Introduction to the stone: Lao Fengxiang, born more than 170 years ago, is facing the arduous challenge of brand aging.
Zhang Fan Jia Shuhan | wen
In 1847, Cartier was born in Paris, and in 1848, Lao Fengxiang was born in Shanghai. Although they were born at about the same time as the "top stream" in jewelry brands, the two have very different fates.
After the Revolution and during the Napoleonic period, France became the hegemon of the European continent, Paris was a place where princes and nobles gathered, and French luxury brands slowly rose. The rise of France's garment industry has led to the rise of jewelry and accessories brands. With the spring breeze of the industry, the nourishment of art, the abundance of wealth under the development of capitalism, and the stability of society, the French jewelry brand headed by Cartier has opened a century of prosperity.
Born in China, Lao Fengxiang has the cultural confidence of not losing Cartier.
Known as the "first metropolis in the Far East" and the "Paris of the East", the old Shanghai was the most prosperous in Asia and has been the financial and economic center of China since the end of the Qing Dynasty. Countless super-rich people gather here, and the paper drunken gold fans of ten miles of foreign companies can be seen everywhere.
The story of Fengxiang Silver Building also originated from this.
1
Fengxiang Silver Building: Prosperity came to an abrupt end
The luxurious life of the ancient Chinese royal family can be seen in the literary works and artistic paintings of the ancients, and this extravagant hedonism was still circulated during the Republic of China period. In the 28th year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty (1848), the "Fengxiang Silver Building" of the Great East Gate of Shanghai Nanshi was completed. In the initial period, Fengxiang Silver Building mainly sold gold jewelry such as gold hairpins, jade hairpins, necklaces, buckle flowers, etc. Because of the color of the foot red, fine inlay, the business became increasingly prosperous.
In 1919, at the age of 30, Fei Zushou took over the Fengxiang Yinlou from his father Fei Ruming, and fengxiang Yinlou met the first "big man" in its life course.
After taking over the Silver Building, Fei Zushou was proficient in products and sincere in service, making Fengxiang Silver Building famous in the fields of exquisite gold and silver, Zhu Cui, diamonds and jewelry. Fengxiang Silver Building only one gold necklace, there are more than ten kinds of file chains, hinge chains, bamboo chains, Ruyi chains, etc., "style peony", "Mandarin duck play lotus" and other small and exquisite ornaments, quite popular in the celebrity circle, even for different seasons, there are also different fancy ornaments, it also for some top celebrities to create tailor-made products, captured a number of noble women.
In 1931, Fengxiang Yinlou received a "magical" order, which sent it to the throne of the industry leader. This year, the shanghai beach tycoon Du Yuesheng family ancestral hall was completed, and Du Yuesheng customized a medium-sized water tank size silver ceremonial vessel to the silver building. At that time, all the silver buildings in Shanghai were discouraged from such a large silverware, but the Fengxiang Silver Building completed the requirements excellently. It took advantage of this to surpass famous old shops such as Yang Qinghe and Qiu Tianbao, and became the most famous top silver building in Shanghai Beach at that time.
Fengxiang Silver Building has become the first of the nine major silver buildings in Shanghai, with daily sales of gold and tens of thousands of gold in inventory. Its exquisite jewelry, jewelry decoration, play utensils and other products have even been favored by Song Meiling and Zhang Shizhao. The Fengxiang Silver Building semicolon opened more and more.
But no matter how good business is, it is difficult to escape social unrest. In 1937, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out in full swing, and Fengxiang Yinlou ushered in a turning point in its destiny. Under the upheaval of the people and social unrest, the consumption of luxury goods has taken a sharp turn.
In 1945, years of war made the silver building industry unstable, and the Kuomintang launched a civil war after seeing the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan. Huge military spending has created huge fiscal deficits. In order to make up for the deficit, the Kuomintang began to print money like crazy, and the market became more and more depressed. In 1947, the Kuomintang announced the implementation of economic emergency measures, the central bank did not allocate gold, but also imposed a hard price limit, a large number of silver buildings were forced to close their doors, Lao Fengxiang was among them.
2
Reborn and fallen again
After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the national level advocated thrift and thrift, and the social level was constantly moving, the luxury and elegance were no longer there, and the rich class also disappeared, but Lao Fengxiang unexpectedly had the opportunity to be reborn.
In 1951, under the care of Mayor Chen Yi, the Chinese Min min bank invested 150,000 discounted units (the units of value preservation during the period of national economic recovery) to purchase the fixed assets of the entire building of Lao Feng Xiang Yin Lou, No. 432 Nanjing East Road. In 1952, the Lao Feng Xiang Silver Building on Nanjing East Road was reopened and renamed as "State-owned Shanghai Gold and Silver Jewelry Store" (hereinafter referred to as Lao Feng Xiang).
