▲金义He Gan, Chairman of Tao Group
In 1986, He Gan graduated from the Department of Ceramic Engineering of Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute in Jiangxi , seems to be destined to deal with the ceramic industry for a lifetime. From a technical novice after graduation to serving as the chairman of Guangdong Jinyitao Ceramics Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jinyitao"), He Qian has never left the ceramic industry.
He said,“If you are not afraid of others imitating, you are afraid of yourself. Can't run fast ”
In 2004, at the age of 39, he started his own business and invested in Jin Yitao . From the initial three-year period of rapid development, to the six-year exploration period, to the current period of steady development, He Gan has led Jinyitao through 15 years, allowing Jinyitao to grow from a small brand to a household name in Foshan. Famous brand enterprise. In terms of product positioning, technology research and development, marketing methods, and quality assurance, He Gan dares to be the first, is determined to innovate, and interprets Foshan's entrepreneurial spirit with practical actions.
He said,“To be a ceramic brand, you must be a leader and become a leading enterprise. ”
▲Jinyitao Headquarters
Differentiated products in innovative exhibition halls occupy the market
Before He Gan officially invested in Jinyitao in 2004, Jinyitao was an antique brick division of Dongpeng Ceramics. Due to unclear brand positioning, annual sales are less than 50 million yuan. At that time, the antique bricks produced by Jinyitao were niche products, occupying less than 5% of the ceramic market share.
After taking over Jin Yitao, will the company develop in a diversified manner or continue to adhere to antique bricks? He Gan firmly believes that niche products can also occupy the big market, so Set the business goal as building the first brand of antique bricks and strive for differentiated competition.
The company's business direction has been determined, but how to promote this small brand to What about the whole country? "Tiles must not only meet functional needs, but also meet consumers' daily needs and bring people a pleasant feeling. They are life-oriented and thoughtful." He Gan said that based on his own definition of ceramic tiles, in 2005 In October, Jinyitao launched the landscape-style "Thought Pavilion" for the first time in the industry. The first pavilion cost tens of millions of yuan, equivalent to the company's entire profit that year.
In just a few years, more than 130 "thought museums" have spread throughout the country Nationwide. On the first floor of the exhibition hall, consumers can’t find a single brick. What they see are mostly Jin Yitao’s thoughts on life and the world. "Making thoughtful ceramic tiles" has become synonymous with Jin Yitao.
"When seeing the 'Thought Museum', everyone thinks of Jin Yitao ” He Gan said, “By taking ‘idea’ as the market positioning, we can attract thoughtful consumer groups, and these groups are precisely the mid-to-high-end crowd.” Since then, Jin Yitao has successfully brought the brand to the mid-to-high-end crowd. vision, and at the same time promoted the trend of building museums in the ceramic industry.
The first "Thought Pavilion" is a classic work of Jin Yitao's innovative development. Jin Yitao's innovative move also includes the "integral ceramic tile space solution". From selling single ceramic tiles to selling overall art space , Jinyitao broke the traditional marketing model of China's building ceramics industry for more than 20 years.
Ye Xiangyang, the former president of the China Building and Sanitary Ceramics Association, said, Jinyitao continues to improve through innovation-driven development and continuously contributes to the development and progress of the ceramic industry.
In He Qian’s heart, The goal of Jinyitao is to remain standing among domestic ceramic brands and to be a company that leads the industry trend rather than a company that follows the trend.
▲Thinker sculpture representing Jinyitao's innovative research and development concept
Renovation leads enterprises out of confusion
Jin Yitao has become a dark horse in the ceramic industry in just three or four years, with its performance doubling every year. And He Gan is also convinced of Jin Yitao's ability to sustain development. "At that time, I only saw the favorable factors optimistically, and had insufficient awareness of crises and risks." He Gan said frankly that starting in 2008, Jin Yitao entered a period of confused exploration. "At that time, I just wanted to become stronger and bigger, and expand the scale of operations. , there is a serious imbalance between costs and profits.”
In 2008, Jin Yitao created a sports marketing model and spent huge sums of money Inviting the English Premier League giant Chelsea Football Club to Guangdong to play was originally a win-win cooperation with the top clubs, but it also suffered a lot of losses due to constant twists and turns. In order to expand its scale, Jinyitao Ceramics has also enriched its product categories, including porcelain tiles, polished tiles and other products, which has diluted consumers' inherent impression of Jinyitao, which is too much. In addition, amid the financial crisis, the performance of Jinyitao Ceramics declined instead of rising.
