Chapter 799 The World of Men
Ning Weimin lived up to the big boss’s reliance.
Just when Pierre Cardin and Song Huagui began to work on model contests and fashion shows, his contact with Goldlion soon made substantial and good progress.
Goldlion, a small workshop from Hong Kong that originally only made ties, is also a legend among contemporary men's wear brands.
In just thirty years, it has become a well-known men's clothing brand with a complete range of products sold in more than 40 countries and regions overseas.
Moreover, it has remained a best-seller in Hong Kong and the Mainland for more than ten years, successfully creating the price point and image of a high-end brand.
And all of this is the credit of its founder Zeng Xianzi.
Zeng Xianzi was born in mainland China. He had just graduated from school and was taken out of the country by his relatives because of his inheritance.
So he has strong national characteristics, one of which is hard work, positivity and optimism.
You must know that when he started his business in the 1960s, due to lack of funds, Zeng Xianzi supported an entire tie production line by just one person.
He purchased relevant production equipment, drew his own design drawings, purchased his own fabrics, sewed his own ties, and went out to sell the products himself. The tie brand was also named "Golden Lion", which means that this brand will have a bright and bright future.
Not to mention that this is completely impossible in the eyes of Westerners, even no one in Hong Kong City can do it.
The second is to be good at learning and enterprising.
The tie originally made by Zeng Xianzi was ridiculed by the store during the sales due to his lack of experience and rough workmanship.
But even so, Zeng Xianzi did not back down, but chose to work hard to improve.
In order to improve the quality of his products, he would not only ask the shop owner who laughed at him about market demand, but also listen to his opinions with an open mind.
He also spent a lot of money to buy several famous brand ties and carefully studied the design and workmanship of high-end products.
After repeated attempts to remove seams and seams, he finally mastered the technique.
Then we achieved product upgrades by using imported European raw materials and meticulous workmanship.
And this also awakened brand awareness. Zeng Xianzi was determined to get out of the mid-to-low-end market and enter the high-end market.
For this reason, he seized the opportunity of the radio station to broadcast the national table tennis team's exhibition match in Hong Kong City in 1971, and he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to advertise for himself.
And considering that "Golden Lion" is homophoned as "Golden Loss" in Cantonese, which has a bad connotation, the brand name was also deliberately changed to the auspicious "Golden Lilai".
In this way, the sales of Goldlion ties with good quality and good image increased greatly, and finally became the local famous brand tie in Hong Kong City.
The third is to be able to withstand pressure and have resilience.
In 1974, affected by the world economic recession, Hong Kong stock prices fell, many companies closed down, and countless workers lost their jobs.
What follows is a decrease in purchasing power, leading to a backlog of goods.
At that time, I don’t know how many merchants, because of panic and pessimism, used the banners of “big auctions”, “big price cuts” and “big jumps” to attract consumers to buy.
The business has just started, and Jinlilai, which has initially gained recognition from customers, has not been able to escape the storm.
Sales and output have both declined, and it seems that price reduction has become Goldlion's only option.
However, after careful consideration, Zeng Xianzi made the opposite move.
In order to maintain the high-end brand image that Goldlion has worked so hard to establish, it insists on taking the high-quality route.
Not only did he resist lowering the price, he actually raised the price to sell ties.
While everyone was busy in the price reduction war and clearing out inventory, he even went to Europe to select products with newer designs, colors and styles to imitate and produce and put them into the Hong Kong market.
This move made his colleagues in Hong Kong City laugh and cry. They all thought that he was ignorant of current affairs and would inevitably lose blood.
However, what happened next was different from what everyone expected.
Zeng Xianzi's price increase strategy and the latest newly produced ties are like a high head looking down on his counterparts in Hong Kong.
This suddenly improved Goldlion's status in the hearts of the Hong Kong people, and became surrounded by high-end customers in one fell swoop, thus boosting sales.
The final result was really shocking. No one expected that Goldlion would use this to make a comeback.
When the world economy recovers, not only those businesses that have adopted price reduction measures are dying, but many foreign famous brands that have been arrogant in Hong Kong for decades are also being squeezed out of Hong Kong.
In such a bleak market situation, Goldlion has made a glorious turnaround, completely establishing its status as a first-tier brand in the Hong Kong city.
At this time, the price of the ties produced by Zeng Xianzi not only increased from 45 Hong Kong dollars to 100 Hong Kong dollars.
