Chapter 400: Popularity explodes, overtaking on the curve

Chapter 400: Popularity explodes, overtaking on the curve

Chapter 400: Popularity explodes, overtaking on the curve

At 26 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, a newly built Grade A office building is crowded with people and pedestrians. The th Hong Kong Electronics Fair is being held and the atmosphere is very lively.

The exhibition is organized by the Trade Development Council and has been held regularly every year since 1975, taking advantage of the location of Hong Kong Island.

The exhibition economy is a good policy that can drive business travel, promote aviation, hotels, and cultivate manufacturing.

Among more than one hundred booths, in a core area, there is a booth with the sign of Zhonghe Electronics hanging on it.

Many customers at the exhibition heard music coming from a booth. It was Danny Chan's "Ripples", which won the Top Ten Golden Songs last year. Every year at the exhibition, audio companies would play songs for audition, and customers were used to it. When they heard cheers and greetings from Danny Chan, they realized that it was the singer who was there.

Behind the booth of Jinshan Industrial, the exhibition manager Fan Jiaxiang saw customers flocking to the booth of Zhonghe Electronics and quickly took two employees with him: "Let's go and take a look."

"They actually invited singers to the show. The people at Zhongyi Electronics really know how to have fun."

The exhibition managers of Deli Watch, Yilin Electronics, Lu's Industry and Champagne Company all came to the Zhonghe Electronics booth.

"Danny Chan!"

"It's really Danny Chan."

"Ah, there are also Chow Wai Man, Leslie Cheung, and Anita Mui"

Cameras and cameras were set up outside the booth, and reporters were taking photos and recording videos. Former G4 agent Zeng Jingfu and ten security guards were standing guard at the booth, and hot girls in swimsuits were handing out new product flyers to the merchants attending the conference.

When the flow of people reached a certain scale, the herd effect appeared, and at least a thousand people gathered in front of the booth, accounting for half of the flow of people in the morning that day.

Even people from other manufacturers' booths came to visit.

In that era, exhibitors were still handing out flyers and displaying products in a serious manner, while guests were dressed in suits and asking for prices and goods, and the business atmosphere was rigid and old-fashioned.

An entertaining new product launch conference, the eye-catching effect is terrifying.

Zuoshou looked at the huge crowd in front of the booth, jostling and crowding forward, and exclaimed in surprise: "It's so popular, boss, it's a hit, the new product will definitely sell well!"

Forty dollars for a Walkman is already a steal in terms of price. If it is well promoted, it can ignite market sentiment in one fell swoop.

In the 1980s, there was no online shopping, and if a product wanted to be distributed on a large scale, it could not be distributed without distributors.

Therefore, there are two types of publicity: one is publicity to dealers, and the other is publicity to customers. The former requires building a reputation in the industry, while the latter involves spreading advertisements and creating a brand image.

Building its own distribution network and having authorized dealers is not an option for small companies. There is also a lack of market in Hong Kong Island, and it is simply not possible to authorize more than a few stores.

Most goods have to be imported into the mainland through agents, or when sold overseas, they can be shipped directly from the factory.

Today, Yin Zhaotang took great pains to open a booth and hold the first new product launch conference in Hong Kong's electronics industry, hoping to give dealers a good appearance.

After Danny Chan finished singing, Yin Zhaotang, wearing a suit and holding a microphone, went on stage and shouted out his famous words in front of the large poster of Zhonghe 1: “I don’t want two hundred dollars, I don’t want one hundred dollars, I don’t want fifty dollars, I just want forty dollars!”

Suddenly, the dealers exclaimed and the atmosphere was collectively ignited.

Businessmen with market experience know that if the price of a product is cut in half, it means that the customer base will increase five times or even ten times!
The world is like a pyramid, or even a thumbtack, with few people on the top and many people below. Even if dealers recognize at a glance that Zhonghe 1 is a copycat version of Sony, its more color combinations cater to the young market and its low price make all the shortcomings not disadvantages.

Even though the failure rate of Zhonghe Electronics' products is higher than stated in the flyers, there is no problem selling 20 or 30 of them in the store.

Just relying on price impact can generate a wave of sales.

Whether the product is good or not, and whether its reputation is ruined or not, are actually matters for the future.

Before the press conference ended, many merchants received purchase orders, wrote down the quantity and pick-up time, and after paying the deposit, the orders became legally effective.

As long as you pick up the goods at the factory on time, the transaction is completed.

Fan Jiaxiang held the flyer and the more he listened, the more he understood: "The official price is 40 US dollars, and it is recommended that dealers sell it for no more than US dollars?"

"Is it okay for me not to take advice?"

Since many parts of electronic products have to be purchased from outside, pricing is based on U.S. dollars, leaving dealers with a profit of ten dollars, which is very low in the portable player product category.

But the dealers did not listen to the advice and sold the products at 55 or 60 dollars. This would only undermine the manufacturer's low-price strategy, and the subsequent sales volume would not increase. Zhonghe Electronics might go bankrupt.

