Chapter 11 10. Save Wanglaoji

Once upon a time, Wang Laoji had a strange barrier to reporters.This barrier comes from the huge contradiction between the cognition and expectation of Wanglaoji brand. Suffering modern Chinese enterprises are too short of successful century-old brands.We have too many colorful and famous brands, but they are just a flash in the pan, and the glory of the past was quickly submerged in the vast business world like a shooting star.However, Wanglaoji, which has experienced nearly two centuries of ups and downs, is still on the cusp of storms, although it is expected to fill the gap of a century-old Chinese brand.

Interpreting Wanglaoji not only needs to be full of pride for national brands, but also to resist deep-seated worries about time-honored brands. In 1885, when Dr. Pemberton of Georgetown, USA developed Coca-Cola in his cellar, he certainly would not have known that Wanglaoji herbal tea had been born in distant China for nearly 60 years, and he would never have thought of 120 years. Today, Wanglaoji has become a challenger who can threaten Coca-Cola in the Chinese beverage market. In 1828, when Wang Zebang (child name Aji) opened the Wanglaoji herbal tea shop in Guangzhou, he also could not have imagined that 180 years later, there would be three branches of Wanglaoji herbal tea to jointly operate Wanglaoji herbal tea, which not only supported each other, but also restrained each other.

Since the 19th century, Wanglaoji herbal tea has not only had a profound impact in South China, but its sense of touch has extended to overseas.Wanglaoji's brothers and descendants opened Wanglaoji herbal tea shops in Hong Kong and Australia, and the formula and medicinal materials of Wanglaoji herbal tea are also exported to Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States.Liang Qichao, a celebrity in modern Chinese history, during his inspection trip to the United States from 1898 to 1903, recorded Wanglaoji in "New World Travel Notes": There is a so-called Wanglaoji herbal tea, which is sold in Guangdong for every two copper coins, and it is sold to Westerners for five yuan or ten yuan. Dollars wait for clouds.It can be seen that Wanglaoji herbal tea has long been accepted by the international market, realizing the "going out" of the national brand. After the founding of New China, Guangzhou No. 9 Traditional Chinese Medicine Factory continued to produce "Wanglaoji" herbal tea according to the original prescription.The Ninth Traditional Chinese Medicine Factory is the predecessor of Guangzhou Yangcheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and now Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.At the same time, Wang Laoji's descendants also began to operate Wang Laoji herbal tea shops in Hong Kong and other places outside mainland China.So Wanglaoji formed a wonderful pattern of the same brand: one branch was classified as a state-owned enterprise in mainland China and developed into today's Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The domestic Wanglaoji brand is owned by Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; the other is owned by Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The descendants of the Wang family brought it to Hong Kong. In countries and regions with herbal tea markets outside mainland China, the brand of Wanglaoji is basically registered by the descendants of the Wang family.

However, both Guangzhou Wanglaoji and Hong Kong Wanglaoji have failed to break through the prominent geographical positioning of Wanglaoji herbal tea itself. The two operators of the same brand seem to have not sent Wanglaoji to the fast lane of rapid development. In the era when the herbal tea market was undeveloped, such geographical boundaries could maintain a pattern of two brands operating without aggression against each other.However, when the herbal tea market is gradually developed and geographical boundaries are finally broken, brand conflicts will inevitably bring together different operators of the same brand to establish a new contractual balance.

What really gave Wang Laoji a second life was the power of rejuvenation from outside the body. In 1997, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group (the superior unit of Guangzhou Yangcheng Pharmaceutical) and Hong Kong Wanglaoji Group sat together to explore the future path of Wanglaoji.In this meeting, a crucial "third party" role will appear in the Wanglaoji camp. It is this third party that puts Wanglaoji on the track of rapid growth, and it is the addition of this third party that makes Wanglaoji's The brand pattern is getting more subtle.This enterprise that has nothing to do with Wanglaoji is Hong Kong Hongdao Group Co., Ltd.

On February 13, 1997, Guangzhou Yangcheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Wanglaoji Food and Beverage Branch signed a trademark licensing contract with Hong Kong Hongdao Group Co., Ltd. The contract stipulates that Hongdao Group Co., Ltd. has obtained the exclusive use of "Wanglaoji" since 1997. The right to use the trademark to produce and sell red paper packaging and red iron canned herbal tea drinks. The contract is valid until December 31, 2011, and the validity period is 15 years. The contract was renewed in 2001 for a total of 20 years.Guangzhou Yangcheng Pharmaceutical and Hong Kong Wanglaoji Group have also confirmed their respective trademark ownership areas in the Mainland and overseas countries and regions including Hong Kong.

