Zhongxin Jingwei, February 25 (Xue Yufei, Lin Wansi) "A generation of legends", shortly after Wahaha Group announced the death of Zong Qinghou, the founder and chairman of the company, Lei Jun, chairman of Xiaomi Group, mourned Zong Qinghou in his heart with the above four words. Zhou Hongyi, the founder of 360 Group, regarded Zong Qinghou as a "senior" and "uncle next door", and felt enlightened because he had read a book introducing Wahaha's marketing case.
After the death of Zong Qinghou, Sino-Singapore Jingwei interviewed a number of entrepreneurs and related people who had contact with him, and they recalled the life and past of this well-known entrepreneur through small things.
Entrepreneurs mourn Zhou Hongyi: a simple "uncle next door".
On February 22, there was a report that Zong Qinghou was being admitted to the hospital. On the same day, Wahaha Group announced that Zong Qinghou was indeed receiving ** in the hospital due to physical reasons, and said that his condition was stable.
On the 22nd, Wang Junhao, vice chairman and president of JuneYao Group, said on Weibo: "I wish you a good day! Another first-generation entrepreneur (appeared) health problems, but fortunately (Zong) Fuli has been ** for many years. He only focuses on his career, and does not arrange time to appreciate the great rivers and mountains of the motherland, and it is useless to suggest, hoping that more first-generation entrepreneurs can combine work and rest and arrange for them to enjoy their old age ......”
But no one expected that only three days later, at 10:30 on the 25th, Zong Qinghou died of illness, and his life was fixed at the age of 79. Wang Junhao then said on Weibo: "Go all the way. As for how to evaluate Zong Qinghou, Wang Junhao replied to Zhongxin Jingwei on WeChat: "It is worthy of admiration! ”
Lei Jun mourned Zong Qinghou. **Weibo.
Lei Jun posted two Weibo posts in a row, the first one said: "A generation of legends." In the second article, Lei Jun said, "I didn't drink Wahaha AD calcium milk when I was a child, and I didn't know him. More than 20 years ago, I read a book about him, and I was very impressed and admired it very much. A generation of legends, all the way well. I just found on my bookshelf: "Extraordinary Marketing: Wahaha: China's Most Successful Practical Lesson Plan", published in 2002. ”
Zong Qinghou's life is indeed legendary. He was born in an ordinary working family, and it was not until 1978 that his mother retired early, and Zong Qinghou returned to Hangzhou to work as a worker in a workers' and peasants' carton factory. In April 1987, 42-year-old Zong Qinghou contracted the distribution department of a school-run enterprise in Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, and started by selling sodas, popsicles, stationery and paper to earn a penny. In 1988, they successfully developed their first product, Wahaha Children's Nutrient Solution, and the company completed the original accumulation.
The rest of the story is very familiar to the outside world. According to the official website of Wahaha Group, the company was founded in 1987 and has accumulated sales of 860.1 billion yuan, profits and taxes of 174 billion yuan and taxes of 74.2 billion yuan in 35 years. Wahaha has 81 production bases and 187 subsidiaries in 29 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across the country, with nearly 30,000 employees, and has been in the leading position in the industry in terms of scale and efficiency for 20 consecutive years, ranking among the top 500 Chinese enterprises, China's top 500 manufacturing enterprises, and China's top 500 private enterprises.
Zhou Hongyi, the founder of 360 Group, told Zhongxin Jingwei that he and Zong Qinghou did not have much personal relationship, and Zong Qinghou was his predecessor in terms of generation. He was fortunate to meet Zong Qinghou at many conferences and forums, and also sat at the round table with him, especially at some annual meetings of Chinese entrepreneurs, and had the impression that Zong Qinghou did not talk much, was approachable, and dressed very plainly, just like a simple "uncle next door".
Zhou Hongyi said that after mentioning Wahaha and Zong Qing, what impressed him the most was that when he first started his business, he tried to make the best system of Internet products in the country. At that time, Lei Jun recommended Zhou Hongyi to watch "Very Marketing Wahaha: China's Most Successful Practical Lesson Plan", he learned that Zong Qinghou was in the early days of Wahaha's entrepreneurship, in order to open up sales channels, he was also looking for ** businessmen from all over the world, Zong Qinghou always talked to ** businessmen about Wahaha's concepts and strategies every time he went to a place, and he repeated it tirelessly, and even sometimes he had to run several cities a day and meet several groups of people. Seeing this paragraph, Zhou Hongyi felt empowered.
At that time, Wahaha had already done very successfully, and I was thinking, when such a successful entrepreneur established a marketing network, he took the trouble to talk about the concept many times, and no one felt that it was very repetitive. Mr. Zong may not have realized that a book describing how he did marketing could also give me so much encouragement and inspiration, so later on many occasions, meetings, and when I repeatedly talked about my concept over and over again, I would remember the scene when Mr. Zong promoted Wahaha. Zhou Hongyi also said: "Mr. Zong has already driven west, and I hope that Mr. Zong's spirit can continue to encourage more entrepreneurs in China to work together." ”
I've seen it hundreds of times, and I've never seen Zong Qinghou angry."
Fu Huayang, the founder of the advertising company Shenbing Tianjiang, who was Wahaha's early brand communication partner, told Zhongxin Jingwei that from 1997 to 2003, Shenbing Tianjiang had many rounds of cooperation with Wahaha. Fu Huayang said that at that time, he went to Hangzhou almost every week to find Zong Qinghou and Wahaha marketing team for meetings, "We came and went, close communication, during that time we cooperated on dozens of projects and held hundreds of meetings." ”
Fu Huayang said that every time he went to Wahaha headquarters for a meeting, Zong Qinghou would come out of his office at the other end of the corridor, holding a cup of tea in his hand, and said with a smile: "Haha, the gods are coming!" After the meeting, Zong Qinghou would get up and send him to the elevator at the end of the corridor, showing full education and intimacy, and there was no "richest man" at all.
