At the end of the 1990s, "thirsty to drink Red Bull, sleepy and tired to drink Red Bull" made Red Bull vitamin functional drinks quickly popular, and this well-known advertising slogan left a deep imprint and Red Bull beverages accompanied Chinese consumers to grow for 26 years, becoming a national brand with annual sales of more than 5 billion cans.
What is not known is that although Red Bull is an international brand, Red Bull China is a national enterprise. When Red Bull came to China, the Thai side was ready to use the Chinese "Red Cloth" name product, and Yan Bin, the actual trader of Red Bull of China, the chairman of Reignwood Group, insisted on using the Chinese "Red Bull" trademark and stipulated in the joint venture contract that "the trademark of the joint venture company's products is part of the assets of the joint venture company". How to build Red Bull china into a Chinese brand and a national enterprise, this has to start from a "fifty-year agreement" signed by him on behalf of the joint venture company in 1995.
1 When Red Bull came to China, there were two words: return
In the 1970s, Hui Shubiao, a Thai-Chinese, developed a tonic drink named "Krating Daeng", which became popular with night workers and truck drivers. In 1982, austrian businessman Matt Schütz discovered the drink and had the idea of introducing it to Europe, but he did not want to be just an agent, so it was very likely that after the brand grew, it would be kicked away by the manufacturer. Under The lobbying of Matt Schitz, Xu Shubiao agreed to set up a joint venture in Austria, with Xu Shubiao and Matt Schöntz each holding 49% of the shares, and 2% going to Xu Shubei's eldest son, Xu Shuen. In 1983, the Austrian joint venture improved the formulation and registered the "Red Bull" trademark, and the specific operation of the joint venture was carried out by Matt Schitz. It can be said that Xu Shubiao invented "Krating Daeng", but it was Matt Schitz who really pushed Red Bull to become a famous international brand around the world.
In 1993, Xu Shubiao built a factory in Hainan, intending to introduce "Krating Daeng" into China, but finally turned back, on the one hand, because he was not familiar with the domestic market policy, could not get the product production approval, on the other hand, the "Red Bull+ map" trademark because the bullfighting pattern already had a similar registered trademark, for a long time could not be registered, his heart was full of confusion, until he met Yan Bin, an entrepreneur who was very active in Sino-Thai economic and cultural exchanges at that time.
At that time, there was no functional beverage category in China, and Yan Bin decided to cooperate with two state-owned enterprises after a lot of market research. After expert demonstration and communication with the competent authorities, in September 1995, the state-owned enterprise China Food Industry Corporation obtained the approval for the production license of "vitamin functional drinks", and the main ingredients and content standards of the first functional drink in China were born, which not only became the key factor for Red Bull Beverage to enter the Chinese market, but also created a new category for the Chinese beverage market. Subsequently, after difficult negotiations and large-scale investment, the enterprises of the Bullfight Chart trademark finally gave up the trademark opposition, and the trademark of Chinese Red Bull and Tu was successfully registered.
Before the establishment of the joint venture company, Yan Bin, on behalf of the joint venture company in preparation, signed a 50-year cooperation agreement with Tencel thailand and two state-owned enterprises, which not only stipulated that only Red Bull of China had the right to exclusively produce and sell Red Bull drinks in China, but also clearly stipulated that Thai Tencel was not allowed to produce and sell Red Bull drinks in China, which became a guarantee for all parties to obtain benefits for a long time, which can be said to be a charteral legal guarantee for the survival and development of Red Bull of China. It was also the precondition for all parties at that time to dare to invest heavily in cultivating the market after Xu Shubiao was put into production in China. The joint venture contract signed by the parties also stipulates that "the trademark of the products of the joint venture company is part of the assets of the joint venture company". Without the above two documents, Yan Bin and the two state-owned enterprises could not have invested billions of yuan in the Chinese market under the premise of hopeless prospects and unprotected rights and interests to "smash" Red Bull, a beverage brand that was not well known at the time, in the Chinese market.
