I don’t know since when, the transition of time began to become slow in the world I perceive, as if in the blink of an eye, half of 2019 flew by. Faced with a life-and-death test, the industry has finally moved from the previous panic, anxiety and confusion to temporary silence.
Companies start to think, bosses start to try, and brands start to test different strategies...
When the traditional retail market decline reaches 50%+ share, when the first-tier brands comprehensively reduce prices and dimensions to suppress second- and third-tier brands, when consumers show obvious polarization between high-end and low-end At this time, when strategic centralized procurement has increasingly higher requirements for brand potential, and cooperation with complete decoration companies is blocked by the threshold of financial strength, what is the future of ceramic tile companies? Where is the strategy?
If ceramic tiles are compared to fabrics, and the decoration of home ceramic tiles is compared to clothes, then it may be meaningful to use the development trajectory of the fashion industry as a reference to reflect on the development of the ceramic tile industry.
When the fabrics are controlled by factories in large quantities, where is the high value of the small number of fabrics on the market? In fact, it is in the hands of the designer. The same logic applies to ceramic tiles: when bulk purchases from strategic centralized procurement channels and assembly company channels reduce retail costs, a small number of high-end customizations may become the last retail camp for high-end ceramic tile brands.
High-end customization, what route should we take? Of course the designer route!
Looking back at the industry, the designer channel has been clamoring in the industry for more than ten years, but not many have really succeeded in it, and a large number of companies are still stumbling on this road. He moved forward gropingly.
So, besides the traditional way of cooperating with designers, finding ways to connect your brand with designers and becoming a member of the designer’s talent pool, what else can you do? Recently, we have seen four ceramic tile brands cooperate with designers, which seems to give a safe answer.
NO.1. Cooperate with a certain design master, develop ceramic tile products with dual characteristics
Not long ago, Teidi Negative Ion Ceramics held a new product launch conference in Guangzhou, exclusively releasing the "Mengjian Series" ceramic tile products with dual characteristics of appearance and functionality, which attracted widespread attention in the industry.
"Mengjian Series" is a series of products designed and created by the inventor of negative ion ceramic tiles in close cooperation with Mr. Meng Ye, a design guru who is known as the "Celebrity Designer". This series of products create negative ion ceramic tiles that are both internal and external, becoming a high-end aesthetic space background and leading the international trend of space experience. It fully embodies the attitude of pursuing the harmony of nature, art and health as the pursuit of contemporary living room life.
The author wants to say: This approach really captures the essence of the designer channel.
Why? Let’s first look at the clothing industry that can be compared with ceramic tiles. Isn't it true that part of the high-end customization that the clothing industry finally presents is that you directly go the designer route, cooperate with designers, and then hold clothing conferences? Where do the high-end styles consumed by celebrities come from?
In the same way, why can’t our high-end ceramic tile brand directly cooperate with designers to create a series of designer products, conduct periodic press conferences, and lead decorative fashion?
The author remembers that regarding this cooperation model, Pan Yue, a famous young design master in Shanghai, once proposed it in an interview with the author. He said: Manufacturers can work together with individual outstanding designers to create and design a product or product. For several products, the designer is fully involved in the creation and design of the product's color and texture. The manufacturer is responsible for producing it with appropriate technology, and the final name can be named after the designer. This type of cooperation I believe it will speak directly to the hearts of the designer community. The designer’s acumen, sensitivity and control of application needs can all be fed back to this series of products, ultimately making this series of products a real design What the teacher needs in his heart.
Not only that,the fame and reputation of famous designers can also empower product brands and help brands spread and be recognized in the design world.
Therefore, this should be a win-win method of cooperation, and it must be better than the many designer salons and forums that are becoming increasingly common today.
NO.2. Give designers agency rights and transform original agents into service providers
In 2018, which is known as the de-dealerization, with the substantial shrinkage of traditional retail channels, the intervention of strategic centralized procurement and assembly companies, the further flattening of brand manufacturer channels and the ruralization of channels With Shen's advancement, the status of traditional dealers in ceramic tile circulation channels is indeed facing a new test.
Strategic centralized procurement and assembly companies are more willing to bypass dealers and go directly to manufacturers to sign contracts and cooperate. Distributors in rural areas are also more willing to bypass the upper level due to the promotion of a large number of brand manufacturers’ channel sinking. Dealers have reached direct cooperation with manufacturers. For a time, the talk about "de-dealerization" has swept the industry.
But in most cases, manufacturers just talk about it, until - Jinsi Yuma announced in a high-profile manner at its dealer annual meeting: In the future, designers will be directly given agency rights and can sign contracts with ease. The designer is his agent! This layer of window paper of "going away from traditional agents" seems to have been directly pierced, and the industry is in an uproar. It is reported that this decision is also a decision that the company spent a lot of energy and finally made a determined decision.
The author recently talked with the relevant person in charge of Jinsi Yuma about this matter. The other party said: At present, many designers across the country have signed contracts to become its brand agents, and the results are obvious. Designers can have direct delivery and sales rights, and all original regional agents will be transformed into service providers to cooperate with designers in subsequent after-sales services.
As for how designers view this matter, I haven’t found a chance to chat with them yet, but this is just another brand-new attempt by brand manufacturers in the designer channel, and it deserves attention and thinking, isn’t it?
NO.3. Support and nurture young peopleDesigner, looking forward to the future
Last month I was doing terminal market research in Nanjing, and the new generation of young agents from Xinzhongyuan Nanjing gave me a surprise.
As a second-generation Taoist, Ms. Wu has a thorough and profound understanding of the designer channel: "We are currently mainly supporting and cultivating a group of young designers born in the 80s and 90s. Before they become famous, they may all It takes a period of hard work, but the designer’s own cognition and life experience are closely related. If they themselves did not have the opportunity to contact a wider world and travel to more places during the hard work years, It will limit their horizons and growth. Therefore, we will provide a series of study tour activities to create a platform to provide these young designers with opportunities to increase their experience and life experience, and support their accelerated growth.”
I remember that the author once chatted with a young designer who has been engaged in interior design for 3 years. He once said: Compared with how much money to make, what is most desired and important at the moment is some learning and exchange opportunities, which can open up Only by broadening your horizons and gaining knowledge can you accumulate experience.
The author believes that if brand manufacturers truly see the needs of designers and find ways to provide a platform, they will have deep emotional investment with designers in the early stage, then the power of these designers will be the future of the brand. a new force for development.
NO.4. Cooperate with third-party design agencies to create a promotion channel for designers
"A person can walk faster, and a group of people can go further." As mentioned before, as young designers, they hope to have a guidance platform for learning, communication, improvement and even promotion. This platform can gather a group of like-minded people and a circle of niche designers, so that everyone can jointly improve and advance. progress. Therefore, the "U+ Designer Alliance" in the "U+ Alliance" sponsored by Nengqiang Group and participated by Jinke Brand has created this kind of designer circle to meet the designers' needs for improvement and communication integration, which is also the case in the industry. Things are booming.
The core of this alliance system is: through designEngineers, foremen, material dealers, designer platforms, outstanding dealers and media platforms work together to create a comprehensively empowered ecological linkage system. The entire alliance uses a partnership system to attract the strength of all parties and complete the closed-loop ecological chain. The services provided by this ecosystem to designers mainly include: providing a growth and promotion platform for designers. "U+ Designer Alliance" includes: study tours, awards, certificates, training, resource guidance, promotion space matching, etc.
One of the most intuitive cooperation is: what does the other party need, what do you provide, and demand creates the market. This logic also applies to cooperation between manufacturers and designers.
In fact, as a rising star in the designer channel, in addition to the Tete, Jinsi Yuma, Xinzhongyuan and Nengqiang Jinke brands mentioned above, there are many brands in the industry that are constantly developing Feel your way forward and find your own way.
As mentioned above, with the development of the industry and the changes of the times, the designer channel will eventually become or has become a must-have channel for military strategists. In this case, how to develop this channel in depth? How to operate it in detail is worth pondering and exploring. Based on observations, the author summarizes the above practices. It may not be possible without in-depth observation, but I hope it can inspire everyone.