The ambitious Hongdao Group invested and established Hong Kong Jiaduobao (Guangdong) Co., Ltd. for this purpose. Hong Kong Wanglaoji Group provided the formula, and was licensed by Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceuticals to exclusively produce in mainland China. It was specially responsible for the production of "red pot" Wanglaoji herbal tea and sales, Jiaduobao has set up four processing plants in mainland China, located in Dongguan, Guangdong, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, Shishi, Fujian and Beijing. Ten years later, reviewing the trademark lease of that year again, involved an old story, which added to the legend of Wanglaoji. In 2001, in order to renew the "Wanglaoji" trademark use contract with Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group, Hong Kong Hongdao Group gave 3 million Hong Kong dollars to Li Yimin, the former vice chairman and general manager of Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group, in Hong Kong. On May 16, 2005, Li Yimin was tried in the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court on suspicion of accepting more than 3.7 million yuan in bribes, and was later sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime of accepting bribes.But at this very moment, the Red Pot Wanglaoji is burning all over the country with the momentum of a single spark, with annual sales exceeding 1 billion yuan and sprinting towards 2 billion yuan.

One illegal operation led to a trademark lease, and one extracorporeal circulation activated a century-old brand.The bribe-takers have been imprisoned, the renters are still performing legends, and the Wanglaoji brand has just stumbled out of its slumber. Although it is facing an even more unpredictable puzzle, it still rushed to the top The throne of the overlord of herbal tea beverages. From the perspective of market performance, at the beginning, the three companies made efforts in the market at the same time. Because of the differences in products and markets, they made up for each other and supported each other, so that Wanglaoji entered an unprecedented prosperous development stage.In particular, Jiaduobao’s internationalized beverage product operation methods, the publicity campaign at all costs, coupled with the opportunity of SARS and the appeal of the product itself, a century-old brand with a long history of nearly 180 years, with the joint efforts of the three brothers, began to re- Bursting with exuberant vitality.

Although there are differences in the gains and losses of interests, they all generously abandoned sectarianism and single-mindedly worked together to make the same brand bigger and stronger. They have become brothers who love each other and support each other. In 2003, Jiaduobao invested 40 million yuan to advertise in the prime time of CCTV, known as the "Cradle of Famous Brands". Named "Guangzhou Yaowanglaoji" Golden Eagle Theater. In August 2004, Jiaduobao used Wanglaoji as a "food" to open nearly 200 KFC restaurants and launched Wanglaoji herbal tea at the same time, turning it into a KFC supplier; at the same time, Guangzhou Yangcheng Pharmaceutical took advantage of the 175-year-old factory At the same time, he did a lot of public relations for "Wanglaoji", named the train from Guangzhou to Chongqing, and sponsored the Chess Masters Tournament.

From 1998 to 2004, in order to bring "Wanglaoji" out of Guangdong and into Zhejiang, Jiaduobao donated hundreds of thousands of yuan to support hope primary schools, college entrance examination champions, and poor students in Wenzhou and other places; at the same time, Guangzhou Yangcheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Sponsored the filming of the costume TV series "Lingnan Medicine Man" with Wang Laoji as the protagonist, which was popular on CCTV. There is an old saying in China: "Brothers unite in one heart, and their profits cut gold." It is Guangzhou Yangcheng Pharmaceutical and Jiaduobao's efforts to promote and care for the Wanglaoji brand that have established Wanglaoji's status as the overlord of herbal tea today. In 2003, the sales of Red Pot Wanglaoji surged from more than 100 million yuan in 2002 to 600 million yuan, and quickly opened up markets outside Guangdong; The annual sales volume exceeded 1 billion yuan; in 2005, the annual sales volume exceeded 2 billion yuan, and in 2006, the sales volume reached 3.5 billion yuan in one fell swoop. In March 2004, Guangzhou Yangcheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. strengthened its own influence, and the company changed its name to "Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd."Taking advantage of the strong publicity campaign of the red pot Wanglaoji, the sales revenue of the green Tetra Pak "Wanglaoji" launched by Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceuticals in 2004 reached 80 million yuan, and the total sales revenue in 2006 even reached the height of 660 million yuan.