Fu Huayang also said that in the years of cooperation, he had never seen Zong Qinghou angry, and they had never quarreled because of the content of the cooperation, "In that era, it was all about TV commercials, and there was nothing else, so TV advertising was the core of the product, and Zong Qinghou would do it himself." But at the same time, he fully trusts his partners, "When he sees me having an argument with his subordinates, he will tell them that they should give the artist space, and don't pretend to understand if they don't understand." ”
Since he is no longer in the advertising business, Fu Huayang has not seen Zong Qinghou since 2003. However, he believes that Zong Qinghou and Wahaha have created many industry firsts, whether in terms of product lines, marketing, channels, etc., it can be said that Zong Qinghou is the "teacher" of many practitioners in China's food industry.
Fu Huayang also said that people are like enterprises, enterprises are like people, and Zong Qinghou's generous and benevolent character has deeply affected Wahaha's corporate genes, making Wahaha's development steady and steady.
In 2007, known as the most influential international business war since the reform and opening up 30 years ago, the "Dawa War" occurred, Danone invested 4 billion yuan to acquire Wahaha's non-joint venture company, Zong Qinghou refused, and the two sides went to court. At that time, Zong Qinghou participated in about 70 or 80 lawsuits around the world, and he personally participated in drafting the testimony. In the end, Danone's lawsuits all failed, and the two sides reached a settlement in 2009.
In 2007, Li Shoushuang, the current senior partner of Dentons, participated in the reception of the case with his senior lawyers, ** He recalled to Zhongxin Jingwei that Zong Qinghou spoke softly and restrainedly, and when he came to the law firm for a meeting, he wore a dark coat and dressed plainly, and only brought it.
3. Two young people come together, and there is no pomp. What impressed Li Shoushuang the most was that Zong Qinghou was very good to his employees, "During the chat, Zong Lao told us that his employees could borrow his private car to use when they got married. ”
Persuasion** Influencing a new generation of Zhejiang businessmen.
Zong Qinghou once wrote that entrepreneurs should settle down to do business and lead the transformation and upgrading of the real economy with innovation. His adherence to industry has also influenced a new generation of Zhejiang businessmen.
In May 2014, Zong Qinghou shared his entrepreneurial experience with the new generation of entrepreneurs. **Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
In May 2014, Hu Biru, the current general manager of Hangzhou Zhenghao Tea and a representative of the Hangzhou Municipal People's Congress, listened closely to Zong Qinghou to share his entrepreneurial experience with the new generation entrepreneurs of the Hangzhou New Generation Entrepreneurs Association. Hu Biru sent a ** to Zhongxin Jingwei, it was early summer in Hangzhou, Zong Qinghou was wearing a light blue long-sleeved shirt, rolled up his sleeves on both sides, and a transparent glass teacup was placed on the table.
Hu Biru is the third-generation inheritor of the Lu Zhenghao brand. In 2010, Hu Biru returned from studying abroad, torn between taking over the family business and starting a business. She recalled to Zhongxin Jingwei that on that day, Zong Qinghou gave lectures and answered questions with a strong Jiangsu and Zhejiang accent, which made her feel like she was chatting with a neighbor's uncle, very cordial, comfortable, and without the slightest pressure.
Hu Biru recalled that she sat in the first row to listen to the lecture, and that day she asked Zong Qinghou about the second generation of **. "The elder told me, 'The second generation ** is definitely going to take it'. I said that our family is in the traditional tea business, and the elder said that since this is the case, then do a good job in the tea business. Listening to his words, I felt like I had taken a reassuring pill and firmly decided to take over. So far, Hu Biru has taken over the Lu Zhenghao brand for 10 years.
Zong Qinghou also hopes that the younger generation of entrepreneurs will focus more on entities. Hu Biru recalled that in 2014, the cumulative omni-channel sales of Lu Zhenghao's e-commerce platform accounted for 80%, which has done quite well, but Zong Qinghou still told Hu Biru "You must do a good job in the entity".
Later, we made the entity down, and the sales of the entity and the e-commerce accounted for half of the sales, and we can feel that during the epidemic, the entity made us more resilient to risks. Hu Biru said.
In 2015, Zong Qinghou publicly said: "If I don't go on a business trip, I will arrive at the office at half past six in the morning and leave at half past eleven in the evening." He was 70 years old. In the same year, Zong Qinghou said at the Chengdu National Sugar and Wine Conference: "I will work for another 20 years." ”
My mother is a post-60s generation, and my mother often tells me that Zong Qinghou is still working, why don't I go to work? Hu Biru said that the older generation of entrepreneurs such as Zong Qinghou generally have a diligent, pragmatic and tenacious work style, and the employees trained by Wahaha are also recognized by many companies.
As an entrepreneur who grew up in the reform and opening up, Zong Qinghou has been recognized by all parties. In 2018, Zong Qing selected the list of "100 Outstanding Private Entrepreneurs in the 40 Years of Reform and Opening-up" jointly recommended and publicized by the Ministry of Reform and Opening-up and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce.
For more information about the report, please contact the author of this article, Xue Yufei: [email protected]) (China-Singapore Jingwei APP).
The views in this article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. )
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Editor in charge: Wei Wei and Li Zhongyuan.
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