As a state-owned gold store, "Lao FengXiang" ushered in the second take-off.
It has attracted many top craftsmen in small and medium-sized silver buildings, known as "108 generals". From gold and silver jewelry, jade diamond jewelry, Chinese and foreign utensils, enamel gilding, to Baoxing badges, shield ornaments, and statue architecture, Lao Fengxiang's products are sold at home and abroad. What is even more glorious is that in major events such as banqueting foreign VIPs, aerospace engineering, and cutting-edge scientific and technological breakthroughs, Lao Fengxiang's items often appear. The State Council, the Great Hall of the People and other important national venues also have Lao Fengxiang's ingenuity.
However, due to the control of gold and silver in China at that time, the jewelry industry developed passively, the process was slow, and the process was mainly based on traditional handicrafts. Without strong demand and a vast market, Lao Fengxiang lacks the motivation to innovate, and some jewelry craftsmen make the same type of products from apprenticeship to retirement, which is completely on the same level as foreign craftsmanship.
After the reform and opening up, China's wealthy class has once again emerged, and the demand for elegant culture has warmed up again. With Lao Fengxiang's resume, it has a unique history and cultural conditions for being China's top luxury brand. Unfortunately, China's actual environment did not give Lao Fengxiang this opportunity.
After the reform and opening up, China's wealthy class and elegant culture belonged to two different consumer subjects. Those who know traditional crafts and cultural content have average financial resources, while those who can afford luxury goods cannot recognize the subtle cultural flavor of China's elegant brands. In contrast, the aristocratic stars of Western luxury goods with goods, simple brand stories, and clear and easy-to-read logos are more easily accepted by them. After the reform and opening up, the international brand made Lao Fengxiang powerless and easily won the luxury enlightenment of the local tycoons.
Lao Fengxiang lost his advantage in exploring upwards, and dived down to the mass market to dig for gold?
Due to the rigidity of the mechanism and the internal management, when a large number of private gold stores emerged, the bloated and dull Old Fengxiang could not quickly "put down" himself in the market.
In 1996, under the guiding ideology of national retreat and people's advancement, "Lao Fengxiang" carried out brand reorganization. Known as the "four famous dans" of Shanghai's jewelry industry, Shanghai Lao Fengxiang General Factory (Lao Fengxiang), Shanghai Universe Gold and Silver Jewelry Factory (Universe), Shanghai Arts and Crafts Jewelry Research Institute (Jialong), Shanghai Jewelry and Jade Factory (Shenlong) and the newly established but already prominent Shanghai Dabian Jewelry And Jewelry Hui have joined forces to form Shanghai Lao Fengxiang Co., Ltd.
Originally hoped to achieve success through unity, but restructuring is not a good medicine, in 1998 Lao Fengxiang sales of about 700 million, a year profit barely reached 10 million, and private and foreign counterparts are not at all in the same order of magnitude. The shackles of the mechanism made Lao Fengxiang breathless, and the managers also lacked skills.
At that time, no one expected that ten years later, it would reach the top of China's gold industry in one fell swoop, with a brand value of more than 6 billion.
3
With the first pencil "Soul Changer"
The rebirth of Lao Fengxiang is thanks to the "Chinese brand pencil".
As a model of the successful restructuring of Shanghai's industrial system, in July 1992, "China Pencil" landed on the capital market and changed its name to First Pencil, becoming a joint-stock enterprise that was reformed and listed earlier in Shanghai's industrial system. Through the introduction of a modern enterprise system, the standardization of company operations, the implementation of incentive and constraint systems, rewards and punishments linked to personal income, the first pencil successfully ranked among the world's top three pencil manufacturing industries. In order to help Lao Fengxiang get out of the predicament, in 1998, the first pencil spent 68.4 million yuan to acquire 50.44% of the equity of "Lao Fengxiang" according to the deployment of the Light Industry Bureau.
Acquired by the Pencil Group, Lao Fengxiang is almost doomed not to continue the operation path of foreign luxury brands, but to turn the direction and plunge into the mass market.
After holding Lao Fengxiang, hu Shugang, the first pencil secretary, did not want to use the logic of selling pencils to sell jewelry at first. "In addition to Shi Lihua, the general manager of the first pencil, who is also the general manager of Lao Fengxiang, the first pencil is not sent by one person, and one person does not bring it." Hu Shugang said, "The essence of management is the same, what we have to do is to be clear-headed, think right, mechanism work, strict management, rewards and punishments are clear." We are not experts, so why can't we manage them with insiders? ”
But Hu Shugang was clearly idealized. Although the first pencil injected a lot of money into Lao Fengxiang, because Lao Fengxiang's system still maintained the appearance of the planned economy era, its operation did not change its decline. From 1998 to 2001, many excellent designers, technicians, and management personnel went to competitors, and Lao Fengxiang was far behind in the market.
