Chapter 21 Four details of "Fast Brand"

In 2003, when I visited the Samsung exhibition hall in Suwon, South Korea, this was the biggest question on my mind.In the Samsung exhibition hall, I seem to have walked into a space-time tunnel, seeing Samsung’s decades-old TVs, computers and other products, which are the unique brand of Asian companies, and can even be found in many Chinese companies. shadow.However, since the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Samsung was like a clockwork machine, drawing another "flying into the sky" trajectory. In the next few years, I set my sights on several companies similar to Samsung Electronics, Apple, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Google, eBay, BMW, Starbucks, and IKEA. I also have similar questions about them.

Unfortunately, many Chinese brands suffer from the curse of speed.For example, Sun Hongbin, chairman of Sunco China, failed: a funding gap of 1 billion yuan led to the failure of the "Sunco model".Guo Jiaxue, chairman of Dongsheng Group, failure: Dongsheng Technology has a huge amount of money and a black hole.Li Kunyao, chairman of BenQ, failure: BenQ failed to acquire Siemens mobile phone division. In this era of "fast fish eat slow fish", "speed" is not only the core of the brand, but also a matter of survival. In my quest for Fast Brands, four stories have had a huge impact on me.

Behind the "Samsung speed" are some specific figures. The brand growth rate was 23% in 2001, 30% in 2002, 31% in 2003, 16% in 2004, 19% in 2005 and 8% in 2006.This growth rate is simply unrivaled. On the 2005 "World's Most Valuable Brands List", Samsung Electronics ranked 20th with a brand value of US$14.9 billion (US$3.2 billion in 1999), surpassing Sony for the first time. The year reached 16.2 billion US dollars. Regarding speed, Samsung Electronics CEO Yoon Jong-yong has a well-known "sashimi theory".What it means is that when you catch a high-end fish on the first day, it can fetch a good price in a top-notch Japanese restaurant.If you wait until the next day to sell it, you can only sell it to second-rate restaurants for half the price.By the third day, you can only sell for a quarter of the price, so it becomes "dried fish fillets".Therefore, before introducing hot-selling products to the market, it is necessary to turn the products into "sashimi" so that they can be sold at a high price.

However, many people misread what it really means and just take it as another way of saying one step ahead.In Yin Zhonglong's eyes, "speed management" is not just one step ahead, but represents a new rule of the game. In order to understand some new rules for Samsung to become a "fast brand", I interviewed dozens of middle and senior managers of Samsung Electronics within three years.They have a similar word in their mouths: make a difference. Samsung has adopted a "differentiated" strategy in terms of branding, abandoning the conventional marketing promotion strategy and adopting the brand tipping point strategy.The traditional marketing strategy is driven by marketing, so the focus of brand efforts is on marketing and advertising, which requires a lot of resources and time.In the digital age, Samsung Electronics focuses on extremes: those key points that have extraordinary influence on the brand.For example, high-end people and high-end brands, so as to achieve low-cost and high-growth brands.

In March 2006, at the CeBIT exhibition in Hannover, Germany, I met Gregory Lee, the global CMO and executive of Samsung Electronics.Asked about the "speed" in Li Zongxi's eyes, Li Zongxi said that the next goal of the Samsung brand is not the growth of quantity, but the improvement of quality.Li Zongxi put Samsung Electronics' transcendence goals on those brands with deeper and wider brand connotations, such as BMW. When it comes to speed, we have to pay attention to another "King of Speed" - Genghis Khan. In 2005, in the United Kingdom, the BBC broadcast a historical drama about Yuan Taizu Genghis Khan. In addition to some positive descriptions, some historians even commented that Genghis Khan possessed many of the management talents of today's company presidents.Indeed, Genghis Khan's "speed management" organizational model has extraordinary significance even today or in the future.

800 years ago, the seemingly intrepid Mongolian cavalry formed an organizational team that frightened opponents, and Genghis Khan's core weapon was "speed management". Historically, Batu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, led the Mongolian army to launch several large-scale western expeditions in the 13th century, which was known as the "Yellow Peril" in history.Utilizing the "blitzkrieg" strategy, the Mongol legions defeated all enemies with a smaller army and long logistical supplies (the defeat at the battle of Aingarut against the Muslims in 1260 was not counted), and promoted the military development of Europe and the Near East. revolution.According to some data, the number of Mongolian troops in several western expeditions was usually very small, with a total of about 200,000 at most (the European battlefield never exceeded 150,000), and the number of single battles was even smaller.

