Text/Zhong Taojun
With the continuous breakthroughs in production technology in the building ceramics industry, stone-like ceramic tile products are becoming more and more realistic. This is a positive thing for social development and ecological civilization construction, because it effectively solves the problem of mining of non-renewable resources such as stone. But it is precisely because ceramic tiles are gradually replacing stone in the market that they have attracted "hostility" from competitors...
This article is just for fun, everyone is welcome to comment.
一
The breaking point of the porcelain stone war - marble tiles
It can be said that ceramic tiles and stone are old rivals. They have been in love with each other for decades, and it is common for them to fight and step on each other. The biggest battle had to be the case of "Gao Shi Gao Jian - False Publicity and Commercial Slander". At that time, there were rumors that "the word marble tile will be banned" was overwhelming, and stone people held high the sign of "victory". Big flag. Several years have passed, and marble tiles have become more and more popular among consumers in the market.
If the category name of marble tiles is banned because it mentions "stone", then what about today's red and purple slates? This is the same as name. Name is a title for a person and has nothing to do with a person’s personality or conduct. The same goes for products. How to name is secondary. How to cultivate consumers’ awareness is the key. . In an era when information was not as developed as it is now, consumers knew less about ceramic tiles. When faced with marble ceramic tile products launched on the market, they often mistakenly thought that the raw materials for their production contained marble components. This is also a terminal issue. The significance of displaying and introducing products in stores.
&"Marble tiles are not marble" should be as easy to understand for the Chinese as "there is no fish in the fish-flavored shredded pork, and there is no wife in the wife cake". However, there is still a saying that "it is stone or porcelain, and you can't tell the difference." "Clear" consumers must be inseparable from the behavior of some businesses to confuse and mislead the public. In fact, the ceramic tile industry has been carrying this "pot" for many years, and marble ceramic tile products are often slandered by the stone industry as "spurring popularity" ”, “Playing on the edge”.
For example, when I searched for the keyword "marble tiles" on Baidu, there was a headline at the top of the advertising space that read: "Marble tiles, raw materials are selected from natural marble". The first reaction of some friends who make stone materials may be to curse the bottomless marketing of ceramic tile merchants; however, the reversal of things is dumbfounding. When I clicked on the page, I found that it was actually a website selling stone materials (this wave of counterfeit operations is really 666 ). The "war" between ceramic tiles and stone is nothing more than a conflict of interest, so there is no need to argue about who did the malicious marketing first; but from the perspective of an ordinary consumer, I can't help but want to say something when I see this kind of website. :“Selling dog meat on the head of a sheep.”
二
The thunder that can trigger a dispute between porcelain and stone at any time - slate
What is rock slab? Is it tile or stone? This question can be said to accompany the slate products from their "debut" to their "explosion". Due to the lack of industry standards, there has been no official explanation on the definition of slate. Therefore, the information about rock slabs on the Internet is also mixed between true and false. For example, in the picture below, there is a Zhihu Q&A on the question "Is rock slab just a big ceramic tile?"
Shout when you see injustice on the road to refute the rumors!
1. The three major raw materials of rock slabs and ceramic tiles are clay, feldspar, and quartz, and there are no organic compounds in the main ingredients.
2. Slate is made by calcining natural marble after crushing it to remove heavy metals. --wrong. There is no natural marble in the raw materials for slate production.
3. The raw material for ceramic tiles is white mud, which has low production cost; only the raw material for slate production has silica. --wrong. Silica is present in the chemical composition of clay, feldspar, and quartz.
There are so many "fake science popularizations" about slates. Some stone companies' public accounts actually launched promotional slogans: "Slates, derived from stone, are better than stone"; There is even some serious science popularization:The English name of slate is "SINTERED STONE", which is translated as "sintered dense stone" and interpreted as "slate is made of stone after extrusion and firing. It is a disguised artificial stone." . The bricklayers who really understand the slate production process felt that their IQ was seriously insulted when they saw this paragraph. At this time, it is very necessary to stand up and refute the rumors to set the record straight! Next, the author will talk about the difference in production technology between slate and artificial stone.
Whether it is slate or ceramic tile, they are all composed of three major inorganic materials: feldspar, quartz and clay. The raw materials are grinded, mixed, pressed, glazed, and undergo crystalline transformation during the sintering, melting, and cooling processes; the main components of the raw materials are SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, CaO, MgO, Na2O, K2O, ZnO, ZrO2, etc. There are abundant resources in nature, no impact on human health, good physical properties (pressure resistance, wear resistance), stable chemical properties (acid and alkali resistance, corrosion resistance), rich patterns, colors and textures that can be customized, etc., are all incomparable to building ceramic products. Advantages that are replicated.
Artificial stone is made of unsaturated polyester resin as a binder, and is formed and solidified by mixing and extruding various stone powders. . The binders used in composite artificial stone include both inorganic materials and organic materials; during the production process, the body made of cement mortar using cement, stone powder, etc. is immersed inIt is formed by polymerizing organic monomers (including styrene, methyl methacrylate, vinyl acetate, acrylonitrile, butadiene, etc.) under certain conditions. The cost of composite artificial stone products is low, but its polyester surface is prone to peeling or cracking due to the influence of temperature differences.
So
Stone slab, born in the production line of a ceramics enterprise
Slate, derived from ceramic tiles but better than ceramic tiles
Slate, not artificial stone
三
Compete rationally and let go of consumers who don’t know the truth
Both ceramic tiles and stone have a long cultural history. Stone can be seen everywhere in the development of human civilization around the world; ceramics are an important representative of the cultural heritage of the Chinese nation, and the "gold bricks" laid on the floor of the Forbidden City are the best witness. It can be seen that both materials, stone and ceramic tiles, have extremely important historical status, and there is no need to argue about who is the bigger brother.
In terms of economic benefits, the output of the building ceramics industry in 2019 was 8.225 billion square meters (this number exceeded 10 billion square meters in 2014), and the total output value was 387.762 billion yuan; The company's marble plate output is 256 million square meters, and its granite plate output is 66 million square meters. The average stone price for the year is 438.84 yuan/square meter. Industrial mass-produced ceramic tiles have absolute advantages in terms of output, cost and price, but they still cannot replace the high-end natural stone market.
As far as the current market situation is concerned, stone people often complain that brick movers are too good at brand marketing, and complain that ceramic tile products are imitators of stone. But based on rational analysis, with the business model in today’s society, what’s wrong with companies doing brand marketing? Ceramic tiles can not only imitate stone, but also imitate wood and cloth patterns, so there is no such thing as "copycat". Instead, buy ceramic tilesof consumers feel that stone is more difficult to care for and maintain than ceramic tiles, and ceramic tiles have better after-sales service guarantees than stone... These factors determine the market breadth of ceramic tiles and stone.
Phonoring, slandering each other, and side-balling often occur between ceramic tiles and stone, but these are not as bad as misleading or deceiving consumers who do not know the truth; the porcelain-stone debate should be more rational and open-minded, and insist on Seek truth from facts and operate with integrity. Black and white cannot be reversed, just as the kiln of a ceramics company cannot produce Roman columns, and an artificial stone factory cannot produce so-called "slates".
Finally, I would like to advise those merchants who are "making trouble" and are still trying to confuse the public in 2020. Can they be more mature?
Author: Hong Xiaochun
