Foshan, June 15, CCTV News "The more difficult the time, the more opportunities for prepared enterprises! Affected by the epidemic, the Canton Fair, known as "China's No. 1 Exhibition", was held online for the first time this year.
Recently, a reporter from China Central Radio and Television Station had an exclusive interview with Wang Jianguo at the headquarters of the Midea Group. In addition to introducing the black technology products and VR exhibition halls at this year's exhibition, he also focused on sharing the thoughts that the online Canton Fair brings to enterprises and industries.
Wang Jianguo, vice president of Midea Group, was interviewed by a reporter from CCTV (photo by reporter Zhang Shengqiang).
New Products on Display:
Capture the new needs of the epidemic in a timely manner
Each session of the Canton Fair is a "competition stage" for new technologies and new products. Different from previous years, many of Midea's flagship products this year focus on the new consumer demand brought about by the epidemic.
According to Wang Jianguo, at this online Canton Fair, Midea will bring an air fryer that does not put oil and can even greatly reduce the grease of the ingredients themselves.
"Considering that consumers pay more attention to health and nutritional balance during the stay-at-home period, we have improved the technology of the previous air fryer," he said, adding that the biggest feature of this product is that it can effectively control the amount of calories ingested in kind.
"The first is to fry and grill ingredients without putting oil to reduce the 'guilt' of consumers when they eat them; the second is to add a new twin-turbo technology to make the ingredients fry evenly without turning over; and the third is to improve the heat conduction efficiency by automatically decomposing 30% to 40% of the fat in the ingredients, so that the food will have lower calories."
In the interview, another representative product he mentioned is air conditioning. "The cost of installing an air conditioner abroad is very high, the installation fee is almost double the price of the air conditioner itself! And the process is complicated, and it takes a long time, like in Germany, you have to wait as soon as a month after you pay for it before someone can install it for you! ”
Midea RAC Indoor Split Air Conditioner (Home Air Conditioner).
In response to this demand, Midea has developed a new product this year, "The consumer can install it in about 10 minutes with a screw, saving him more than 1,000 euros, and more importantly, he doesn't have to wait that long." ”
In addition to paying attention to the rapid rise of the "stay-at-home economy" during the epidemic, Midea's product R&D team also noticed that more and more single groups are willing to invest in "pleasing themselves".
"For example, in response to the needs of single female users to store facial masks in the home refrigerator, Midea has specially launched a mini refrigerator the size of a makeup box", Wang Jianguo explained, this design not only avoids the embarrassment of mixing with other foods in the large refrigerator before, but also is a good home furnishing itself, jumping out of the single feature of traditional household appliances that only have "practical".
"Beauty-style" live broadcast:
Combined with national conditions, personalized customization
One of the major features of this year's online Canton Fair is the application of new technologies. In order to facilitate the communication between exhibitors and buyers, the organizer adopts technologies such as the Internet, big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence to improve the effect of the exhibition, such as setting up a full-time, highly interactive and targeted exhibitor-exclusive live broadcast room.
Wang Jianguo revealed that at present, the overseas sales teams of Midea Group have to launch more than a dozen live broadcasts every day, and formulate personalized live broadcast plans according to the customs and actual conditions of each overseas market, which can be described as distinctive.
He further explained, "Some countries like to find Internet celebrities to do live broadcasts; Some countries tend to find technical experts to persuade consumers by explaining and analyzing the characteristics of technology; There are also countries where consumers are keen to pursue discounts; Consumers in some countries are particularly interested in hedging to win prizes. ”
In the face of complex and even different market demands, how does Midea do it? The answer is full decentralization!
"Our sales teams in each overseas market have a lot of autonomy to plan live content." Wang Jianguo said, "For example, in Vietnam, the live broadcast there is not simply to introduce products, but to intersperse some singing and dancing performances, and then there are lucky draws, which are all very popular ways for local consumers." ”
In fact, long before the opening of the Canton Fair, Midea Group had been testing the waters in live broadcast marketing. On last year's Double 11, the total sales of Midea's entire network exceeded 7.44 billion, and it has been firmly in the "top spot" of all categories of home appliances on the whole network for seven consecutive years, and live broadcast has played an important role. (Related reports:
Since the beginning of this year, with the spread of the epidemic around the world, Midea Group has invested more resources in live broadcasting. It can be said that the rich experience of live broadcast has laid a solid foundation for the live broadcast of the online Canton Fair and facing global professional buyers.
In addition to being a sales channel, in Wang Jianguo's view, live broadcast has also brought unexpected business opportunities to Midea. "While our overseas team conducts regular live broadcasts, we will also pay attention to sorting out some live broadcast experience and skills and share them with channel customers and buyers."
He believes that through this model, it not only stabilizes the existing channel customers, but also gradually transforms the previously purely price-oriented potential customers into "loyal fans".
"I hope everyone knows that Midea is not a simple company that sells products, it can also help customers do business, solve problems, and empower channel customers and buyers. In short, in this special period, let's overcome the difficulties together. ”
Reflections and Suggestions:
The Canton Fair should empower small and medium-sized enterprises
Whether it is the multi-dimensional display of products or the online exhibition hall applying VR and 3D technology, it is inseparable from the support of the company's own digital level.
This year's online Canton Fair, Midea Group's VR booth (data picture issued by CCTV)
According to Wang Jianguo, taking the construction of an online exhibition hall as an example, technical personnel are required to convert a large number of "product assets" into "digital assets", and then let buyers understand more specific product details in the form of short videos and enlarged pictures.
"For example, how the drum of the washing machine rotates, how the water flows, and what the state of the clothes when they are washed in the drum can be clearly seen by buyers, and even the sound of the knob of the washing machine when it turns, whether it is 'Dididi' or 'Click', can be experienced with a few clicks of the mouse."
Not only the online showroom, but also a large number of promotional activities must rely on digital marketing to complete, and these preparations cannot be done in a month or two.
"We often say that the more difficult the time, the more opportunities there are for prepared enterprises, which is why we can quickly change our thinking this time and have the confidence to do a good job in the online Canton Fair."
It is reported that since 2012, Midea Group has launched digital transformation, with a cumulative investment of more than 10 billion yuan, and has now realized the online operation and digital management of all businesses.
However, there are only a few companies that have the strength and consciousness to accumulate digital experience. Wang Jianguo believes that the online Canton Fair is not just a "game for big enterprises", but also to guide more small and medium-sized enterprises to adapt to the new trend and participate in it.
"For example, there are many small and medium-sized enterprises that are not digitally enough, can the Canton Fair organizers hold some training courses for these enterprises after the exhibition, and provide guidance on how to digitize product assets and training on live broadcast skills."
In addition, Wang Jianguo also suggested that we should do a good job in the overseas promotion of the "Online Canton Fair", so that more overseas merchants can participate, especially potential buyers.
Reference source: http ://www.cnr.cn/gd/jjzx/20200614/t20200614_525128218.shtml?from=singlemessage