Chapter 260: Piracy Problems and Brand Promotion

Chapter 260: Piracy Problems and Brand Promotion

Chapter 260: Piracy Problems and Brand Promotion

"One bag of rice, one bag of flour, one piece of bacon per person, and bring your own basket to put the meat in."

In the queue, a person shouted loudly in front and behind the line.

In the line, two girls were very happy and excited when they saw the people in front of them getting the food.

"Sister, I didn't expect that we could get so much food after only being here for half a month." One of the short-haired women said with a smile on her face.

"Yes, the price at the market has gone up a lot recently, more than in previous years. I can hardly afford to buy meat for my children." Another long-haired woman said, "Now the factory can distribute salted pork, which can be stored for a long time without going bad, and even salt can be used less."

"Yes, even the price of salt has gone up recently." The short-haired girl said worriedly, "My third sister is not very literate, so she didn't get in at first. Now she can only find a job in an ordinary factory. Not only is her salary lower than ours, but she doesn't even get lunch at noon, so she has to bring her own food.

She has to go to work every day and prepare meals at night. Sometimes she doesn’t even have time to buy groceries. Sigh~”

The long-haired girl said, "She didn't pass the interview, and there's nothing we can do. I asked the old employees, and when the factory recruits again in the future, we can recommend friends to the leaders. Then we can see if we can bring the third sister in as well."

"Can you definitely get in?" asked the short-haired girl.

"How is that possible? We still need an interview." The long-haired girl said helplessly, "Now everyone wants to get in, so the rules are strict.

I heard that Changxing Industrial’s own company has to interview everyone for a job, and unless you have connections, it’s useless; but other companies in this industrial park are much simpler.”

"It would be good to be able to join other companies." The short-haired girl said, "The treatment of even the worst company here feels much better than outside."

The long-haired woman said, "I heard that it was because of an order from the sticky note king Yang Wendong that all Changxing Industrial's suppliers must not be harsh on their employees and will also investigate employee turnover rates, so these companies dare not do the same as outsiders."

"Mr. Yang is such a good man." The short-haired girl exclaimed.

The long-haired girl said, "Yes, since he came from a squatter hut, he should understand the hardships of the lower classes the best."

The short-haired girl added, "We still have to let the third sister learn some characters. As long as she can recognize more characters, the chances of her getting in will be much higher."

"Yes." The long-haired girl agreed.

"Hurry up, those in front, there are still a lot of people waiting behind." Someone shouted at the front of the team.

The long-haired girl said in surprise: "It's almost our turn."

Soon, the two of them carried the heavy food to their own lockers and locked up the things.

"I'm so tired." The long-haired girl panted and said, "It's too heavy and not easy to carry."

"I would rather be more tired, the heavier the better." The short-haired girl was also very tired, but her face was full of joy.

This amount of food is enough for their family to eat for more than a month, and the factory distributes rice and flour once every quarter. Although it is not as much as during the Chinese New Year, it is enough to save the family a considerable amount of expenses.

At this moment, there was a loud discussion next to the lockers, and many people seemed very happy.

The two girls looked at each other, then stood up and walked forward. Seeing a group of people discussing something, they walked up to an acquaintance and asked, "Ahua, what's wrong?"

"Sister Lin." Ah Hua said happily, "I just received news from above that the company will launch cheap food in the future, which is rice, noodles, oil, bacon, sugar, soybeans, and salt.

We have one chance to apply every month, and then we will issue them all at once. I heard the price is about 3% cheaper than outside.”

"So cheap?" The long-haired girl was a little shocked. If so, she could save a lot of money.

At this time, the short-haired girl asked, "Ahua, is there a limit? How much can each person buy?"

"It's not stated in the document." Ah Hua replied, "It should be OK if you buy a little more, but if you buy too much, that won't work either. Everyone will know you want to resell it."

The short-haired girl smiled and said, "No, I just wanted to buy some more for a friend."

"That should be no problem." Ah Hua replied.

The short-haired girl said happily, "That's great, sister."

"Yeah," the long-haired girl's eyes lit up. If the two of them could buy it for the third sister, it would indeed reduce her life pressure.

In fact, even if this didn't happen, I would give her some of the food I got for free from the company.

Ah Hua added: "Let's go check out the prices. We'll have to go to work soon."

