Chapter 175 Economy and Culture
This time when he came to Victory Port, Li Nai felt that his biggest gain was not that he had negotiated several sales of arms, refined salt, soap, and matches, but that he had discovered many new concepts and ways of thinking through his contacts with the Haihan people. . Among these new concepts and methods, what impressed Li Nai the most was the Haihan people’s business skills.
When we saw the glass products made by the Haihan people in Guangzhou, everyone at Furifeng believed that the Haihan people were a group of craftsmen who were good at crafts but not good at it. Sales channels and skills would be the shortcomings of the Haihan people. If it weren't for the insistence of shopkeeper Li from Yazhou, the head office wouldn't even want to send people to Shengli Port for inspection and negotiation.
After Li Nai came this time, he discovered that what shopkeeper Li said was true. Haihan people's sales skills and manufacturing techniques are equally excellent. Moreover, they don't plan how to sell a thing after making it, but think about it first. Establishing a sales model and then developing products on this basis is completely different from the commodity circulation link he was exposed to in the past. The marketing concepts proposed by Schneider were something Li Nai had never heard of before.
There were many words in Schneider that Li Nai didn't quite understand. Most of the time, he listened to Schneider's explanations in a state of confusion but alertness. But as far as he could understand, Li Nai could feel that Schneider's sales skills were far superior to his own. Even his father probably had not made such a detailed sales plan for a certain product. The effect of this kind of planning is also obvious. Although it is still at the stage of looking at samples and signing orders, after the explanations by Schneider and others, Li Nai is very optimistic about the sales prospects of these products. As long as he follows the detailed sales instructions of Haihan people, If you use strategies to promote, a lot of profits are just around the corner.
Compared to glass products, Li Nai actually prefers the several deals that have been negotiated this time. This has nothing to do with the profit of the product. The profit of glass products is also very high, but one drawback is that after the customer buys it back, it is often used as a collection ornament, and there is almost no consumption. Buy a set of glass stationery It may be kept in the study for several years when I go back. The other commodities negotiated this time are all consumables, which will be consumed quickly during use, and buyers will continue to purchase them, which can bring long-term stable income to "Furuifeng".
Of course, Li Nai would not know that this was actually part of the foreign trade development plan formulated by the Executive Committee. In the planning of the executive committee, local industries are mostly focused on the deep processing of raw materials or semi-finished products, and the corresponding export commodities are mainly fast-moving consumer goods to maintain a long-term sustainable foreign trade transaction scale. As for glass products, a relatively special product, the Executive Committee will also continue to expand production scale to reduce production costs and make the sales groups it faces more popular, so as to further launch glass-packaged products in the future - such as the latest Liquor products that will be available in almost a year.
As for the price of goods, since Schneider took the initiative to offer two years of exclusive distribution rights for "Furuifeng" products in Fuzhou and Guangzhou, Li Nai did not engage in unnecessary price bargaining. There is no need to worry about finding a seller for these goods. If the Haihan people are unhappy by bargaining for a price, and if they find an agent to cooperate with, then "Fu Ruifeng" will lose much more than the small price difference. Of course, Li Nai does not expect to be able to keep the secret of the source of these goods for two years. After two years, other competitors will definitely participate in the competition for distribution rights. However, because he was the first to arrive, Schneider also promised to wait for the distribution rights. After expiration, "Furuifeng" will enjoy priority in renewing the contract under the same conditions.
As for what kind of conditions the Haihan people will offer at that time, after these two days of contact, Li Nai already has a rough idea in his mind - the Haihan people are just asking their partners to meet their input needs for materials and personnel. In addition, Probably just to coordinate with the product sales strategy. These things are not difficult for "Fu Ruifeng" who has extensive connections and deep pockets in Guangzhou. Regarding this point, Li Nai strongly agrees with what Schneider said at the banquet last night: As long as money can solve the problem, it is not a problem.
Li Nai readily placed an order for one thousand taels of soap and matches each. Although Schneider said that the stock was insufficient and needed to be delivered in batches, Li Nai also believed that it was not urgent. As long as Victory Port can maintain social stability, it is only a matter of time before the Haihan people produce these goods. Judging from the situation during the two days of visits, Li Nai believes that the Haihan people already have very strong control over the local area. Sufficient capacity to ensure the smooth progress of production.