Of course, bringing in is the first step, and it is more important to live. Based on yan bin and Xu Shubiao's original intention and common desire to cooperate to repay the motherland, Yan Bin often said that when Red Bull came to China, there were two words: return. Specifically, it is necessary to "increase the strength of the Chinese people who are constantly strengthening themselves and thriving in the reform and opening up." Based on this, Reignwood Group and Yan Bin personally poured everything into the cause of Red Bull china, regardless of cost. In order to adapt to the domestic market and cultivate the concept of consumption, Red Bull of China first adopted the word "Red Bull" in Chinese Simplified on packaging; applied for a appearance patent for the iconic three-necked small gold pot; fully demonstrated the functionality and safety of the new formula Red Bull beverage, and obtained a health food approval certificate. In the face of the initial dismal sales performance, the China Red Bull team put forward the slogan of "no blind spots in the market, every store must enter", even if there are only two cans of Red Bull, it should be placed in the most obvious position on the shelf, Yan Bin also personally led the team to present Red Bull to taxi drivers in the winter.
With the expansion of China Red Bull sales and scale, the urgent need for a lot of funds, Thailand Tencel did not increase investment, Reignwood Group mortgaged its assets to the bank to raise money for China Red Bull blood transfusion, and invested heavily in self-built production bases and sales channels, after 2015, China Red Bull's annual sales stabilized at more than 20 billion yuan. From 1995 to 2016, In the development of the Chinese market for more than 20 years, Reignwood Group has become an important guarantee for the development of Red Bull China, whether it is financing blood transfusion or operational support. Thai Tencel has not participated in the operation for more than 20 years, and has no reputation in China, as of 2014, Thai Tencel took 4 billion yuan from China's Red Bull.
2 Red Bull dispute stems from the breakdown of negotiations, or is there another reason behind it?
Xu Shubiao has always maintained a good cooperative relationship with Yan Bin, and he often says a sentence: invest money to get money, and get angry. However, this kind of mutually beneficial and win-win tacit cooperation has suddenly changed with the death of Xu Shubiao.
2012 was an important year in Red Bull's global history. In March 2012, Xu Shubiao died of illness. In May 2012, brand culture Co., Ltd. was established in Hong Kong, the legal person is the commercial assistant and Chinese translator of the CEO of Tencel in Thailand, and later this company was acquired and became the actual controller of Guangzhou Yao Energy Company, after several curve changes, the delisted beverage brand Yao Energy changed its packaging and name, transformed into "Red Bull Aneji Beverage", and re-listed in the Chinese market.
After Xu Shubiao's death, China and Thailand have conducted several rounds of negotiations on equity, dividends and cooperation, and China Red Bull legal personnel said that the second-generation heir of Tencel Thailand aims to take all the control of the Chinese Red Bull brand and production into his own hands, maximize the benefits, and there is no possibility of transition, no longer complying with the provisions of the fifty-year agreement and the joint venture contract. Although Yan Bin made some concessions, on the one hand, the parties have a fifty-year agreement and a joint venture contract, on the other hand, the Chinese Red Bull brand, market network and production base are all personally built by himself, and finally only do Red Bull products Chinese agents is impossible to agree.
In fact, Yan Bin, who is nearly seventy years old, has spent 26 years to make China Red Bull a national industry and make the Chinese Red Bull brand a national brand, which is also the original intention of cooperation with Xu Shubiao. In the past 26 years, Yan Bin has not only invested in the construction of five functional beverage production bases in Beijing, Xianning, Yixing, Foshan and Gui'an, but also built 39 branches across the country, cooperated with thousands of dealers, supported regional economic development, with a cumulative output value of 250 billion yuan and a tax payment of 35 billion yuan. In a sense, the history of the development of the private economy is also the history of the financing of private enterprises, and through the continuous financing and investment of Reignwood Group, China Red Bull has achieved sustained and rapid development. As a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Hong Kong and a patriotic overseas Chinese leader, Yan Bin also established the Reignwood Cultural Foundation, which has been invested in various public welfare undertakings and the needs of the motherland for more than 20 years, directly or indirectly accumulating a brand reputation for Red Bull china.