"Okay~"

February 2rd is the third last day before the Chinese New Year.

Yang Wendong came to Changxing Building. At that moment, couplets were posted in many places inside the building, which is a tradition of the Chinese people's enthusiasm for the Chinese New Year.

All the senior executives of the entire group also gathered here.

"Everyone, this is the glue that Changxing Industry has just developed recently." Wei Zetao introduced it to the people around him, "It's not very sticky. The main ingredient is starch, and there are no chemical ingredients. It's perfect for pasting couplets."

Zheng Zhijie said with a smile: "Isn't this just overcooked rice paste?"

"Alas, it's different." Wei Zetao explained, "It's definitely better than that one. Besides, people nowadays don't have time to cook rice paste, and they need to light a fire. Isn't it more practical to spend a few cents to buy our glue?"

Qin Zhiye said: "That's right, give me a few bottles."

"I want one too." Several others said.

Wei Zetao said: "Don't worry, we have prepared everything for you. It's all free."

At this time, Yang Wendong walked in.

"Mr. Yang~" Everyone immediately became serious. Although the boss was easy-going on weekdays, he would still be serious when the occasion required it.

"You're welcome. Everyone, take a seat." Yang Wendong greeted them. He saw the glue on the table and said with a smile, "I heard that this glue sells well in the market. It seems that Changxing Industrial's research and development capabilities are getting stronger and stronger."

"It has improved, but it's still not very strong." Wei Zetao said somewhat "modestly": "This glue is just the result of a slight research and improvement based on a folk formula."

"This is a good direction in itself." Yang Wendong said with a smile: "Our Chinese nation has thousands of years of history, and many of the things passed down by the ancients have been verified by the market. It's just that there is no scientific method to unify them. If we seize this direction for research and development, we will get twice the result with half the effort."

Wei Zetao said: "Mr. Yang is right."

Yang Wendong added: "Everyone, this is the first large-scale meeting of our Changxing Group since its establishment. The main purpose is to summarize the development achievements of last year and let all business departments get familiar with each other.

In addition, each department also needs to communicate about areas where they will need to cooperate in the future, especially some large-scale plans, which need to be notified in advance. Everyone here can also coordinate.”

Everyone below knew what was going on, so naturally there was no problem. "Let me remind you first." Wang Fengzhi, the finance director, said, "This meeting will only discuss some operating data and financial data. Each company knows its own. This is a secret of each branch, so there is no need to elaborate here."

"Okay~"

"Understood~"

Several branch managers agreed.

Yang Wendong added: "Let's start with Changxing Industry. Changxing Industry is the foundation of our group's development. Without Mr. Wei's efforts, none of you here would be where you are today."

"Mr. Yang, you are joking." Wei Zetao said quickly: "Changxing Industry can be what it is today entirely due to Mr. Yang's invention and strategic leadership. My contribution is just a little hard work."

"Haha, let's talk about practical matters." Yang Wendong smiled.

This statement is correct. No matter how hard you work, it cannot compare to the achievements. For a company or a life, choosing the right direction is more important than all subsequent efforts.

However, although changing someone else to manage the company might also be successful, Wei Zetao was the lucky person in the early days. He was chosen by himself and then successfully ran the company. He became the veteran and hero of the entire group.

"Okay." Wei Zetao also opened the file in front of him and said, "Currently, I divide Changxing Industrial's business into two major divisions.

One is the glue-based business including post-it notes, sticky hooks, and mouse sticky boards, which also includes glue production business.

The other is plastic-based trolley cases, rotary mops, toys, plastic trading departments and other businesses related to plastics.”

Yang Wendong asked: "Aren't sticky hooks also made of plastic?"

Wei Zetao explained: "The sticky hook is indeed made of plastic, but its core is glue, so it is classified in the viscose division."

"Yeah, that's right." Yang Wendong nodded.

Wei Zetao added: "Currently, the viscose business unit is located in Tsim Sha Tsui, and the plastic business unit is located in Kwun Tong, which is also in consideration of the relationship needs of the two local governments.

The core of the adhesive business is post-it notes. With the opening of our fourth phase factory, post-it notes can basically meet global demand. Last year, we exported a total of 6.8 million post-it notes. "

"6.8 million?" Yang Wendong thought for a moment and asked, "The global demand should be more than that, right?"

