The Classic Dialogue Between Chinese And American Marketing Masters: Wang Zhentao, The Winner Of Chinese Marketing "Golden Tripod Award" And Milton Kotler, The Father Of Modern Marketing

Mr. Kotler, President of KOTLER MARKETING GROUP, the world's top marketing consultant, has launched a wonderful dialogue with Chinese business guru, the winner of the second China outstanding marketer, the winner of AOKANG award, and Mr. Wang Zhentao, President of China AOKANG group.

The two sides launched dialogue and Discussion on the topic of how China's enterprises should enter the international market after China's accession to the WTO, where multinational companies seize the Chinese market.

There is no lack of insight in the collision between communication and ideas.

Milton Kotler (hereinafter referred to as): Mr. Wang, I am very glad to see you.

I really want to know the history of AOKANG, and I want to write an article for AOKANG.

I want to ask how long is AOKANG?

Wang Zhentao (hereinafter referred to as Wang): Mr. Kotler, I am also glad to have a dialogue with you.

So far, our company has a history of 15 years.

C: is your overseas branch responsible for brand distribution or exclusive stores?

Wang: mainly for marketing.

C: not for distribution and retail?

Wang: in terms of strategy, we should first publicize in large media, start the operation of brand positioning, and choose the right brand when we choose it.

C: is the current business expansion focused on the European market?

Wang: Italy is the shoe capital of the world. We plan to enter the European market first and then expand the international market.

K: I think AOKANG should pay attention to the distribution of products in Europe and the United States. The competition of products is very fierce, but there are very good distribution and retail assets in the market.

So I suggest why not consider buying a more famous chain store in the United States and full of Chinese brand shoes.

Wang: we also have a shoe making group in Spain.

Ke: it should buy a large chain store chain store in the US. The brand is not necessarily AOKANG. You can use the American brand. Do you sell your products in the US?

Wang: Yes.

Ke: we should further acquire shares and chain brands. Under the current circumstances, the profits of products are very small, most of which come from brands and distribution. But establishing brands in overseas markets is a great investment. So a better way is to buy a retail brand or buy a low cost enterprise.

Wang: Yes, I have the same idea as you.

Ke: AOKANG has this idea very well. I have always believed that Chinese enterprises should not only build their own brands overseas, but also acquire some chain brands through capital.

In the United States, there are many excellent regional shoe brands in search of partners.

Wang: I came to the United States last September to attend the annual marketing conference of the United States last year. I also made a speech there, so I want to know the American market through this talk.

Just last year, we opened two stores in New York, the United States. The name is also called AOKANG. We want to know about the market. When the conditions are ripe, we will cooperate with some large companies.

C: I would like to give you a suggestion that you should not only do your own brand testing, but also test and buy existing brand chain stores, such as buying American brands.

I would like to help you to see what way and how to make it bigger. Your product will have its own channels.

Wang: the most important thing is to sell and distribute the market better.

Ke: is it possible to understand this?

AOKANG has been successful in China because of its excellent distribution management.

This is a very important advantage.

Wang: Yes, we have more than 2000 stores and more than 5000 people in the country.

Now, is AOKANG's chain store selling AOKANG's single brand products?

Wang: No, now we have three brands.

Do you sell products from other brands in AOKANG stores?

Wang: Yes, we only sell AOKANG products.

K: I think AOKANG's experience in China has been relatively good and can be effectively applied to the international market.

In the US market, higher brands are single brands like the United States, Britain and France. The mid-range shoe industry is mainly a large counter. The shopping mentality of consumers can be compared and there are more choices.

In the US market, manufacturers will also sell other brands of non competitive products. The shoes I wear now are French brands. This brand has been very successful in the United States, worth more than 300 US dollars, it has strong pulling power, its technology and academic research are very good, it is casual business shoes.

The market segmentation of footwear market in the United States is very detailed. It can be roughly divided into sports shoes, casual shoes, professional business shoes, etc. in these three categories, each can be subdivided into high-end brand, value market, function and price segmentation market. The shoes I wear are positioned in high-end business casual shoes.

Nike emphasizes high performance sneakers, and now it is starting to pform and gradually turn into casual shoes.

So we need to draw a map of the whole industry and choose where our target market is.

Wang: we are also doing this now. Just like our three brands, AOKANG is a gentleman's shoes, Kanglong is casual shoes, beautiful ladies are fashion women's shoes, and there are strong functional joint shoes with GEOX company of Italy, forming a multi brand management strategy.

Ke: what kind of cooperation do you have with GEOX company?

Wang: through cooperation, we produce a kind of shoe that can breathe.

Next, their production base is located in our AOKANG, because the cost of Italy is relatively high, and the production base can be moved here to reduce costs.

Ke: is it in the form of joint venture?