At that time, Lao Fengxiang implemented full shareholding, but it did not help to promote productivity. "Full shareholding is equivalent to no shareholding, and the situation of the big pot of rice has not been broken," said Shi Lihua, general manager of the first pencil.
In 2000, 44-year-old Shi Lihua decided to scrape Lao Fengxiang's bones to heal his wounds. Since then, in the ten years from 2001 to 2011, Shi Lihua has increased The sales of Lao Fengxiang from 750 million to more than 20 billion, with sales increasing by 28 times and profits by 140 times. How did Shi Lihua achieve this growth legend?
First, he spent two years cleaning up the store. "Lao Fengxiang's own silver building must sell his own products." This is a principle. After the cleanup, it was then released, "Previously, Lao Fengxiang Company had strict restrictions on the opening of the silver building of its subsidiaries, and then it was fully released and allowed the subsidiaries to open the silver building by themselves." "The number of Lao Fengxiang's shops has grown by leaps and bounds. The company has also blossomed everywhere through regional general distribution, franchise chain stores, and franchises, laying a channel advantage. In 2001, Lao Fengxiang had only more than 30 stores, and in 2011, it already had more than 700 chain silver buildings and nearly 2,000 sales outlets.
Second, the resumption of production in subordinate factories has curbed the vicious circle of separation of production and marketing in the past. "It was very difficult to take this step, because at that time, the company lost 12 million undistributed profits, and the banks also had to draw capital. We can only rely on land replacement to repay the money, negotiate with the banks not to draw funds, and gradually restore production capacity. Without production capacity, how can enterprises survive? Shi Lihua said.
Third, major adjustments should be made to the product structure and industry structure. The traditional four categories of "gold, platinum, diamond and silver" will be inclined to the fields of high gross profit, high creative design and high craftsmanship, forming eight categories of "gold, silver, platinum, diamond and jade jewelry". Withdraw and merge posts, shut down and transfer subordinate low-profit or loss-making enterprises, divert redundant personnel, and delegate some small and micro enterprises. Reorganize the industry and talents, and gather superior resources to high-margin products, thereby accelerating capital turnover and making up for the lack of their own funds.
Fourth, the full shareholding was changed to the shareholding of the operator and the backbone. "We want to put the business in the hands of people who have confidence and loyalty." "In view of the company's operating conditions at that time, no one can see the future clearly, there are many employees who voluntarily withdraw shares, and there are few people who voluntarily subscribe to shares at the management level." Shi Lihua introduced. In the end, the 22% equity that was originally dispersed among more than 1,500 employees was implemented into the hands of 149 business operators, managers, technical teams and 100 employees who did not quit. Similar mechanisms are being implemented in subsidiaries.
Fifth, Lao Fengxiang also redesigned the assessment incentive plan according to the functional module for other personnel. In the industry, it took the lead in implementing the four chief appointment systems of "designers, technicians, producers and salesmen" and the echelon progressive system of the first, second and third levels, and created the original studio of the master, and assigned key positions and key talents. Production workers count pieces, sales staff commissions, technical personnel for technical assessment, wage system transparency.
Sixth, those who enjoy the benefits also bear risks. Lao Fengxiang has not had a single bad debt in ten years, and the establishment of the "personal compensation mechanism" is a unique secret to protect the interests of shareholders from being damaged. In Lao Feng Xiang, there is a strict compensation mechanism that is not publicly publicized, that is, any salesman who causes losses to the enterprise, such as bad debts of customers and missing products, must be compensated, and this compensation system has been expanded to the highest management level. "I have compensated myself," Mr. Shi said.
Seventh, quality assurance. In addition to the strict requirements for products higher than the national standard, Lao Feng Xiang service has also achieved standardization. "Lao Feng Xiang" Silver Building Ten Management Standards" ensures that every consumer will get good service. The company also has "ten special services" such as yellow and platinum exchange, repair and new repair, special regulation system, gem testing, consumption lectures, etc., which solve the worries of consumer consumption.
"Lao Feng Xiang" has been injected with new vitality, growing rapidly when the old brand of the national brand is generally in trouble, becoming the growth engine of the first pencil. In 2008, the company's stationery manufacturing revenue was 282 million, down 7.39% year-on-year, while the revenue of gold and silver jewelry manufacturing industry was as high as 7.876 billion, an increase of 43.41% year-on-year.