He vaguely felt that Zhonghe Electronics had a trick up its sleeve, but he was in the dark and couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he scratched his head.

While a number of electronics manufacturers were amazed at the prices of Chunghwa Electronics' products, Yin Zhaotang also got to know the new force of Hong Kong's electronics industry for the first time at the exhibition.

After all, he used to be a well-connected guy. He was one of many electronics factory owners stationed in Kwun Tong, Tai Po, Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun, working hard in industrial buildings in the dark.

"It's a shame for Hong Kong Island's electronics industry."

From the fact that the Development Bureau organizes electronic exhibitions, it can be seen that the Hong Kong government has been interested in supporting the electronics industry. In the late 20s, the electronics industry was listed as one of Hong Kong's four major pillar industries along with textiles, garments, and watches, accounting for more than % of Hong Kong's total exports.

Among them, the Champagne Group founded by the godfather of Yau Ma Tei Street "Hu Xiaoqing" was Sony's OEM factory in its early years, and later launched its own radio and electronic watch businesses.

Jinshan Industry mainly produces batteries, speakers, and its Super Batteries are well-known throughout Hong Kong.

There are also electronic watches from Deli Watch and audio equipment from Yilin Electronics. In terms of electronic watches alone, Hong Kong Island once accounted for one-third of the world's production.

In the field of electronic audio and computer accessories, Hong Kong products are also a symbol of high-end.

But unfortunately, the Hong Kong government failed to control land and finance, forcing industries to flee Hong Kong Island and head north to the Pearl River Delta. The people who came to become the famous world factory in the future were the "refugees".

Today, Chunghwa Electronics is relatively well-known in Hong Kong Island. Its call machines are famous for being cheap. It is also first-rate in technology as it can develop its own integrated circuits. Like Hu Xiaoqing's Champagne Group, it has taken over some technology transfers and has unique advantages.

One is to go home to learn from others, and the other is to study abroad to learn skills.

At the end of the one-day exhibition, Zuo Shou counted the orders and found that he had sold 6,000 units directly. By the end of the week-long exhibition, he would be able to ship at least 10,000 units.

Yin Zhaotang couldn't help but sigh at the sharp vision of Hong Kong businessmen. It is worthy of being the window of Asia, a place of great fortune and talents!
Good products will never have trouble selling.

Before getting on the bus, I looked at the sign of the office building, which read "China Resources Building". The exhibition site was the annex of the building, named Hong Kong Exhibition Center, which had nothing to do with the later "Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center". Its official name was "China Export Commodities Exhibition Hall."

The property manager is China Resources Group's subsidiary "Huaxia Advertising Exhibition Co., Ltd.". The center has six floors and a single floor area of ​​2100 square meters.

The construction company was Hehe Industrial, and its boss was the well-known patriotic entrepreneur "Hu Yingxiang".

Due to the lack of exhibition venues in the urban area, large-scale exhibitions at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre are basically held in the "China Export Commodities Exhibition Hall".

When the exhibition officially came to an end, the booth's sales in seven days totaled 13,000 units, and the delivery date was actually scheduled for two months later.

Yin Zhaotang also limited the sales at the exhibition, only approving 91 units to dealers. The remaining units in stock will be sold directly from the manufacturer on TV stations and " Magazine".

On the second day, citizens across Hong Kong discovered that dozens of print media outlets, including 91 Magazine, Oriental Daily, and Sing Tao Daily, all had large-scale advertisements for Zhonghe Walkman.

The manufacturer sold the product directly at a price of HK$350 across Hong Kong, and a hotline was printed on the product, with 1,000 units sold on the first day.

Twenty of the guys who answered calls from clients in the stable were assigned to answer the order calls.

The advertisement in "91 Magazine" also stated that one could pay a deposit at a licensed newsstand and the manufacturer would have the Walkman delivered to the nearest customer via a "newspaper man".

A direct sales channel was opened instantly.

Citizens found out that the hotline was not a lie and the products were really sold out. Suddenly, there was a rush to buy. When the merchants in Apliu Street saw that their products were selling well, they hung posters at the door to attract customers into the store.

First, take advantage of the popularity to raise the price to US$65, and then step by step look at the market supply and demand and cut it down to US$60, US$55, or US$50.

The distributors did not sign a price limit agreement when purchasing goods from Zhonghe. When they found that the direct sales price was limited in quantity, price increases were inevitable.

If the dealers make a profit, they will not blame the manufacturer, but if the customers pay a premium, they will only blame the dealers. The factory really anchored the product price at 40 US dollars, which won a large number of loyal customers.

The Zhonghe Walkman became the first hit product in Hong Kong's electronic product market in 83, and its marketing techniques were selected into the business school's distribution practice course that year.

After overtaking others in the electronics industry, it was only natural for the company to learn from brands such as Sony and Philips, take advantage of its capital pool, acquire music labels, and intervene in the development of the music industry.

(End of this chapter)