have one side and no features. There is no difference between brand and enterprise, which is the main problem of Chinese jewelry industry at this stage. This phenomenon has existed or existed in other industries in China. In fact, what is reflected behind the terminal "price war" in the jewelry market is that during the primary jewelry market period, the "boss" in the bones of a large number of enterprises still in the primary stage is the "rotten root" of the low-level competition in the market at this stage!
China Jin Dynasty writer Tao Qian's The Record of Seeking God tells the story of a lost man who prayed to the gods and finally escaped. I think the experience of the lost seems to have some enlightenment to today's jewelry enterprises in a sense. Homogeneity, lack of competitive means, is essentially the "collective absence" of a single enterprise. Only after attending classes can we talk about "marketing innovation" and "industrial upgrading".
Reporter: President Xu, do you agree with Mr. Dai's "absence from classes in the industry"?
Xu: I personally agree with Mr. Dai's point of view! In particular, the lost metaphor of many jewelry companies in Teacher Dai's Epilogue of Finding God is very telling.
The jewelry industry in China has only been formed for more than ten years. What we lack can be said to be the difference between brand positioning and enterprise positioning that we haven't had time to learn. Brand is the shortest piece of wooden barrel of local brand in Chinese jewelry industry, which determines the water volume of wooden barrel. As we all know, jewelry enterprises can only become bigger and stronger if they build well-known brands with higher gold content in the industry.
Reporter: Mr Watson, as a Hong Kong-owned jewelry retail enterprise that has just entered the mainland of China, what do you think of this issue? At the same time, we also want to know: will Mingfeng Diamond Jewelry join this price war next?
Edward Watson: The reasons for the formation of the "price war" are very complicated, but we analyze that the main reason is the business integrity driven by the motivation of some enterprises to pursue higher profits. This staged market "integrity problem" has also appeared in Europe, which is related to the low exit cost of enterprises at present. If China market can improve the market intervention functions such as government legislation, media supervision, third-party organization (industry association) standard guidance and brand consumption education as soon as possible, it will help solve many unfair competition problems similar to "price war".
At present, the price of gold in the international market is relatively uniform and transparent, while jewelry is more complicated. There are no two identical diamonds in the world, so each diamond has a different value. The quality of diamonds of the same carat may be tens of thousands, and the value of poor quality is thousands. There is no uniform price standard, which is the biggest market problem including diamonds at present.
Mingfeng Diamond Jewelry has just entered Chinese mainland, and is willing to discuss all technical issues including price war with domestic counterparts. However, Mingfeng will not join any war for the sole purpose of pursuing commercial interests, which is not in line with the long-term interests of brand development as a Hong Kong-funded enterprise.
Mingfeng diamond ornaments have their own business tradition. Taking the price policy as an example, we always adhere to all standards from the beginning of ore procurement to the production process, and all products follow the most popular top-grade diamond cutting in Europe-Cupid cutting. We have persisted in this tradition for 30 years. The excellent quality of Mingfeng's "Love Craftsman" products ensures the spread of brand concept. For example, we always maintain the business tradition that all Mingfeng member customers can return the goods purchased in our store at the original price, and insist on recycling Mingfeng diamond ornaments with outdated styles in the hands of member customers by cash or commodity exchange. In China, our marketing experts gave this service a euphemistic name, called "Mingfeng Diamond Jewelry Two-year Original Value Repurchase Plan".
Reporter: Franchise chain operation is known as "the most successful business model in 2 1 century". The information about joining recruitment in the internal and external media of major industries is increasingly rampant, and joining chain operation has become a hot topic of general concern for small and medium-sized investors. Here, I'd like to invite three people to talk about "How about joining jewelry?" "What kind of jewelry brand is good to join?" Give the reader an answer.
Dai Liquan: We can't say a word about this question. Jewelry industry is different from other industries and has its own characteristics. We have noticed that driven by profits, many franchisees "sell dog meat by hanging sheep's heads". That is to join a brand, take advantage of the loopholes in the market information management of brand owners, bypass the leadership, take the goods themselves and sell them directly. Through the appearance of "shoddy" and "fake is genuine", we can easily draw the conclusion that the homogenization of the market under the characteristics of the primary market leads to "price war", which leads to "selling dog meat" and more cruel "price war". Repeatedly, it gave a "vicious circle." These problems have had good experience in solving problems in other industries in China. We might as well follow Lu Xun's "takenism", with the association taking the lead and the media participating, to clear the name of "Li Kui jy" and kick out "Gui Li"!
Xu: Some people say that in the 2nd/kloc-0th century, jewelry consumption is becoming the third largest consumption hotspot of China people after housing and cars. According to our tracking and understanding of the recent jewelry market, franchise chain operation has become a key project in the future planning of jewelry enterprises in the middle stage of development.
According to the present situation and existing problems of the jewelry industry, the majority of jewelry joining investors should choose those jewelry brands with mature operation and learn self-discipline in the operation after joining. Of course, we also welcome more people to care about the healthy development of China's jewelry industry and the healthy growth of Chinese jewelry enterprises.
Reporter: Mr Watson, as a Hong Kong-funded enterprise, you have successfully opened 465,438+0 chain stores in Europe. We'd like to hear what model you adopt to develop your jewelry network. What suggestions do you have for domestic small and medium-sized investors to join?
Edward Watson: I want to answer your second question first. As an excellent jewelry brand, its headquarters operation, market brand communication effect and experience in managing retail stores are all related to the survival of franchisees in the market. What I want to tell you is that these conditions are the basic conditions for leaders. The above conditions will determine your future business risks and profits. If you choose an excellent brand leader, you will earn stable profits in the powerful management system that has been formed. Of course, excellent brands must also have higher requirements for franchisees, such as unified pricing, promotional activities, training of franchisees and shop assistants, market supervision and management, economic penalties for violating business contracts, and so on. Such details will be known in advance after you have passed the evaluation of the leadership evaluation system. Investing in a jewelry store needs a lot of money, and franchisees can choose according to their own financial situation and joining conditions. Michael Gerber once wrote a pamphlet called "Superstition of Entrepreneurs", and its core theory was "turnkey revolution". Standardized management mode can open different locks, which is the most concerned issue for customers.
Regarding the business operation mode of Mingfeng Diamond Jewelry, I think the first thing is that we have adhered to the trusteeship joining mode for decades, which is successful in the European market. The joining mode of Mingfeng diamond ornaments is to join first, and then to manage. This business model fundamentally circumvents the practice of some domestic franchisees to bypass franchisees and directly sell fake and shoddy goods, thus ensuring the long-term interests of franchisees and franchisees. At the same time, in the specific recruitment of joining the investment promotion, the group invested to set up a franchisee risk resistance fund for each recruiting unit. The specific way is: Mingfeng Group set up a franchisor risk defense fund with huge sum of money, and injected 20% of the investment of each custody store into the fund to resist the loss of franchisee's investment return caused by market operation risks. In terms of recruitment mechanism, we took the lead in introducing foreign banks to participate in fund supervision in China, realizing the maximum transparency of financial operation between champions and franchisees, thus solving the common problem of mutual trust foundation in general business alliances.
In terms of brand communication, we signed a contract with Miss Carina Lau, an internationally famous movie star, which will quickly narrow the distance between the brand and mainland consumers. Our management team is a group of young people with commercial creativity. After years of market training, they have rich experience in commercial operation in China market.
In addition, tell everyone a Mingfeng business experience: do what your customers need! Customers will naturally welcome you!