"It's definitely much more than that." Wei Zetao said: "We have also discovered a lot of pirated products and have worked with distributors to combat piracy, but this problem keeps popping up, and the compensation is not much, and it is very time-consuming. In many cases, the compensation is not enough to cover the lawyers' fees."

"This problem is indeed unsolvable." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "We will try our best to cooperate with distributors to develop the existing market, and then find ways to improve the quality and distance ourselves from pirated products."

The problem of piracy cannot be avoided in the 21st century, let alone now.

Wei Zetao nodded and said, "I understand. There are also a lot of pirated products, including sticky hooks and mouse traps, but in terms of quality, they are indeed not as good as ours."

"Yeah." Yang Wendong nodded: "People who pirate products usually want to make quick money, so it's unlikely that they will invest heavily in improving quality."

"I understand." Wei Zetao continued, "Mr. Yang, I want to invest in some publicity in Europe and the United States to build up the brand.

We already have a lot of products, including suitcases, sticky notes, and toys in the future, all of which need brand power to support them.”

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Brand is indeed very important. It's a matter of recognition. Also, since sales are almost at their limit, we need to advertise to grab the market from pirated copies."

The best way to deal with piracy is to build a good brand. If the brand recognition is high, more people will definitely buy genuine products.

"Okay." Wei Zetao added: "According to our selling price, the total sales of Post-it Notes exceeded HK$8000 million, which is currently the single product with the highest sales in Changxing Industry."

"What about the mouse traps and sticky hooks?" Yang Wendong asked again.

The price of post-it notes varies in different countries around the world. In the early days, they were sold to the United States for US$1 each. Later, when other markets such as Europe were developed, the price was about US$50-30 each.

It is not cheap but not expensive either, with a profit margin of about 30% to 40%. This is mainly because if it is too expensive, it will breed more piracy, and in the long run, it will only backfire on itself.

Wei Zetao said: "The total sales of mouse traps and sticky hooks is about 10 million Hong Kong dollars, and the piracy of these two products is even more serious.

Because their structure is simple and glue is common, any workshop or even handmade can produce them.”

"It seems that the only way to expand the market is to establish a brand," Yang Wendong said.

The simpler the creative product, the easier it is to be pirated.

After all, sticky notes require a small production line to produce, and they also require special glue, which becomes the threshold for piracy.

The difficulty of making sticky mouse boards and sticky hooks is more than ten times easier than that of sticky notes.

"Yes, so the main task of Changxing Industrial this year is to promote the Deli brand overseas." Wei Zetao paused and said, "The advertising budget has not been made yet, but it will definitely be a large amount."

It’s okay, we still have to invest.” Yang Wendong said nonchalantly: “If the brand is well established, today’s investment may pay back several times in a few years.

And we have other items from the same brand, so it’s always a good deal.”

Just like Coca-Cola, because it is so famous, even if Coca-Cola suddenly launches a coffee that it has never made before, there will definitely be a lot of people who will try it.

This is the role of brands. Many people may not try new products from unknown brands.

Of course, when it comes to safety products, people pay more attention to brand. Deli’s products do not have such a strong brand dependence, but after all, having a brand is better than having no brand.

"I understand." Wei Zetao continued, "In the glue factory in Tuen Mun, we already have four production lines, with a total production capacity of 4 tons last year.

Our internal demand is about 2 tons, and the other 4.5 tons are needed by 3M's tape company in Hong Kong."

"Their factory is really big." Yang Wendong smiled.

The factory, which had just been open for less than a year, had already achieved a demand for glue that was more than twice its own volume.

Wei Zetao explained: "The main product of the 3M factory is ordinary adhesive tape, which is very common, and the annual production volume is also in the millions.

The amount of glue required for a single roll of tape is more than a hundred times that of our sticky notes, so the demand for glue is very high.

This year, our glue factory still has expansion plans, and we are planning to double our production capacity, but we haven't worked out the specific details yet. Will we let you review it once we have them ready?"

"Are these all 3m's requirements?" Yang Wendong asked.

"Partly, 3M's tapes are selling very well in the Asian market, and we are also preparing to expand." Wei Zetao replied: "But I am also preparing to do the export business of glue."

……

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(End of this chapter)