But the new heir of Thai TENCEL has been planning for many years and has already prepared for three main things:
Red Bull of China has publicly stated that in 2014, Tencel of Thailand stopped supplying raw materials, let the joint venture hand over all intellectual property documents to Thai Tencel or Red Bull of Austria, and obtained comprehensive data of China Red Bull on the grounds of negotiations. In 2014, Red Bull Austria entered the Chinese market as a "Jinneng Beverage". This is the first one.
TENCEL will recruit or poach the senior management team of Red Bull China as a new partner in the sale of new Red Bull, not only has Red Bull China as the general manager responsible for the overall work for more than 10 years, but also responsible for sales, channels, brands, legal public relations of the middle and high-level employees, can be described as a mature operation of Red Bull team. This is the second and most critical move.
In 2019, Yao Energy successfully transformed into "Red Bull Aneji Beverage", and the product packaging and decoration are almost the same as those of Red Bull China. Because the taste consumers do not accept, sales are difficult to promote, Thai Tencel will be listed imported or OEM "Red Bull Vitamin Flavor Drink", the composition and content of the Chinese Red Bull is more different, such as no lysine, caffeine ingredients, B vitamins are several times less, but the packaging and taste is more similar to China Red Bull, low-price dumping quickly seize the market, the three Red Bull put together mixed sale, consumers do not know at all. This is the third piece.
Since the outbreak of the Red Bull dispute in 2016, nearly 6 years ago, no matter from legal preparation, expert operation, market organization and construction, the Thai Tencel Group in Thailand has set off a war for China's Red Bull. The focus of Red Bull's legal rights protection remains on the two core issues of Red Bull's trademark ownership and the continued implementation of the 50-year agreement. Red Bull Zhongtai dispute is more complicated than the Wang LaoJiJiaduobao dispute, whether it is court trial or arbitration by arbitration institutions, the current litigation war between the two sides is still tug-of-war, the final result is too early, but one thing is certain, that is, China's judicial system and law are fundamentally for the protection of the rights of entity enterprises and social welfare, not for the disorderly expansion of foreign capital.
3 Capital hunting, China Red Bull "national enterprise dilemma" to be solved
It is precisely because China Red Bull has cultivated a market with annual sales of more than 20 billion yuan, and all kinds of speculators and capital are around, and China Red Bull has been "hunted". Although Thai tencel has no understanding of the Chinese market and legal environment, with the support of domestic and foreign capital, and with the guidance of new domestic agents, Tencel Red Bull has brought challenges to the normal operation of China Red Bull through low-price dumping.
Red Bull of China said that the essence of the dispute between China and Thailand is that Thai Tencel tore up the contract, no longer abided by the "Fifty-Year Agreement" and the 1995 "Joint Venture Contract" originally signed, did not recognize that the Red Bull product line trademark was part of the assets of the joint venture company, and started a new stove, pushing products completely different from China's Red Bull products to the market and consumers, under the banner of founders and "cost performance", and seizing the market through low-price marketing, in fact, there is no difference between foreign capital relying on domestic market speculators to wash Chinese national enterprises.
At that time, the country that was in the midst of poverty and weakness was unable to protect national enterprises, the market was slaughtered by others, and the right to survive of national enterprises was almost held by people, just like a lamb facing a hungry wolf. Nowadays, through opening roads in every mountain and building bridges in the water, national enterprises that have struggled to wade out a wide river for foreign brands in the domestic market are facing many bullying, how can the interests of national enterprises be protected? And isn't this kind of dilemma exactly the current portrayal of national technology companies such as Huawei?