Both internal and external Wanglaoji, new and old operators, have jointly created Wanglaoji's leading position in the field of herbal tea beverages. At this time, it seems reasonable to establish a joint venture company to jointly operate the "Wanglaoji" brand, and it is also a good opportunity for Wanglaoji to achieve a higher leap. However, stories in the capital market are always full of dramatic variables. In mid-July 2004, as a high-quality asset under the Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group, Wanglaoji Pharmaceuticals played the role of the Guangzhou Municipal Government as the "pioneer in the asset restructuring of pharmaceutical companies". strategic investors.Hong Kong Tongxing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. injected 168.88 million yuan into Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group holds 48.0466% of the shares of Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical Industry.In the process, Jiaduobao Company, which really revitalized Wanglaoji herbal tea and even the entire herbal tea industry, was completely forgotten. The emergence of the fourth party makes the combination of red and green Wanglaoji a luxury, and makes the road of Wanglaoji's brand more complicated and confusing. Since then, Hong Kong Tongxing Pharmaceutical has stated that it intends to push Wanglaoji's mainland business to the road of simultaneous listing of A+H shares.But this is just the speech of one family, and Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical even quickly stood up and declared that this was not a resolution of the board of directors.What's more, without the approval of Hong Kong Wanglaoji, there is no hope of going public.The promise of Hong Kong Tongxing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. to "solve the ownership and use rights of Wanglaoji's trademarks in Hong Kong or overseas by buying out or giving equity to the other party" has not been fulfilled.The brand's regional separatist structure is still the biggest obstacle on the road of Wanglaoji's listing financing and overseas expansion. The seemingly reasonable dramatic layout in the capital and brand market continues to be staged.Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., which has already leased the trademark of Wanglaoji in mainland China to others, embarked on the dramatic road of leasing the trademark of Hong Kong Wanglaoji in order to open up overseas markets. At the beginning of 2004, Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical and Hong Kong Wanglaoji Group signed an agreement to lease the "Wanglaoji" trademark for 10 years.According to the agreement, during the lease period, the "Wanglaoji" series products produced by Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. can be sold in the above-mentioned regions, and at the same time, a certain percentage of sales will be paid to Hong Kong Wanglaoji Group for the use of the trademark. Focusing on the common brand of Wanglaoji, the four companies each dominate in terms of brand, capital, marketing, and channels, and jointly started the game journey of the "Wanglaoji" brand. So far, the game situation built by the four companies around the three characters "Wanglaoji" has been fully formed. However, where will the final result of the game lead Wanglaoji?It seems quite intriguing. After 20 years of investing huge capital and energy, hard-forging channels and brand promotion models, after the trademark lease expires, will Jiaduobao be able to willingly give up the Wanglaoji brand and hand over the established country? Hundreds of years of generational management have already completed overseas deployment. Hong Kong Wanglaoji Group sees that the prescriptions and brands left by its ancestors are being enriched by outsiders. Is it to fight or compromise? A brand lease 10 years ago made Wanglaoji a good story 10 years later. The brand owned by Guangzhou Wanglaoji has become a cash cow for others. Seeing that Jiaduobao is taking the lead, should we wait for the return of the brand 10 years later, or should we attack ? Everything has just begun, and the future of Wanglaoji is full of variables. It is difficult for us to find a standard answer from the current opening.But we might as well analyze how many opportunities are left for Wanglaoji in the maze. The first possibility of breaking through: combine vertical and horizontal. Guangzhou Wanglaoji has the brand ownership of the largest herbal tea market, backed by a solid and stable foundation of state-owned enterprises; Jiaduobao Group’s mature international beverage operation mode, as well as the channels and brand promotion capabilities formed over the years; Hong Kong Wanglaoji Group holds overseas brand ownership, In addition, the identity of the direct successor of Wanglaoji culture; the five investors of Hong Kong Tongxing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. have strong backgrounds in Hong Kong and even the international business community, and mature channels in the international Chinese herbal medicine and beverage markets; the four forces complement each other and complement each other. , can form a real Wanglaoji "death squad", if the four companies can clear up their suspicions, let go of past festivals, properly handle the distribution of mutual interests, join forces to establish a joint venture company, or exchange shares to form a common interest pattern, not only Being able to get through Wanglaoji’s IPO financing and overseas expansion of Ren and Du’s two channels can also reduce internal friction and form the strongest herbal tea beverage force, and even successfully rise in the domestic and international beverage markets, competing with beverage giants. This is the most ideal way to break through. After all, it is still unknown whether Wanglaoji’s brand stickiness to consumers will be as good as it is now before Jiaduobao Group returns the brand. Great timing.If Wanglaoji can be transformed from division to unity in advance, the influence of a century-old brand, the appeal of a successful market, and the cohesion of strong alliances will surely bring Wanglaoji further. The second possibility of breakthrough: capital game. Let us first switch the perspective to another