In fact, Genghis Khan was also the teacher of Samsung's "speed management".Genghis Khan’s concept of speed was once admired by many senior managers of Samsung Electronics, such as Lee Sang-hyun, the former president of Samsung Electronics China, and Liu Bihe, the chief planner of Samsung Electronics.The fast mobility possessed by Genghis Khan coincides with the "speed management" advocated by Samsung Electronics.From the perspective of Samsung's internal employees, Samsung Electronics' executive culture does have a lot in common with military organizations such as Genghis Khan.for example:

1.Global vision.From 1167 to 1227, the territory occupied by Genghis Khan was 7.77 million square kilometers, while Alexander was 3.48 million square kilometers, and Napoleon was 1.15 million square kilometers. 2.Amazing mobility.When the Mongolian army fought, the formation was not strict, and they paid attention to the mobility and tactical flexibility of the troops. It is said that they could withdraw 270 miles from Hungary within three days. 3.Networked fast communication skills.Although there was no Internet at that time, Genghis Khan successfully built an information network. The Mongolian army made full use of command transmission, lights, smoke, and flags of various colors to maintain timely and close information exchange among various troops, so as to achieve perfect coordination.

4.Flexible use of "outsourcing".The Mongols incorporated a large number of Han and other northern minorities, and used the advanced equipment of the Han to take on the task of siege, making them almost invincible in the West whether it was fighting in the wild or destroying cities. 5.Incentive program for profit sharing.In the thirteenth century, for Genghis Khan's army, looting the property of conquered peoples, and even capturing living people, was their main source of income.Genghis Khan was serious about making sure soldiers got their fair share. 6.Strategies for selection and concentration.Whether it is a battle or a battle, Genghis Khan is following a principle: use gathering to attack and disperse.Concentrate superior forces and attack the enemy's inferior forces.

In October 2005, as the revenue and profits surprised investors, Google's market capitalization broke through the $100 billion mark for the first time, reaching a peak of $346.43 and closing at $339.90. According to the closing price, Google's market value is 98 billion U.S. dollars, and Google has only been in business for seven years, which is nearly 20 billion U.S. dollars higher than the market value of Hewlett-Packard, which has been in business for 66 years.The previous fastest record was Yahoo's eight years. Fourteen months ago, Google's IPO price was $85. As a case study of my "fast brand", Google's rapid development provides a subversive perspective: the loss of tradition.

Traditional marketing strategies are meeting new headwinds. For example, advertising is becoming less and less effective in the eyes of marketing professionals: through TV advertising, more and more households are using TiVo Internet TVs and jumping Through the Internet, more and more people use some software plug-ins to filter spam and block pop-up advertisements; through newspaper advertisements, more and more people are giving up newspapers and turning their attention to the Internet and magazines. For a brand veteran like Ford, although the advertising investment is almost astronomical, the brand image is faltering.On the contrary, those brand upstarts such as Google, eBay, and Starbucks have established strong brands through new brand strategies. They do not even rely on advertising, but rely on word of mouth marketing. The interview with Google's most beautiful vice president, Marissa Mayer, impressed me deeply. Marissa not only has a beautiful face, but also has beautiful qualifications: in 1999, Marissa joined Google as Google's first female engineer, and has won many awards in the fields of artificial intelligence and interface design. patent.Today, her role is Head of Product and User Experience. Talking about the mystery of Google's soaring brand, Marissa attributed it to two reasons: one is that Google makes the best search function.Second, Google's user experience is very good.For users, Google is not a company, but more like their friend. Marissa's position also represents Google's distinctive positioning, not the product department, but the product and user experience.In fact, it is not easy to really detonate the power of the Internet. Google has even made many creative moves for this purpose, such as emphasizing the value of "don't be evil", implementing the 70/20/10 innovation rule, focusing on viral marketing, and so on. At 11 am on June 30, 2006, an auction was going on nervously.The bid was for a chance to have lunch with stock guru Warren Buffett.After several consecutive bids, a person named fast is slow quoted US$620,100, and the auction ended.It was later discovered that fast is slow is Duan Yongping, the founder of Backgammon. "Fast is Slow" is the theory of Warren Buffett.Later, in the TV program of China Business News, Qin Shuo, editor-in-chief of China Business News, asked about the origin of the name. Qin Shuo: When you participated in the bidding this time, your name was "fast is slow". Fast is slow.You use this name, what is the reason for this? Duan Yongping: What is fast and slow?Fast or slow.It is actually more haste than waste.Its original meaning is "too fast is slow".That is to say, too fast equals slow.This example is very simple. When driving, do you think it is better to drive fast or to drive slowly?You're going too fast, and you're bound to have problems.Whether we are in business or investment, every day, every hour, every minute, you are driving, so it is meaningless to be fast.You only need a reasonable speed, and you only need to drive at a speed that you can control.Then when I run a business, we have used this principle for so many years, and it is the same with my investment.Therefore, the most important thing is that you can control your car, your road conditions, and your own mental state. There are many factors, instead of blindly pursuing speed. This concept inspired me a lot. In fact, all the cases in "Fast Brand" also follow a similar rule: fast is slow. Therefore, the nine cases in this book not only focus on the innovation methods of those "speed masters", but also extend their vision to their organizational structure. In fact, brands must not only do a good job in external work, but also strengthen internal cultivation .The cases of these 9 companies also show that only through internal and external training can we truly achieve rapid development. Observing these "fast brand" manufacturers, although each has its own unique tricks and innovations, they all follow some common "fast is slow" rules, which are the four rules of "fast brand": be different and become a cool brand , Develop the network, and create a unique experience.