The author | Weiwei Xiaokui
Edited | Jiang Yue
WeChat public account: Chief Character View (ID: sxrenwuguan)
01
"Dead or alive, there's no middle ground."
Tragic and magnificent, it has become the background of the new year of the real estate industry. At least in the eyes of Yu Liang, the head of Vanke. At Vanke's annual meeting in February, he proposed that the real estate industry has entered the "black iron era" and predicted that this year will be a year of "breaking the boat and fighting a war".
There are many factors that determine the success or failure of a war, and the "young man" is obviously one of the most important beings.
But this road, Vanke has not gone smoothly. Neither in the home market nor in the rental market has it become the first choice for young people. New houses, each family has its own territory to occupy a stronger voice. In the Internet world, the brand that young people who rent in first-tier cities like to scold is free - which also shows the breadth of its users.
Statistics for 2020 also show that the top three in the long-term rental apartment market at that time were Ziru, Eggshell and Qingke. Vanke's long-term rental apartment project "Bo Yu", which was launched in 2017, is obviously not worthy of having a name in the top three.
Yu Liang, who is nearly sixty years old, has tried very hard to please young people.
On September 25, 2020, Yu Liang, a member of vanke's family, appeared on the stage. He wears a black T-shirt with the words "Made in the Rib Factory" printed on the front and "No Retreat at all" on the back. This was originally a line from the Game of League of Legends Dark Sword Demon.
This is a media exchange meeting of Vanke, which is held in September every year according to the custom to share Vanke's business planning and industry forecast. Its most eye-catching scene occurred in 2018, when Yu Liang shouted the slogan of "live" at the scene, and the walls of the conference room were also plastered with bright red "live" characters. Anxiety quickly spread from the conference room to the entire real estate industry.
Two years later, on the same occasion, Yu Liang showed Vanke's way of resisting the crisis with actions: embracing young people.
The "tendon factory" on his T-shirt was a young trend label that Vanke had just established at that time. On the same day, Yu Liang invited new pants and Ah Yan. The former just exploded in the first season of "Summer of the Band", and the latter became popular because of "I Eat Fried Chicken in People's Square". On the same day, the "tendon factory" also released a new song "Uncompromising Ski", adapted from the new pants's "Hand Tow Laski".
This is to show favor to young people after 95. Previously, Vanke did market research and found that the post-95s basically had no feeling for the "Vanke" brand. This greatly alarmed Yu Liang, who had just become a member of the family: "How can you not feel it?" You hate it or like it. It didn't feel terrible.
The new label named "Tendon Factory" is to set up a person for young people: a tendon, work seriously, do a good job in products and services.
Vanke needs young people.
New projects need to be sold to young people who are ready to get married or want to improve housing conditions, and renting is a larger market. After Yu Liang took over, the long-term rental apartment "Bo Yu" became the key business of Vanke. At the media meeting where the "tendon factory" was unveiled, the person in charge of the "Boyu" brand also stood in front of the stage and stood for the boss's "youthful" determination.
Dong Mingzhu chose to go down in person – this is also the way she has always liked.
In April 2021, Dong Mingzhu appeared as a resident guest in Hunan Satellite TV's new variety show "Us Who First Entered the Workplace". "We are more concerned about young people." In the program, she repeatedly emphasized. Her biggest "harvest" in this show is the intern Meng Yutong. The Zhejiang University graduate, born in 1998, later became more widely known as the second Dong Mingzhu. She was hand-picked by Dong Mingzhu and became the secretary of the chairman of Gree Electric Appliances.
What could be more intriguing to young people than a controversial young man?
At the very least, it's more reliable than new products that blindly follow the trend and cater to young people.
In May 2021, with the support of Zong Qinghou, KellyOne, founded by Zong Fuli, launched a new product " Angry Meow " , and the spokesperson was Wang Yibo. This is a 0 sugar 0 calorie sparkling water is obviously against the yuanqi forest. In this era of young people's left hand "Hi Cha" and right hand "Yuan Qi Forest", KellyOne's top priority is to refresh wahaha's sense of presence in the young group.
Wahaha has tried a lot. Cooperate with Bubble Mart to sell the "blind water" of the blind box concept, open a milk tea shop across borders, and Zong Qinghou even personally participated in the live broadcast at the age of 75 to promote Wahaha's self-built e-commerce platform.
But the result?
In addition to Wang Yibo's young face, Wahaha is still the Wahaha. So far, at least, the drastic changes that have swept away the stale atmosphere for it have not yet taken place. And the elderly Zong Qinghou obviously understood that the big battle of "rejuvenation" could only be handed over to young people to fight.
In December 2021, Zong Fuli, who was nearly 40 years old, finally became the second in command of "Wahaha" and served as the vice chairman and general manager of the company. But the "young man" in his father's eyes obviously has not yet established his own rhythm, or let the company founded by his father add more of her own temperament.
02
In a TV interview many years ago, the host asked Zong Fuli, what does Wahaha mean after subtracting Zong Qing?
"Equal to zero." Zong Fuli looked into each other's eyes and answered seriously word by word.
This is related to Zong Qinghou's paternalistic management style. For a long time, he didn't go online, didn't use Weibo, didn't use WeChat. Every night, the secretary would print out the debriefing documents downloaded from the system and put them in front of him, usually at a thick white paper. He would finish it all that night, even in the field, even in the early hours of the morning. These documents with the boss's instructions are then scanned and uploaded by the secretary back to the system. Early the next morning, the staff of Wahaha's various departments can work according to the instructions of the boss.
As the boss, he will urge young employees to get married, and Zong Fuli also said in an interview that she is proud that Wahaha has many dual employees.