He also began to increase the production of lighters and leather goods.
And it has successfully extended its business reach to Southeast Asia and established a branch in Singapore covering the markets of surrounding countries.
The fourth is to never forget our roots and repay our kindness.
After becoming prosperous, Zeng Xianzi began to donate to his hometown of Meizhou, Guangdong in 1978.
He also donated a teaching building and a large number of facilities to his alma mater, Dongshan Middle School.
These all happened before it opened up the mainland market.
There must be no profit calculations, it is sincere, and it will naturally gain the closeness and praise of the people of Guangdong.
So in 1983, good things come to good people.
With the rise of the first suit craze in mainland China after the founding of the People's Republic of China, when Zeng Xianzi really decided to enter the mainland market, Goldlion's business activities in Guangdong were going particularly smoothly.
The products he launched, accompanied by the advertising slogan "Goldlion, a man's world", were swept away. Especially in its hometown of Meizhou, Goldlion has won enthusiastic support from the local government and people.
In this way, just one year after entering the mainland, Goldlion has firmly established itself in the southernmost province of the Republic.
Zeng Xianzi then naturally went north, aiming to expand the market in Shanghai, Shanghai and Beijing.
And this is the negotiation partner that Ning Weimin needs to face - a man at the helm of Jinli Lai who has great business acumen and far-sighted vision, and has a rare moral character and a heart to serve the country.
Not to mention that Ning Weimin has a very clear understanding of Goldlion's future huge corporate scale.
Neither did he know that Zeng Xianzi donated more than 1,400 times to the mainland throughout his life, and in the end even his personal property was donated to the country.
Just from what has happened so far, Ning Weimin can see what a shrewd, capable, respectable and admirable entrepreneur Zeng Xianzi is.
So for such people, Ning Weimin never thought of playing tricks or beating around the bush, but went directly to them to show his sincerity.
He gave his business card, an easy tie and a patent document to the person in charge of Goldlion's business in Beijing.
Then he politely expressed his intention to cooperate and went back to wait for the other party's reply.
As expected, he soon received a positive response from the other party - Zeng Xianzi himself would go to Beijing from the Hong Kong city as soon as possible to negotiate with him in person.
Such a meeting is of course unequal in terms of status.
After all, Zeng Xianzi is the top leader of a multinational company, while Ning Weimin is just a senior executive of Pierre Cardin's Chinese branch.
However, from Zeng Xianzi’s perspective, he had no choice.
On the contrary, his impatience, which is a bit self-degrading, is the most natural and true reaction.
You know, Goldlion’s business structure is relatively simple.
Ties are still the core business of the company, accounting for more than 70% of sales profits.
It is self-evident what the patent for easy-to-pull ties means to Goldlion’s development in the mainland.
No one knows the seriousness of this potential threat better than Tsang Xianzi himself.
How could he not feel fear? Not anxious? Not nervous?
Fortunately, although Ning Weimin took full initiative, he never thought of using his power to bully others and form an alliance with Tan Yuan.
In line with the principle of good for you, good for me, good for everyone, we have been very pragmatic and tried our best to plan a fairly fair cooperation plan.
Even when they actually met, Ning Weimin remained courteous and courteous, leaving an excellent impression on Zeng Xianzi.
After listening to Ning Weimin's oral description of the cooperation method in person, Zeng Xianzi was a little in disbelief and didn't know how to react.
He originally thought he would encounter business blackmail, but he never expected to encounter such an unexpected good thing. He really got a cooperation opportunity that would be of great benefit to both parties.
So he took the plan and read it for a long time before he hesitated and tested it.
"Mr. Ning, these documents... I... can I take them back and look at them carefully before I give you an answer? Also, please don't be offended. I would also like to take the liberty to ask... this matter... ...Can you really represent your company? I mean...if we agree, will your signature count?"
Of course Ning Weimin understands Zeng Xianzi's concerns.
So he not only replied in a positive tone, but also gave the most reasonable explanation.
"Mr. Zeng, of course you can take these documents back and read them slowly. I even suggest that you should seek professional advice from a lawyer on the possible terms. After all, you must strictly abide by the literal commitments you sign. We Both parties should consider everything in advance with the most serious and responsible attitude to ensure smooth future cooperation."
