Text/Hong Xiaochun
On the May 4th Youth Day, station b launched a speech titled "The Waves Behind", which failed to inspire contemporary young people, but shocked a large number of "former" young people. Why is "Hou Lang" so popular? It is simply because in this era of new things bursting out, they have made most middle-aged people intuitively experience the sense of crisis. On the other hand, after nearly 40 years of development, the construction and ceramics industry is also suffering from the pain of a "mid-life crisis". Especially in the past two years, many sales staff have become increasingly aware of the difficulty of the market.
If you start to feel that the market environment has become unfamiliar, it is probably because the old thinking no longer applies to this "familiar" industry. It is precisely that everyone needs to maintain the acumen and innovation of the "back wave" in order to better adapt to the accelerated iteration of the industry catalyzed by the epidemic, This is also the reason why the author wrote this article. Let me share with you my thoughts on the four "back waves" behind recent major industry events.
Brand "Houlang"
We should treat rock slabs and live broadcasts more rationally
After experiencing panic and worries during the epidemic, the clouds over the construction and ceramics industry are gradually lifting. It is also time for companies to make more rational considerations about brand operations - such as rock slabs and live broadcasts.
Recently, Delitai Company is undertaking the construction of a modern industry 4.0+ digital intelligent high-end wide-body slate kiln at the Zhaoqing Lubu production base of the New Mingzhu Ceramics Group. It is understood that Samit Ceramics, a subsidiary of New Pearl Ceramics Group, has been widely used in table tops, TV openings and closing walls., customized cabinets and other slate home applications have become more and more mature. Gold Medal Asia Tile, which was also earlier involved in the field of rock slabs, according to its insiders, the company's second phase of the rock slab project is expected to be put into production in mid-to-late May. Tan Tianqian, executive vice president and director of the brand operation center of Gold Medal Asian Tiles, said: "In the future, slate may be de-branded and integrated into the large home furnishing field as a plate."
On April 27, the No. 2 slate kiln of Qianghui Group was successfully ignited, which represents another strong member of the domestic slate army. Recently, when the author visited a company in Nanzhuang, I learned that the company’s brands are also preparing to start pushing slates. It can be seen that the trend of the industry chasing rock slabs is booming. Faced with the explosive growth of rock slab production lines this year, in addition to keeping up with the trend, it is more important for brands to understand the positioning of rock slabs.
In addition to rock slabs, many brands are flocking to live streaming. They are not only keen on selling bricks through live streaming, but also attracting investment through live streaming. On April 28, Oceano Ceramics continued to increase its efforts in online live broadcast investment promotion; it is reported that the online investment promotion conference successfully signed 74 dealers. Coincidentally, on the afternoon of April 30, Jinke Ceramics also attempted a live broadcast of "cloud investment promotion" for the first time. While the live broadcast of the investment promotion conference signed contracts in 13 cities, it also attracted 155 customers to sign up online. It is undeniable that live broadcast investment has broken the previous limitations of geographical investment promotion, but the industry still has mixed praise and criticism for the behavior of live broadcast.
Bao Gong said in the live broadcast of Guiran Academy: "Integrating online and offline is a trend in the future." Network , videos, and platforms are just tools for people to use. We always look at this thing with suspicion or even rejection. The final result is that those who take the lead have already harvested the fruits. Whether it is slate or live broadcast, it is certain that brands that have the courage to accept new things while maintaining rational thinking are the "back waves" that are more suitable to survive in the industry.
Terminal "Back Wave"
Manage your brand better with new thinking
At present, most people are still confused about the market situation, but as mentioned above, the results of online investment promotion by enterprises are actually quite good. Does that mean that a new era and new opportunities have quietly arrived? According to incomplete statistics, the proportion of those born in the 1980s and 1990s who newly joined the ceramic industry in 2019 is increasing, and the "post-wavers" have already heard about it.
In the process of terminal research and visits, it can be found that the mentality of the new generation and the second generation is always more cheerful. Every time the topic of elimination and shuffling comes up, they will say: "If others are having a hard time, it means we have a chance."Now 80 Post-processing dealers have become the mainstay of the terminal market. One of the dealers born in the 1980s in Yantai told the author: "Compared to the golden age of the industry, the current market is not difficult, and it does require more effort to do well."
In the past, to sell ceramic tiles, you could sell them as long as they were available; now you need to be able to do activities, understand space design, and build a team, and the threshold for practitioners has become higher and higher. The shopping guide of Suzhou Jianyi Marble Tiles told the author that they no longer have simple store shopping guides, and everyone needs to have the ability to run communities and decoration companies. Nanjing Dajiang Ceramics dealer said that they require everyone in the store to be able to use design software, and there are often similar skills training. It can be seen that operators must not only have an entrepreneurial spirit, but also constantly improve the professional quality and capabilities of their teams.