It can be said that Wahaha is Zong Qinghou, and Zong Qinghou is Wahaha.
His thick, even somewhat conservative image of success, also gives Wahaha more "sense of history". This is like a double-edged sword, which can be both a guarantee and endorsement of quality and an obstacle to "rejuvenation".
Dong Mingzhu is also the most distinctive spokesperson for Gree, although she is not the founder of this established company. She joined Gree in 1990 as a salesman, and it took her 22 years to become the chairman of Gree Group. The gamble with Lei Jun made her fame enter a more boiling Internet world.
It's hard to say how many young people like her — Gree's stock price in the last year is indeed enough to disappoint young people who speculate in stocks. But at least, by mentioning her, young people have a desire to discuss, a constantly updated conversation.
For example, in May 2021, Dong Mingzhu mentioned a point of view: young people should not put making money first in their work, and should think about how to make achievements. The young man was obviously not very convinced, and rushed to the Weibo comment area to issue a series of question marks.
In the marketing context of "young people first", any "senior" who wants to teach young people how to be human must be prepared to accept challenges or even fight back. Some of them, who have been "used to" by marketing, seem to be not pleasing young people or taking the wrong position.
Yu Liang has also stepped on the pit recently.
After Vanke in February, he provided enough critical footage for young people. For example, "we can't give more financial incentives than others, and people who are only motivated by money are not suitable for working in the industry of the black iron age", "The mechanism that Vanke can provide is the stage of the career and the opportunity for development, not simply giving money".
To prove that the real estate industry is really sluggish, he gave his own example: flying does not buy first class.
This obviously irritats young people. "Did you buy a private jet?" With such irony, people laughed at the rich man's crying and poverty.
Obviously, repeating old stories and experiences is no longer the best way to be accepted or even liked by young people. Starting from scratch, participating in or creating a wealth miracle is the key word that belongs to the young age of Yu Liang Dong Mingzhu after ZongQing. Today's young people are more obsessed with stability, and the examination of school, examination of public office, and examination of editing have become a new dream that is sought after.
These once successful entrepreneurs are doomed to not be able to win this group of young people. They are old and times have changed.
03
"Do the post-00s really need us to hug? Like us here, middle-aged greasy men like me, if you want to pretend to be very tender to hug the post-00s, the post-00s will definitely turn around and leave, thinking that you are perverted. ”
In 2019, this is the view expressed by Ye Feng, the founder of Xiaoguo Culture, in 2019. Although he prides himself on being a "middle-aged greasy man", he entered Hunan Satellite TV in 1999 and has since opened his career closely around young people, and he understands young people better than most young people.
No young people like it, it is through "hugging". In addition, "like" is like a tornado, coming and going fast.
Chen Rui, chairman of Station B, was a big guy who was hit by a "tornado". He has his own account on the B station, and although the update frequency is not high in the early years, he will always be welcomed by young people.
"Xiao Chen, Happy New Year"
"Guarding the front row of Xiao Chen"
"Have I been named by Xiao Chen?"
"Xiao Chen is no longer updated, and it is a pity that the 6-level account is a pity"
But in 2020, after the emergence of three promotional films that bluntly praised young people's fierce struggles, "After the Wave", "Into the Sea" and "Happy Encounter", Station B embarked on the road of breaking the circle and also ushered in a public opinion backlash. This generation of young people does not like to be educated and does not like to be represented.
Among the few remaining bigwigs who are still active in the Internet jianghu, the one with the most young fans is probably Lei Jun. He is like Yu Liang is a "post-60s" entrepreneur, a teenager who became famous, from Jinshan to angel investors to xiaomi founders, on wealth, he has long been the degree that countless people have been looking forward to in their lives.
But he always looked like he was stuck among the young. Accented "Are you Ok?" After being ridiculed by the group, what was brought to Lei Jun and Xiaomi was not the collapse of word of mouth, but the ghost animal video that rose from the B station, which made his personality more cute.
He also cried bitterly, but he did not "chicken" the young man, but "chicken" himself.
In 2017, Xiaomi fell into crisis, and Lei Jun said in his participation in the Yabuli Forum: "I am lying on the floor, and no one can beat me." On the one hand, the humility of the losers, on the other hand, the ambition of the hard-working people, which makes the young people who are even more poisonous are not embarrassed to start. Moreover, Xiaomi then really achieved a bottoming out.
He also rarely lived in his past glory, unconsciously showing narcissism. When he was young, Lei Jun was indeed a purely technical man. He once described the days when he wrote code in Jinshan:
"It's like a journey through your kingdom, it's a heavenly day."
How lovely. Just like the eyes of many young people.
Of course, the charisma of the founder is only one of the factors that young people like a company. This road, for most enterprises, is not very feasible now. The world is changeable, more and more founders are willing to become "invisible people", and it is good to make a fortune in a muffled voice. For example, Liu Qiangdong.
This year's young people don't want to eat the "success aura" routine anymore. For consumer-facing C-end enterprises, the product is good enough to open up the young people's market. They enjoy discovering good brands on their own and don't want to be indoctrinated and educated. "Tap water" is a more advanced form of product.
The era of storytelling and experience is over, and companies that do not perceive the "pragmatic" trend are doomed to die on the beach.
Yu Liang may have received the "education" brought about by this change.
In 2020, at a media meeting at Vanke, the host asked Vanke executives: What is the most flattering behavior for young people? Yu Liang raised his hand and replied: Do I have a tattoo? Now it seems that it may be the entrepreneur's one-sided perception of young people that ultimately stopped him from the world of young people.
And this path to the young world was originally a shortcut for him to a brighter future. Now that the black iron era has arrived, there is really not much time left for him to adapt to young people.