Wang: sales are joint stock, and they may cooperate in other areas later.

The main way is that the sales market is made by AOKANG, and the production is done by AOKANG. Others may cooperate with him later.

Ke: both sides are working together to distribute in China. Another is to make GEOX in the Asia Pacific region. Is there any ownership in the brand?

Wang: now we are only working together for the first time.

K: I hope that AOKANG will not only become the largest producer in the world, but also be the largest distributor in the world, because the meaning of distribution is much higher than the value of production.

Wang: it is the fastest brand in the world. It is called another brand in the world like Nike. Its success is due to its success in the distribution system.

If you need to study the distribution of the market, I would like to help you, but I would like to help AOKANG enter the US market.

Wang: Thank you!

Ke: Yes.

Wang: how long do you think China's private enterprises will enter the world's sales network?

Ke: it depends on the specific circumstances of the company. For example, Haier group and Haier America's air conditioner have been very successful. Its success is quite important because it has found a very good partner in the United States, which is distributed by family tradition, and has many distribution resources. Haier knows a lot of resources through its cooperation with it. So the success of Haier American company is to find a way to understand the distribution channel of the United States, which is an important reason for its success.

Another story is Pearl River Piano, a Chinese company. Its success is because it has found a very outstanding sales manager. This person has a very good relationship with the main retailers and distributors in the United States. With this resource, it has entered the US market very quickly and now has 45% of the market share in the American piano market. So the success of Chinese private enterprises in the market comes from finding a good partner.

Wang: what do you think is the difference between our enterprises and the famous brands in the world?

Kb: from the overall perspective, most Chinese enterprises are not doing their own brands very lightly, and have not formed an emotional connection with consumers.

Like Nike shoes, through the relatively good star brand, and consumers form emotional connection, let consumers feel that they wear shoes to think of stars, link up.

Therefore, brand building and management is a great job, not just good design and advertising, but also the relationship between products and services and consumers. Haier has done a good job on it. Through a series of legendary stories, the brand image often represents an image and social status that consumers aspire to become.

The question is, how do consumers feel after consumers wear AOKANG shoes?

What does AOKANG shoes mean to consumers?

What are the signs, social status and so on.

Take an example of the clothing industry, an international brand, when women wear this brand, they feel a kind of internationalization, so brand is a kind of emotional value between consumers and products.

For example, the famous brand, "new wark" coffee brand, has made it very successful for young people, and when young people enter, they feel that they can make friends.

Therefore, when we mention the brand of "new Walker", we think of who you will meet there. This is the true meaning of a brand, its value has surpassed itself.

Wang: I understand this very well.

Consumers wear AOKANG shoes not just for walking, but for enjoyment.

This requires a process.

Ke: this year is my fifth year in China. Every year I have basically come up several times, and 20% of the year is spent in China.

Our company has helped many Chinese companies achieve better performance. At present, a very successful case is a brand of China, the Gen Gi Khan brand. We helped it enter the foreign market and made it very successful.

It locates in people who like to wrestle.

The consumption of these people is quite large. They are very cool, very strong people. How do we do that?

We invited the chairman of the most famous Wrestling Association in the United States to China to find a wrestler, because the famous brand itself is known to Americans. Gen Gi Khan achieved success through military strategy and was very successful in history.

He will take part in the wrestling competition in the United States every month and become the spokesman of Gen Gi Khan brand. His story will spread among the whole wrestling fans in the United States.

American wrestling is a form of entertainment. This story is about how to make a brand.

It must have a profound foundation.

Comparing the two countries' markets, the gap between China and the United States is that the United States has a huge middle class space. The two level division of the Chinese market is very serious. It is basically divided into people with high incomes and low incomes. It is not surprising that price wars take place in China.

But the US market is different. There are more middle class in the United States, and there are more products that emphasize value and performance.

But the growth rate of the middle class in China in recent years is very fast. By 2010, it will reach about 40000000 of the middle class.

If this figure can be achieved, China will become the largest middle class market in the world.

Wang: will it take another 10 years?

Ke: it is not so calculated, because the middle class in the United States is getting smaller and smaller, and China is increasing rapidly. It may not take 10 years.

Ke: of course, it is influential.

First of all, the impact of the decline in the US and EU markets on China's exports is very large, which goes back to the reason why AOKANG strongly advocated the acquisition of the US distribution market.

Even if there are fewer products exported later, most of them will come from distribution.

Wang: This is beneficial to China's market entry.

K: This is the same as the preceding view.

It is very good to enter the US and European market from the Chinese market at present. The opportunity is very good. The export price will rise in four years.

Chinese entrepreneurs can do this, buy a better shoe chain enterprise, drive out all the shoes abroad, and change all their shoes into Chinese shoes.

How big is it?

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