Butterfly effect, brand effect, development trend of construction machinery

Initially, when reading news headlines such as “Mo Yan is expected to win the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature” and “CCTV invited to interview Nobel laureate, possibly signaling Mo Yan's win”, I thought it was merely wishful thinking and baseless speculation by Chinese media. Nevertheless, I was very curious and searched for Mo Yan's works on Joyo.com and Dangdang.com, discovering that the works of this author, “expected” to win the Nobel Prize, weren't selling very well. “Mo Yan's books? They've all sold out. Today, it's all inquiries about Mo Yan. Not only are bookstores out of stock, but the publishers are too.” “Before the bookstore even opened this morning, readers were already waiting at the door. In less than 10 minutes, the books were all sold out. We didn't even have time to put up the promotional posters!” This is how a bookstore employee responded to customers the day after Mo Yan won the award. After the news of Mo Yan winning the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature was confirmed, I searched online again and found that many of Mo Yan's works showed a “temporarily out of stock” message. “I want to know what Mo Yan's books are about and why they've received such recognition and attention from the Nobel committee,” said one reader. Why did Mo Yan's books, once not very popular, suddenly sell out overnight? It's the Nobel Prize's brand effect. Love Me, Love My Dog: The Brand Effect Cannot Be Underestimated Have you ever bought a product endorsed by a celebrity you like? Have you ever hesitated between two products and then chosen one because of its advertising slogan? Have you ever been satisfied with a product from a certain brand and then trusted the brand enough to try other products from the same brand? In fact, these are all manifestations of the power of brands, different expressions of the brand effect. A brand is not only a symbol of a product, but also a comprehensive reflection of the cultural form of the enterprise, product, and society. For consumers, a brand means high quality and high credibility. Some well-known brands are recognized for their quality even if consumers haven't used them personally, and they will buy them decisively when needed. The brand effect may seem intangible, but it has a huge impact and should not be underestimated. In September 2012, Mr. Chen, a client, opened a new printing factory. He successfully purchased a JAC forklift through an order placed on the 21-sun product center. There are many manufacturers of forklifts, so why did Mr. Chen choose JAC? With this question in mind, a reporter from the China Construction Machinery Business Network conducted a brief follow-up interview with Mr. Chen. Mr. Chen said: “We bought the forklift mainly for transporting paper, and the performance requirements are not very high. Price and quality are the priority factors. Other brands are almost 10,000 yuan more expensive than JAC forklifts, so we naturally locked onto JAC first. We haven't used their products before, so we don't know about the quality, but I thought: JAC's steel is very famous nationwide, and the company has been around for more than ten years, with a good reputation and word-of-mouth. How bad could the forklift quality be?” Inferring that the quality of JAC forklifts is reliable because of their good steel, and that JAC forklifts are durable because of their good reputation and word-of-mouth, is also the effect of the brand. At this moment, Apple is selling its newly launched iPhone 5 globally, and the sight of countless Apple fans staying up all night to queue for purchase once again shocked the world. Why is every new product launch by Apple so impactful? Why are there so many consumers around the world who are obsessed with Apple? Are Apple products really so flawless? The answer is also the power of the brand. The truly terrifying thing about Apple is that it has created an ultimate impression of a good product, leading consumers to believe that Apple products only get better with each generation. Brand effects may be intangible, but they are an intangible asset. When Chinese companies can abandon their short-sighted pursuit of quick profits and spend some time on brand building, they will be closer to true success. Creativity: Breaking the Mold Entrepreneurs have likely crossed more bridges than I have roads. On the issue of how to create a superior brand, many entrepreneurs are experts. My comments here would be presumptuous. The original article from the China Construction Machinery Business Network, “Creating a Strong Brand: The Chinese Construction Machinery Industry Will Rise Again,” thoroughly explains the three major issues to consider when building high-quality brand assets. I won't repeat them here. The only thing I want to mention is: creativity is an indispensable factor throughout the brand-building process! Many entrepreneurs have this question: In the past, our companies used advertising to build brands and gain a competitive advantage, but now competitors are also using the same methods to compete with us. How can we achieve a differentiated core competitiveness? My answer is: creativity. Creativity is the hardest thing to steal, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. For them, creativity is the best way to build a brand and win. We know that the three elements of industrial products—quality, price, and function—are all determined by the manufacturer, but the one thing the manufacturer cannot control is whether consumers like the product or not. Manufacturers should clearly realize that in the future, and even now, many consumers' motto will no longer be satisfaction or dissatisfaction, but like or dislike. Let's look at how Nike, an old shoe company, does it. A customer first logs onto Nike's website and selects a series of “shoe parts”—including a pink base color, bright yellow lining, shock absorbers, and a swoosh logo. Soon, the customer receives a pair of uniquely designed Nike shoes mailed from Nike! In fact, Nike simply breaks down a complete shoe into various components and allows customers to freely mix and match them through network technology, thus fulfilling the customer's personalized needs. Although Nike charges an extra $10–$20 for each customized shoe, customers are willing to pay this fee for the ability to control the design of their shoes. At this point, Nike has transcended the traditional shoe manufacturer and become a company that provides a way to enjoy the fun of sports. Products that do not allow customers to participate in the manufacturing process can only be called “dead products.” Only when the product itself becomes an open system, allowing customers to participate in the production or manufacturing process, can it be called a “living product.” The shift from mass production to mass customization essentially returns the right of choice to the consumer. Some might say that construction machinery companies are different from shoe and hat companies; the cost of “customization” is too high. I would say that there is nothing that cannot be done, only things that have not been thought of—in the first half of 2012, Bore received a customized order from Hangzhou Weisheng Solar Energy Company, with a contract price of 28.6 million yuan. Founded in 1982, Bore is known as the leading manufacturer of general-purpose machine tools in China. In 2011, it entered the field of customized production line services, becoming the first heavy industry enterprise in Zhejiang Province to do so. “Simply put, we used to only produce the mainframe, but now we customize the mainframe and accessories according to orders, set up the system, provide on-site installation and even operator training, providing ‘one-stop service.’” In the view of Bore's general manager, Gao Errong, transforming from a traditional manufacturing enterprise into an industrial service enterprise and making a major effort to cross-border transformation is an “essential course” that domestic heavy industry enterprises cannot escape. Gao Errong said that in recent years, the cost of human resources in the heavy industry manufacturing industry has increased significantly, while customized production lines emphasize automation and intelligence, reducing labor costs, logistics links, and production cycles, meeting the requirements of “technology-intensive” industries to replace human labor with computers. “Judging from the current development trend, the market prospects for industrial customized services are good.” Gao Errong revealed that in less than a year, Bore has completed the installation of more than 10 customized production lines. It is estimated that Bore's customized orders will exceed 45 million yuan this year. Do the examples of Nike and Bore give you some inspiration? In my opinion, we may not be able to meet the personalized needs of end users at this stage, but we should at least have such a “customized” concept, committed to achieving customer preferences, and always be prepared. One day, when other manufacturers are still struggling in the whirlpool of homogeneous competition, we will be ready. We can really make the products our customers want! One of the laws of business is like nature: survival of the fittest. Dinosaurs were huge, but they died out; ants are small, but they thrive. As the business environment changes, the “dinosaur age” will eventually be replaced by “biodiversity.” A brand is like the Mona Lisa's smile. Everyone can feel its charm, but few can clearly express it. In the age of the Internet economy, building your own brand personality and creatively managing your brand is more important than managing your products and services. I look forward to the day when the construction machinery industry blossoms.