Zhao Yazhi, as the image spokesperson of the brand, let Lao Fengxiang's name fly into everyone's ears. The once-crumbling company has been reborn. In 2009, Lao Fengxiang seized the opportunity of state-owned enterprise reform and injected 27.57% of the equity of Shanghai Lao Fengxiang Co., Ltd. and 100% of the equity of Shanghai Arts and Crafts Co., Ltd. held by huangpu SASAC into the listed company platform through private placement, realizing the overall listing of the group.
4
The new challenge of the "old" Fengxiang
In 2009, the Average Jewelry Spender in the United States was $1337, japan was spending $1562 per capita on jewelry, and the average jewelry spending in Chinese was only $142. There is still huge room for growth in the Chinese jewelry market. In this context, the Chinese jewelry market has collectively entered the era of "channel sinking and terminal is king".
Facing the mass market is a good recipe for Lao Fengxiang's rebirth, but the crazy running has also made Lao Fengxiang gradually lose his once unique cultural heritage, drowning in Chow Tai Fook, Chow Sang Sheng, Chow Tai Sang, Liu Fu, Xie Ruilin... And so on in the middle of a lot of jewelry.
The consumption of jewelry in the sinking market is still in a state of enlightenment, more bluntly, the consumption of precious metal materials. Under the dispute between the various companies, the brand premium is extremely low, and the high-end process has no living soil at all. The gram price is the key to the decisive victory of the market. To this end, many brands outsource the production of styles, which further aggravates the phenomenon of similarity in the market.
Although Lao Fengxiang has more than 100 old, middle and young generation designers who have won the titles of Chinese arts and crafts masters and senior arts and crafts artists, even the designs of china's outstanding designers may not be recognized by the market. The public's aesthetic has been domesticated by the West, and the oriental culture has not yet formed an aesthetic trend, resulting in the original design of Chinese brands being either Dong Shi Gong or chicken and duck. The lack of innovation power and lack of market run-in can easily make the brand fall into the embarrassing situation of high and low, and closed doors. To this day, Lao Fengxiang's poor product design is still its Achilles heel.
Chinese consumers have formed a preliminary brand impression of jewelry brands, Cartier, Tiffany, Bulgari is a luxury brand, Chow Tai Fook, Chow Sang Sang as a comprehensive excellent brand, Lao Feng Xiang has become the first gold brand. However, with the development of China's economic consumption capacity, gold as a safe-haven asset symbol tends to weaken, and today's young people are no longer obsessed with gold products.
As a grandmother's brand, Lao Fengxiang's "old" is becoming a stumbling block on its fashion road. Poor design ability, can not let lao Fengxiang's cultural positioning into cultural advantages, Western jewelry brands for the Chinese market to launch Chinese elements jewelry, but also cannibalize the cultural position of Lao Fengxiang.
In order to grab the Z generation, Lao Fengxiang integrated Disney elements into the product, replaced the spokesperson with a younger Chen Shu, and also enhanced the young people's good feelings for the brand through vibrato, Weibo and other topic explosions. However, the shortcomings in the design and the brand stereotype make Lao Fengxiang's "old-fashioned" image not seem to have been significantly improved.
Today, Lao Feng Xiang has more than 3,000 sales terminals around the world. The management problems that appear in the franchised stores have led to the emergence of "Lao Feng Xiang shopping guide service attitude is poor" on the network" and "Lao Feng Xiang has deceived customers, how to complain? "Wait for Lao Fengxiang's poor service post. This has become another challenge for Lao Fengxiang, making it at a disadvantage in the competition with Chow Tai Fook, Chow Sang Sang and other brands.
Lao Fengxiang was not without opportunities.
Lao Fengxiang is facing the most competitive era, and it is also the best era of cultural rise. From the rise of Li Ning, Great White Rabbit and other national brands, it is not difficult to find that local brands have ushered in a good era of development. After Chinese consumers are tired of Western culture, the revival of Traditional Chinese culture has become unstoppable as China's power has increased.
The construction of traditional Chinese culture must rely on local brands, and more than 170 years of experience is a unique advantage of Lao Fengxiang. With the national hot flashes and the revival of national culture, Lao Fengxiang should focus more on brand building, regain the broken brand culture, and find a benchmark expression for this culture.
The profound historical and cultural accumulation and the political prospects of Changming are the opportunities for Lao Fengxiang to be reborn from the fire. Let Chinese products have their own favorite cultural expression, this is the opportunity for Lao Fengxiang to take off in the world in the future.