enterprise. From 2002 to 2003, Shanghai Shanda Network Co., Ltd. constantly had legal frictions with a Korean company called Actoz. The latter was the upstream game developer of the former, and Actoz handed over the subsequent version to another Chinese company for agency operation. affect the relationship between the two parties.Six months after Shanda successfully landed on NASDAQ, it acquired 28.96% of Actoz shares for US$91.7 million in cash and became the company's largest shareholder.Shanda's move eliminated the hidden danger of lawsuits, stabilized the cooperative relationship, and rose from a passive position to an active one. Jiaduobao Company has initially completed capital accumulation in the past ten years. As the behind-the-scenes driving force that really opened the door to the success of the Wanglaoji brand, it will also become a very critical force in the further growth of the Wanglaoji brand.Instead of waiting for 20 years to make the country that you have built change hands to others, it is better to take the initiative to take the initiative and use the power of capital to truly take over the Wanglaoji family.It is still unknown whether Hong Kong Tongxing Pharmaceutical, a strategic investor introduced by Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical, has expanded the overseas market or whether it has attracted wolf into the house.However, Hong Kong Tongxing Pharmaceutical holds 48.0466% of the shares of Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical, which is a very good opportunity for capital acquisition in front of Jiaduobao.If Jiaduobao can acquire the shares of Hong Kong Tongxing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and participate in Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and successfully marry into the "Wang Family Family", even if it does not have an absolute advantage in equity, it can still make all brand and market contradictions invisible.The combination of Guangzhou Wanglaoji and Jiaduobao will undoubtedly increase the bargaining chips in the game and cooperation with Hong Kong Wanglaoji Group, and the reunification of the top four will surely be just around the corner. The direction of the capital level cannot always be speculated with common sense.And it is this unpredictable capital game that often changes the market structure more profoundly. The third possibility of breakout: return + marriage. If the first two are difficult to achieve, there is still a "stupid" way to maintain the continued prosperity of Wanglaoji. During the remaining 10-year brand lease period, Guangzhou Wanglaoji and Jiaduobao Group will maintain a market complementary relationship of "combining but not uniting, competing but not fighting", jointly develop Wanglaoji's herbal tea market, and jointly build Wanglaoji's brand. Ten years later, when Wanglaoji returns, he will also marry Jiaduobao Group in the form of increased shares, and then solve the problems of listing financing and overseas expansion through other means, which can be regarded as keeping Wanglaoji's lineage. This road to break through belongs to "positive in negativity, and vitality in helplessness", but it also bears the huge risk of Wanglaoji brand falling out of favor and Hong Kong Wanglaoji taking the opportunity to rise.After all, the market is changing rapidly. There are too many well-known brands worth hundreds of millions in China that failed to withstand the test of time and ended up worthless. The fourth possibility of breaking through: break ahead of schedule. For Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical, there is still a possibility of breakthrough.Li Yimin, the former vice chairman and general manager of Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group, was sentenced for accepting bribes, which directly laid a hidden danger for Jiaduobao Group to rent Wanglaoji's trademark.Although from the present point of view, the trademark authorization contract between Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical and Jiaduobao Group is still being implemented, but after careful scrutiny, it is not difficult to find that the scope of implementation is still only within the time limit of the first contract signed by the two parties in 1997 Within, that is, it is still in the first 15 years of the contract period.Although Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical did not file a lawsuit to apply for termination of the renewed five-year contract after the outbreak of the Li Yimin incident, after 2011, there is no guarantee that Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical will not declare the renewed contract invalid.This may be fatal to Jiaduobao Group, which has a single product and is heavily dependent on the Wanglaoji brand. However, Jiaduobao Group is not a role of "going all the way to the dark". In June 2007, Jiaduobao Group formally signed a project investment agreement with the People's Government of Golmud City, Qinghai Province, and will invest 50 million US dollars to research, develop, process, produce and sell non-alcoholic beverages and food products such as mineral water. There are indications that Jiaduobao Group is also actively preparing to seek new projects and incubate new brands. But in general, between Guangzhou Wanglaoji and Jiaduobao Group, this early break-up road is extremely dangerous for the Wanglaoji brand.The legal disputes that may arise between the two will damage the brand reputation of Wanglaoji. The blunt disintegration of the brand and operation will inevitably make the follow-up road of Wanglaoji more bumpy. In addition, Wanglaoji may have other ways to break through.However, as the herbal tea brand with the most absolute advantage at present, whether the Wanglaoji brand can break through is not unrelated to competitors, but the decisive factor is whether the several enterprises surrounding the Wanglaoji brand can achieve internal harmony. The fate of Jianlibao and Xurisheng once told us: "Its prosperity is also vigorous, and its death is also sudden."Lao Tzu's way lies in being able to check hidden worries during prosperity.What we really want to see is the revitalization and rise of national brands. Judging from the current situation, it seems not optimistic.