On December 19, the "W**E2023 Global Navigator Conference" organized by Xiaguang Think Tank, New Yellow River and Economic Observer was held in Beijing.
In the context of the new era of globalization, Chinese enterprises going overseas will usher in the "first year" of the outbreak in 2023, and going overseas has become a new opportunity that all walks of life are paying attention to. In the past few years, those companies that have already made plans overseas have gradually emerged and become the "navigators" of Chinese enterprises going overseas.
Their accumulated experience, lessons learned and profound insights have provided valuable wisdom and inspiration for the new generation of Chinese enterprises going overseas, and strongly promoted their international cooperation in a more orderly and efficient manner.
At the 2023 Global Navigator Conference Consumption Sub-venue - Global Forum on Brands Winning Overseas, hosted by Gao Chao, co-founder of Meixun IMPACT, Gu Jun, founder of Newme, Chen Cheng, partner of Ipsos China Consulting, and Xiao Yini, partner of Nut Capital, were invited to participate in a roundtable discussion with the theme of "The Era of High-quality Growth Overseas: Building Brand International Competitiveness". In the context of internationalization, the guests shared their views on brands going overseas and discussed how to build international competitiveness.
The following is a transcript of the roundtable (with abridgements).
Moderator:
Gao Chao is the co-founder of Mega News IMPACT
Guest:
Jun Gu is the founder of Newme.
Cheng Chen, Partner of Ipsos China Consulting.
Yini Siu is a partner at Nut Capital.
Superb:It's a great honor to host this forum, I'm the co-founder of Misinfo and a 25-year PR veteran. Our company helps Chinese enterprises go overseas, covering marketing, branding, etc. First of all, I would like to invite you to introduce yourself.
Gu Jun:Hello everyone, I'm Gu Jun, and we NewMe mainly "sell" goods on TikTok. Small household appliances, beauty, 3C digital, crystal jewelry, etc. are involved.
Chen Cheng:I am a partner in the consulting practice of Ipsos China, and we are a consulting agency.
Xiao Yini:I am from Nut Capital, I have been investing in the sea since 2013, and now I have invested in nearly 100 projects, most of which are enterprises in the overseas industry chain, covering the first chain, marketing, brand, logistics and other fields.
Superb:The first question is, do you think that next year's situation at sea will be better or worse than this year's, and why?
Xiao Yini:I am long-term optimistic about China's first-chain going overseas. China's strong chain and the diligence of Chinese give us the opportunity to gain different market shares in different markets and countries, and even have the opportunity to seize the share of those strong brandsSo I'm still very confident about next year.
Chen Cheng:I think that many Chinese companies can now enjoy the benefits of their "predecessors" when they go out, and the first generation of overseas enterprises such as home appliances and smart products have a strong brand influence abroad and have been recognized in some emerging markets. In addition, China has become the second largest economy, which also has a certain bonus for the brand. So it's not just a good thing to go to sea next year, it's always been a good thing, and it's something that has always been done.
Gu Jun:I think there are three points. The first is to have excellent products, the second is to have familiar channels, and third, the snipe and mussels compete for the benefit of fishermen。The competition between snipe and mussels refers to the fact that Chinese companies going overseas will compete for volume, such as TikTok will compete with Temu and Shein platforms, and in the process of grabbing volume, merchants will benefit and brands will benefit. I think not only this year, but I am optimistic about the next 20 years for Chinese companies to go overseas.
Superb:It seems that everyone has formed a basic consensus on the future trend, here is a "digging hole" question, which regional market are you optimistic about?Where to start a business now?
Xiao Yini:I think this is a matter of "the ass decides the head", and I thought about the projects we invested, most of which are still in the European and American markets. There is a consensus that Europe and the United States are a very mature consumer market, and the largest market in the worldIf you gain a foothold in Europe and the United States, you have the opportunity to seize other markets with high potential energy。But I don't think you can give entrepreneurs such an arbitrary conclusion, in fact, entrepreneurs should look at their own capabilities, it is possible that your ability is suitable for Southeast Asia, and your products are also suitable for Southeast Asia, so there is no need to go to the European and American markets.