Traditional mom-and-pop stores and family stores are gradually being replaced by corporate operations, and the used building materials market is gradually being replaced by large-scale stores. Since the beginning of the new year, many large-scale building materials and home furnishing stores have ceased operations, and the topic of whether it is necessary to enter high-end stores has once again been a hot topic. The new retail leaders of Suzhou Dongpeng Ceramics and Nobel Ceramics both said: As big brands, it is necessary to enter hypermarkets. The Yantai Elizabeth tile dealer also believes that to be the best local brand, it is necessary to have stores in the best shopping malls and best locations. Therefore, the leading stores in most cities are oftenIt's hard to find a shop. As for the measurement of operating costs, some dealers explained: “It is certain that the cost (of entering high-end stores) is high, but we will not compete with others on price. To provide value, value is service.”
Producing area "Houtang"
They are all racing to expand production capacity
Ever since someone shouted that "Gao'an production area will surpass Foshan within 3-5 years", the competition for the "first production area" has been put on the table, and the ① and ② seeds have no The suspense is Jiangxi Gaoan and Guangxi Tengxian.
According to media reports, Jiangxi Gao'an's production and sales have been booming since the beginning of the new year, while Guangxi's Teng County has soared thanks to the completion of the production bases of several leading enterprises. In March last year, the Mona Lisa Group’s third production base was officially laid in Teng County, Guangxi; at the end of December last year, the base’s two production lines were the first to be ignited for trial production; on April 30, Mona Lisa The complete line project of kiln glaze lines A, B, C and D in Shasha's Guangxi production base has been successfully put into production of bricks.
Heyuan, Guangdong is not far behind. Douglas (Heyuan) Architectural Ceramics Production Base in the new environmentally friendly building materials base of Luohu Town, Dongyuan County is currently in the trial stage before being put into production; it is understood that the project plans to build 24 modern wall and floor tile production lines, with an annual output of up to 72 million square meters meters, with an estimated total investment of 3.398 billion yuan.
There are also many overseas players on the track of capacity expansion. On April 23, the interior wall tile production line built by Zhongyao Co., Ltd. for Zhongyang Group Nigeria Popular Ceramics was successfully put into operation in Zhongyang Industrial Park, Nigeria, with a designed daily output of approximately 40,000square meters. Recently, British manufacturer Forterra invested 95 million pounds (approximately 835 million yuan) in a new factory under construction...
Through the phenomenon of various production areas rushing to expand production capacity, it seems that the global demand for architectural ceramics is increasing. As for which "back wave" can win the title of the first production area, it is just a matter of wind and water.
Cross-border "back wave"
Finding a breakthrough in the face of danger
On the evening of May 5, Mona Lisa announced that Country Garden Venture Capital had subscribed for 6.22% of Mona Lisa’s equity for about 500 million yuan. On April 12, Country Garden also subscribed for 6.5% of the equity of Diou Home Furnishings for 500 million yuan. According to public information, Country Garden is currently involved in finished home furnishing industries such as furniture, floors, cabinets, bathroom cabinets, wardrobes, shower rooms, etc., and some home building materials products have become self-sufficient. .
On the afternoon of May 5, Haiou Housing issued an announcement disclosing the latest progress of its wholly-owned subsidiary Sun Talent's acquisition of a listed ceramic tile company in Vietnam. In addition to the previous acquisition of Champion Tiles, this is not the first time Haiou Residential has made a move in the ceramic tile field. Since 2015, Haiou Housing has made many investments intensively, with a total of 19 major investment projects and 7 merger and acquisition projects. In early 2020 alone, 3 mergers and acquisitions cases occurred, with a total investment amount of more than 10 billion.
Under the squeeze of finely decorated houses, ceramic tile companies have dropped out one after another.We are starting to develop centralized procurement channels for projects. Unexpectedly, real estate companies have begun to prepare to produce ceramic tiles themselves. How many bites of cake will be left by then? Ceramic tiles may even be integrated and absorbed by foreign industries before they have time to embrace the large home furnishing field. The ecology of the industry is changing. Cross-border robbery seems to have become the norm. What can be done now is to reconstruct the sales chain when the demand side shifts, and find ways to replace ceramic tiles when they are gradually replaced by other materials. other people.
Last month, Guangdong Jinyitao Group and Jingdezhen Ceramic Culture and Tourism Group reached a strategic cooperation framework agreement, with a total investment of 610 million yuan to build three gold and green energy new material production lines; recently, Yizhi Pengbao Water Company has an annual output of 1.8 million square meters The civil engineering work of the ecological ceramic permeable brick project has been basically completed, and equipment is currently being installed; on April 28, the sintered glazed foam ceramic insulation board market project in Shaoyang Industrial Park, Hunan started construction, with a total investment of 520 million yuan and plans to build 4 lines Fully automated production line, with an annual output of 4 million square meters and an annual output value of over 1 billion yuan...
With the popularity of prefabricated buildings, ceramics have made their debut as a new building material and will usher in a broader market. Therefore, under the crisis of "crying wolf", companies can still find opportunities to break through, from struggling to digest production capacity in the past to actively chasing the trend and seizing market demand. Only by finding your place in the industry's ecosystem and becoming an indispensable part of the large home furnishing industry can you have the chance to become the "back wave" who has the last laugh.
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Finally, I would like to say something appropriate for the occasion: going against the wind and going against the current is the true nature of the "back wave" in the construction and ceramics industry.