What was finally brought out was the original purpose of Li Nai's trip, the glass stationery series exclusively launched by Haihan people. After this period of further development, the first official series has been finalized. From the appearance point of view, it is not much different from the previous samples, but each piece of stationery has a cast-printed trademark - the word "Haihan" in small seal script.
The R&D department initially wanted to use another trademark, but later the executive committee insisted on using "Haihan" as the trademark for glass stationery. The purpose of doing this is not to save trouble, but to have more profound considerations.
The glass stationery products developed by Chuanchuan Group are mainly sold to literati and gentry, especially the high-end products that were initially marketed as luxury goods. The target consumer group is those high-end literati with considerable wealth and status. The money in these people's pockets is secondary. The voice and influence they have in Ming society is what the Executive Committee values. From the perspective of later generations, these people are actually the public intellectual elite of Ming Dynasty. These gentry and literati who occupy the main voice in society only account for a very small part of the entire population, but the role they can play in guiding public opinion in this era of lack of media is unmatched by others. After crossing the group, we want to To influence public opinion in the areas under Ming Dynasty, these people will inevitably be used.
If the Cross-Travel Group wants to gradually annex the territory of the Ming Dynasty and incorporate the people who belong to the Ming Dynasty into its own system, the first thing it must solve is the issue of identity. If the time-traveling group only appears under the unclear name of "Haihan", then it is very likely that Ming society will treat it as an overseas foreign country, especially ordinary people who have no contact with time-travelers. What is the difference between the Qinghai Han people and the Folangji people or the red-haired people?
If the Cross-Travel Group wants to target the public with its publicity, the work that needs to be done will be very cumbersome and arduous, and the results that can be achieved will be difficult to monitor. And if this target is replaced by the gentry and literati class who have the right to speak, the effect will be different - glass stationery with the "Haihan" logo will almost certainly be popular in the market, and these users have a strong interest in this product. The sense of identity can easily be subtly transformed into identification with the "Hai-Han" culture.
Imagine a literati who uses Haihan stationery all year round and sees the Haihan logo written in small seal script every day. Will he still regard Haihan as an overseas country? The opinions of these people will gradually affect the people around them, so that ordinary people's sense of identification with Haihan will gradually increase.
This implicit promotion strategy is long-term and will not be limited to glass stationery. The Ministry of Information Industry is already cooperating with the departments of culture, education, machinery, chemical industry and other departments to cooperate with the start-up of paper-making workshops to prepare for the development of the printing industry. In addition to printing some internal materials, certificates and other things, external cultural export will also be one of the key projects of the printing industry in the future. The Executive Committee hopes to further gain the recognition of the literati class by exporting a large number of beautifully printed and low-priced books to the mainland, so that when it gradually encroaches on the mainland in the future, it can effectively reduce the resistance from the people.
It’s hard to say how effective this kind of “invasion” with culture as the carrier can be, but judging from Li Nai, a typical representative of Ming Dynasty scholars, he has already shown a strong interest in the samples on display.
Li Nai took the samples one by one and looked at them slowly. While marveling at the imagination and creativity of the Haihan people, he also noticed the small seal marks printed on the surface of the products. Somewhat different from other people's thoughts, Li Nai did not realize that this was a disguised "cultural invasion". Instead, he believed that the small seal mark was an ingenious idea of Haihan people to highlight his own brand and prevent others from appearing on the market. A means of counterfeiting - this is how Schneider explained to him the purpose of the logo.
Li Nai was already thinking that after such beautifully crafted glass stationery is shipped back to Guangzhou, "Fu Ruifeng" can just package it in a brocade box and sell it at a high price. But how should the distinction between high, high and low grades mentioned by Haihan people be carried out? Does it depend on the packaging? If they pretend to be the same thing, isn't that a way to deceive fools? Moreover, if the style of this stationery is too simple, it does not seem to be in line with the "unique, unique and noble" sales concept advocated by Haihan people.
Li Nai raised these questions to Schneider nervously, and Schneider asked with interest: "As Mr. Li said, it is difficult to distinguish between high-end and low-end products just by packaging or slogans, and it is not easy for buyers to distinguish between them." Everyone agrees. If Mr. Li is in charge of the design work, how do you plan to achieve the differentiation you mentioned? ”
Li Nai frowned and thought for a while before responding: "I'm afraid we have to follow your previous suggestion and try to distinguish them in appearance. For example, can we use some carving skills to engrave some poems, songs or paintings on the stationery? What is the word used to increase its... its...? Oh, by the way, the added value of the product! ”
(End of chapter)