"As for my signature, it must be for the money. Don't think that I am not reliable at this age. If you have read the patent documents carefully, you should know that I invented this tie. In addition, my job is to be responsible for the commercial operations of Pierre Cardon Company in China, so what is the specific strategy for bringing this product to the market? , I think no one in the company has more say than me. This is why my boss, Mr. Picardon, feels free to leave the decision on this matter to me."
"I even know you. There are some doubts in my heart, and I don’t know whether to believe our sincerity. Maybe I think it’s a bit incredible that we extend an olive branch to you with such a patent that can almost change the pattern of the tie market in the mainland. It’s easy to explain. This is mainly because our two companies are so complementary. Although our customer base in the mainland market should be the same, our main businesses are not in conflict. >
“You see, Goldlion specializes in suit accessories, while our main business at Pierre Cardin in the Mainland is men’s suits. Your base in the Mainland is the south, and our company has a solid foundation in the north. We have reached a cooperation with each other. The foundation is perfect, it's like a match made in heaven. As for my easy-to-draw tie, it was purely an accidental invention based on the special needs of the mainland market. Our company has no intention of getting involved in the tie manufacturing industry. We don’t want to pay too much for running this project, we just want to get a certain amount of profit from it. Considering the huge domestic market capacity, we can definitely share the benefits of Yi Ladi and even make a bigger cake together.”
“Once this kind of cooperation is achieved, it will last for a long time. I think we all know the importance of partners. If there is no basic morality, how can we achieve trust and good cooperation? Instead of that, we all know the importance of partners. If we are suspicious of each other and make things worse, it is better to keep fighting on our own. We really want to cooperate and form an alliance with you, not to enmity with you. How can we use patents to coerce and destroy mutual trust? What about the basics?
"On the other hand, what will happen if we can't reach cooperation? Maybe we can use easy-to-use ties to cause serious damage to your company's main business. We may even force your company to withdraw from the mainland market. But in that case, wouldn't other tie brands? Is it coming? Can we firmly occupy the mainland's tie market with the patent of Yi La? "
"Not to mention the lack of legal awareness in the country will inevitably lead to fake clothing market. The rampant supply of goods affects genuine products. Even our company’s main business is inevitably faced with jealousy and competition from other foreign counterparts. So why are we so short-sighted and making such useless efforts? We are fighting each other. It is better for the two of us to unite to fight against the latecomers and increase the profits of our cooperative business."
"Finally, there is a personal reason why I admire Mr. Zeng. Your character. You have been of great help to the mainland. I am happy to help you within my ability and watch your business prosper. Therefore, I will never force Mr. Zeng to sign any unequal treaty, even if we disagree on many issues. It doesn’t matter if we don’t agree. We can just sign the terms that we can agree on, just like China and Britain negotiate, and if we take our time, the problem will be solved reasonably.”
These words made Zeng Xianzi surprised and surprised, but he could not help but agree and feel uneasy.
I can only say with emotion, "You are young and promising. Mr. Ning, your ideas and structure are really amazing, it opened my eyes."
After another deep thought, Zeng Xianzi didn't know whether it was intentional or just out of curiosity. Then he didn't continue to talk about cooperation. Instead, he asked some questions in person that seemed to be destructive to cooperation.
“Although you have transferred the patent to your company, I am still very curious. How do you personally evaluate the value of this patent? In your heart, what do you think the value of this easy-to-use tie project is? "How much?"
Ning Weimin replied happily, "I estimate that the reasonable transfer fee should be 10 million, because if it is done, the profit of this tie should be conservatively worth 100 million. It depends on how it works."
Zeng Xianzi frowned, "How much did you sell it to your company? Do you know how much I am willing to pay for your patent?"
< br>If this development continues, I am afraid that usually it would be Ning Weimin's turn to worry.
However, Ning Weimin shook his head indifferently.
"Mr. Zeng, you may not believe it. I originally decided to give this patent to the company for free. Although Mr. Piercardon did not give me 10 million, he could have taken it away for free, but in the end he He still gave me a lot of material compensation according to his inner standards. So no matter how much you are willing to pay, it has no meaning to me, just like you run a business, it is obviously what businessmen want to pursue. Profit. But why do you always give away the money you earn? Some things are not about money, but they are still correct..."
Zeng Xianzi was really happy.
I couldn’t help but stretched out my hand, "Okay, great. Young man, you really impressed me. Although I still need to study the documents carefully, you have convinced me and I am willing to believe you. Let's work together to make this happen. I'm really looking forward to working with your company."
(End of this chapter)