Combined with the market situation at that time, He Gan quickly passed the trend of research and development, talent R&D and equipment R&D innovation are bound to regain the company's reputation and industry leadership. In order to ensure the quality of its products, Jin Yitao has invested nearly 50 million yuan in purchasing high-powder cloth machines, multi-roller printing, inkjet printers and other equipment.
In 2010, the first domestic inkjet printer in the field of antique bricks was successfully trial-produced at Jinyitao Sanshui Base. In terms of color, design level and pattern fineness, it was far superior to traditional printers, making Jinyitao Tao's product quality has made a qualitative leap.
In addition, He Gan absorbs international trendy design concepts by introducing high-end foreign talents. . In early 2015, He Gan flew to Italy and hired professional designers and engineers to the Foshan headquarters to be responsible for the research and development of mid-to-high-end products at a salary that was more than twice that of the same position. In the second half of 2015, brand new wood grain antique tiles and other products appeared at the Autumn Fair, attracting great attention from merchants.
At this point, Jin Yitao gradually recovered the lost market. Zhu Yuhua, chairman of the Italy-China Exchange Association, said that the cooperation between Jin Yitao and Italian designers has brought more exchange activities to the design world, and Jin Yitao's development concept deserves recognition.
▲In the At the 13th Guangzhou Design Week, Jinyitao’s booth was crowded with people
Pursue quality to meet people’s quality life needs
In recent years, the consumption pattern of Chinese people has changed from satisfying basic needs to a huge demand for quality consumption. In the context of consumption upgrading, the ceramic industry is facing a new round of reshuffle. How to transform and upgrade and meet the new consumption needs of the people with high-quality development of enterprises has become an era proposition that ceramic companies are urgently thinking about.
Between 2016 and 2017, Jin Yitao changed the advertising slogan to "Use texture to create life" conveys a different lifestyle to consumers and triggers emotional resonance among young consumer groups.
"Post-80s and post-90s have gradually become the main consumer force of the new generation. The impact of brand impression on consumption is significantly amplified in the context of consumption upgrading. "He Gan analyzed that the word "texture" has two meanings, including tangible and intangible parts. Tangible means that the product quality is guaranteed and complies with industry and national standards; intangible means that the historical precipitation and the texture of time are reflected through antique tiles, giving the tiles connotation and making them look more tasteful and layered.
In response to the psychological demands of consumers, Jin Yitao subsequently proposed " "Modern Antique Brick" series presents a simple and youthful style in exhibition hall design and product design.Add popular color products such as black, white and gray. According to Hou Wenquan, secretary-general of the China Ceramics Industry Association, Jin Yitao's move satisfies consumers' new demands for home environments and complies with the consumer trend.
“To achieve high-quality development, enterprises must develop new momentum.” He Gan believes that high-quality development is the inevitable result of market development, and backward companies will eventually be eliminated. To this end, Jin Yitao has implemented the "one core, two wings" strategy internally in the past two years. "One core" refers to adhering to superior products such as antique bricks as the core, while enriching product series such as large slabs and marble tiles; "two wings", one is green energy building materials, and the other is all-ceramic home furnishings.
The trend of finely decorated houses and secondary decoration is gradually emerging, and prefabricated buildings have become In response to new market demands, Jinyitao has launched all-ceramic home products that combine ceramic tiles with aluminum profiles. In addition, in response to the call for green development and environmental protection, Jinyitao has made a fuss about building materials, processing industrial solid waste into lightweight foamed ceramics, realizing features such as green recycling, fire prevention and insulation, and grasping the future trends of building materials.
In 2019, Jin Yitao proposed "Consumer Quality Management" concept, products must not only meet industry standards, but also continuously improve consumer satisfaction, and use consumer response to measure product quality. Pass. In the future, He Gan will continue to lead Jinyitao to pursue "quality", adhere to innovation and differentiated development, and continue to cultivate and grow this young enterprise, making it a model for ceramic enterprises in high-quality development.
▲He Gan Speech at the group's 15th anniversary celebration
Moments
He Qian started his own business at the age of 39, starting from scratch and relying on his own hard work and struggle to make a fortune. He is always on the lookout for new products, new technologies, new equipment, and new talents. Not being afraid of failure and having the courage to try are the characteristics of Jin Yitao.
——Yin Hong, Secretary General of Foshan Ceramics Industry Association
Consumer demand is constantly escalating and the market environment is constantly changing. We still see He Gan confidently walking at the forefront of the industry.
——Gong Wei, Deputy Secretary-General of China Building and Sanitary Ceramics Association
Picture|Enterprise
Article | Foshan Daily reporter Li Jiawen
(Original source: Foshan Daily)