Chen Cheng:Judging from our research data, Europe and the United States are definitely still the largest markets, and they have maintained a high growth rate, and the consumption strength and consumption potential here can also bring us more profits. WhileIf you go to some emerging markets, you may struggle for half a day and may not be able to earn money, which depends on the resources, endowment, and ability of the team itself
Gu Jun:This question should be viewed from two perspectives, what kind of person is the first entrepreneur, if you want to rush to "turn a bicycle into a motorcycle", you must go to the sinking market. We have seen too many people get rich overnight in Indonesia, and of course many people have failed, this kind of reckless market requires the courage, judgment, and commitment of entrepreneurs, and high risk often means high returns.
If entrepreneurs need stability, then go to Europe and the United States. Most of the friends who do the European and American markets, especially those who do the United States, may not have a super explosive business, but it is not easy to hang up, which is the characteristic of the European and American markets.
Superb:In the past year, which overseas cases or brands have left a deep impression on you?
Chen Cheng:I don't mention which specific brand, I only remember that it co-branded with a big European and American brand, and it took the idea of sustainability, sustainability, and environmental protection, and suddenly made the tone of the brand up, which impressed me very deeply.
Xiao Yini:I can share a case where we invested in a project where they mainly do heat press machines and some pattern consumables. For example, if the clothes on the body need to be printed with some patterns, two devices need to be used to cut the pattern (cutting machine) and hot pressing pattern (hot press), and this company is doing this. At present, they are already the company with the largest market share of consumables on Amazon, and the cutting machine and heat press are also challenging a U.S.-listed brand (currently the largest company in the industry). Their business competition strategy is that my experience and intelligence are better than those of my opponents, but they are lower than those of my opponents.
From this case, we can clearly feel the advantages of China's ** chain, soChinese enterprises should still give full play to their strengths when going overseas, looking for relatively blank industries, and really don't keep involution, which doesn't make much sense
Gu Jun:One trend I'm seeing is that more and more good businesses are not in demand in China, but are in demand in the United States.
For example, one of this year's big items - electric luggage. Because Blackpink's Lisa used this box at the airport, ** caused it to explode after it came out, and it became popular all of a sudden. To what extent has this category exploded?In many showrooms in Las Vegas, the clerk only does one thing a day, riding around the store with a suitcase from morning to night, which can attract many customers to come to the store.
To this day, I know that almost all children in the United States want to buy this case, but there is little demand for this product in China, because its battery is so large that airlines generally don't allow it on planes.
Another example is that many people in North America live in villas, and their traditional culture believes that they need to have a special device in their home to feed and water wild animals (mainly birds). There is a company in China that adds a camera to the feeding equipment, and when a bird comes, it pushes a picture to the mobile phone, and foreign consumers think this is too incredible. But on the other hand, most consumers in China do not have this demand.
These two examples are abundantly confirmedSometimes opportunities don't come from our native sources, but are based on adequate local research
Superb:Yes, it is important to touch the most cutting-edge information in the market and get first-hand information. There is another question, I hope each guest will talk about it again, what can you all help enterprises to go overseas?
Xiao Yini:We are an investment institution, and in layman's terms, we can give "money". Including we have also invested in a lot of overseas enterprises, we can also help each other.
Chen Cheng:We are the world's largest market research and consulting company, and we can help you understand overseas consumers, sort out what they think, what kind of products they like, what kind of advertising they like, and so on. In turn, it can also help overseas enterprises sort out how to innovate products, how to design channel models, and so on.
Gu Jun:I sell goods on TikTok, and I can teach you how to sell goods on TikTok, help you try not to lose money, and try to make more money.
This article is based on publicly available information and is for information purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice.