Belgrade Liang Yongkang: small products stir up big storms

Liang Yongkang, co-founder and deputy general manager of Belgrade

The Liang brothers are all 70s, and they all have the brand of that era, dare to fight and be brave in innovation. As a younger brother, Liang Yongkang, a red T-shirt on the upper body and a beige casual trousers on the lower body, looks really good and full of vigor. As one of the founders of Belgrade , talking about the creation of the brand, talking about the hot machine, Liang Yongkang is a little excited, I can see that he is a very easy person to communicate with, cheerfully, this is also his choice in Bell. Ryder is responsible for marketing reasons.

Entrepreneurship: small products stir up big storms

Liang Yongkang did the home appliance business in the early days. In 2005, Liang Yongkang was commissioned by a Hong Kong friend to purchase a hanging machine in Shunde. Liang Yongkang immediately found several furniture factories and visited the market. Through the understanding of the market, Liang Yongkang is keenly aware of the commercial opportunity: Hanging machine or can be used as household goods to promote to the majority of home users.

Hanging hot machine is also called hanging iron, vertical iron, hanging hot machine, originally invented in the United States. Because the American house is huge, the corresponding floor-to-ceiling windows are huge, and the curtains are also large. The invention of the hanging machine was to clean these heavy curtains. Then slowly developed to ironing clothes, and other items. China introduced the hanging machine in the mid-1990s. At that time, it was mainly positioned in clothing wholesale, which was aimed at industrial use.

Liang Yongkang and his brother Liang Yongjian, and two other partners after a detailed discussion, immediately formed a team and founded the Belgrade brand. After the establishment of the company, the first thing is to reposition and repack the hanging machine.

Entrepreneurs initially adopted the method of foundry, but they soon discovered that this road is not feasible. Three nights of production may have two nights of reworked OEM products, and this OEM road is obviously unsustainable. How to do? Just do it yourself! These young people who dare to fight and dare have made such a decision. At that time, they belonged to the working class. The "selling the pot" sold about 300,000 yuan of start-up funds. It takes about 100,000 to buy a mold, and the remaining 200,000 is used to rent a factory and buy other production equipment. The funds are very tight and it has been difficult to transfer production. What's more, it is difficult to find a breakthrough in the hometown of small appliances with this brand. It is in such an environment that several of the founders of Belgrade simply put a bloody way into the hot machine.

"At that time, I even took out every piece of money in my piggy bank." Liang Yongkang said, "We were very firm at the time. Opportunities are often fleeting, if you are willing to fight Bo, then you may succeed; but if you don't try, the chance of success is zero.

Sales: Stereoscopic marketing to shape brand DNA

The product is produced, but the next question is: How to get to the market? Although these entrepreneurs are all from sales, when they go out early in the morning with a few large hanging machines, and back in the evening, the mood is quite complicated. They are soberly aware that if they can't find an agent in China, it will be difficult for the company to develop. Four people are rushing in the market every day, but there are few agents who are willing to act as agents for this product.

In the process of product promotion, they found that the biggest problem faced by agents looking for hanging machine is that many people don't know the new thing of hanging machine. In the era when there was no impression on the hanging machine, the hanging machine placed in the supermarket was basically unable to sell. How to introduce this product to consumers so that they can identify and accept is another problem that lies in front of them. In 2005, TV shopping sprang up. After some discussion, the four decided to cooperate with Hunan Satellite TV "Happy Purchase". Because the hanging machine needs a platform for product demonstration, and TV shopping just gives the merchant enough presentation time.

It turns out that this promotion method is very effective. After the "Happy Buy" campaign, they finally have no need to explain to consumers the common sense of "what is a hot machine." At the same time, Belgrade is gradually becoming known to consumers. After the successful operation of the TV shopping model, the keen entrepreneurs also turned their attention to multi-channel development. E-commerce is another way to promote. In Taobao and Jingdong Mall, Belgrade has established a stable network sales channel.

In 2012, Belgrade’s e-commerce sales reached 40% of the total, TV shopping accounted for 30%, and the remaining 30% was physical store sales.

Liang Yongkang tells us that under the circumstances that e-commerce is absolutely good, developing e-commerce is not the most important. E-commerce, TV shopping helps sales, and physical stores are more conducive to building brands, because ordinary consumers are more inclined to see. "Next, the company will increase the investment in physical stores." Liang Yongkang said. Compared with other home appliance manufacturers, Belgrade's marketing method has always been ahead. The Weibo that has emerged in the past two years has inspired Liang Yongkang. For Belgrade, Weibo is not only a means of brand promotion, but also a position for brand marketing.

Since the test of Weibo last year, through the accumulation of the previous period, there are now more than 600,000 fans on Belgrade Weibo. With the help of Weibo platform, Belgrade has made full use of its functions. They not only hold lottery and other activities on Weibo, but also launch product launch offers. For example, the market retail price of a new product is 888 yuan, starting on Weibo, it may only be 399 yuan. In addition, Belgrade also conducts product auctions through Weibo, starting at the ex-factory price of the products. For example, a product auction starts at 500 yuan, and each time it is replied once or every time it is forwarded, the price is increased by one yuan, and so on.

Weibo has opened the way to Belgrade's word-of-mouth communication more quickly, and has also deepened Belgrade's differentiated marketing. Recently, Belgrade has filmed a micro-film on the theme "Following Single Mothers." This film with major brand building connotations will also be launched on Weibo. Microfilm will become another important place for Belgrade's strategic marketing.

Vision: Creating an international brand of independent innovation

Today, Belgrade has become a leader in the field of small household appliances, especially in the field of hanging machines. Crossing national borders and going international is the vision for the future development of Belgrade enterprises. Liang Yongkang said that according to the convention, companies that do not have tens of billions or no sales of several hundred million yuan will not consider building an international brand. Although Bellard's annual sales are around 2-3 billion, last year, Belgrade began deploying global brands. This year, in many places, Belgrade has launched its own brand exports, including Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Ukraine, Russia, Romania and other regions, while Japan and the United States are negotiating cooperation.

“Although the current proportion of exports to total sales is small, this is the development stage. The Chinese market is a global market, why can't Chinese brands be foreign?” Liang Yongkang said. In view of the global development strategy, Belgrade began to find a well-known brand spokesperson on a global scale. According to reports, Belgrade is negotiating with an internationally renowned movie star. Going international is not without foundation. Liang Yongkang has unwavering confidence in the quality of his products.

Liang Yongkang believes that the development of small household electrical appliances in the future may present two extreme trends. The first type of electrical appliance can only do one function for the middle and high-end consumer groups, and this kind of function needs to be done to the extreme. For example, in foreign countries, there is a special appliance for peeling garlic. The other is developed for the masses. A product contains multiple functions, such as a rice cooker, which can be used to cook soup, porridge, cook rice, and even mopping, sweeping, and purifying the air. The consumer group targeted by Belgrade is mainly a female group of 25-45 years old, and the product is very different from the hanging machine used in the industrial use.

As a household appliance, the biggest advantage of Belgrade's hanging machine is that the price drops. In the past thousands of pieces of one hanging machine, now a few hundred or even one hundred can be bought. It is their original idea to bring the price of the hanging machine back to the family acceptance range. In addition, Belard refused to shape the square shape, but instead shaped the hanging machine into a round and lovely appearance; in terms of color, the deep industrial color tone was changed to household light color, pink, pink and blue color matching In terms of metal panel technology regulation, there were only two files in the beginning, and now it has increased to nine files. These designs fully take into account the consumer experience, making the product more comfortable, more convenient and more user-friendly.

Hanging machine is a "steam" entry-level product, and Belgrade will develop more types of products. Liang Yongkang tells us that with "steam" as the core concept, Belgrade will carry out research and development in these aspects: the first one is steam kitchen utensils, which are used in kitchen and household appliances, such as steamers and steamers. Recently, steam has been developed. Oven; the second is a steam cleaner that uses high temperature steam to soften some of the more stubborn oil stains; the third is a product that irons clothes; the fourth is a steam beauty product that has a quick steamed face and steamed hand product, or even steamed hair products. .

Belgrade is basically developed by the company's team in terms of product functionality, and the appearance or technical add-on features will be processed in Italy or Canada. Some products now have 120 patents, and one series has 120 patents. "Our awareness of product development ideas, innovative ideas, marketing tools, sales skills, etc. are all ahead of schedule." Liang Yongkang said. From the beginning, because they were so alone, they had shaken the business opportunities in the home appliance market. From the perspective of Belgrade's planning and development, they are still leading in the same industry. As for the future, we will wait and see.