For today's young people, most of the older generation of domestic products are traditional and backward stereotypes, although in recent years, with the rise of the national tide, many domestic brands have regained popularity, but not many can really complete the transformation.
How to maintain continuous innovation and adapt to the market? It is the most important challenge for the older generation of domestic products, and it is also a must-answer question for today's new generation of consumer enterprises in the face of environmental changes.
So we changed our perspective and tried to explore the answers to our questions from those classic domestic products that are rich in heritage, have gone through cycles, and are still leading the industry.
For example, as the founder of China's water heater industry, Wanjiale, a national brand founded in 1985, has led dozens of pioneering major technological innovations in the industry, and is the main drafting unit of national standards for domestic gas water heaters, participating in the formulation of 140+ national, industry, local and group standards.
Unlike many domestic products in the same period, which gradually declined, Wanjiale has always maintained a leading position in its development for 39 years. In 2021 and 2022, it will continue to rank first in offline sales of zero cold water heaters, and in 2023, the retail sales share of small-volume water heaters will account for more than 95% both online and offline.
And it has been on the list of China's top 500 brands in terms of brand value for many years, and Wanjiale's brand value will reach 36.7 billion yuan in 2024, ranking 283rd.
In the case of the gradual ossification of many older generations of national brands, why can Wanjiale continue to innovate and lead? Recently, Inspur New Consumption had an in-depth dialogue with Pei Yuxiong and Ma Haichuan, vice presidents of Wanjiale, to see how they answered the question of youth.
Conversation | Pei Yuxiong, Ma Haichuan
Edit | Gong Yi, Cao Rui
Inspur New Consumption: 2024 is the first year of Wanjiale brand upgrading, how is the new brand positioning of "professional water heaters, choose Wanjiale" clear?
Pei Yuxiong: Wanjiale brand began in 1985, has a history of nearly 40 years, for many years on the list of China's top 500 brand value, many consumers have an impression of Wanjiale, but it is not clear enough, so this year we have clarified the strategic positioning of professional water heaters.
There are two reasons for this positioning:
First, Wanjiale itself is the founder of China's water heaters, and many breakthrough achievements in the industry are the first to be developed by Wanjiale, so Wanjiale has the genes of professional water heaters.
Second, in the entire competitive landscape, there are almost only Smith and Rinnai brands that occupy the minds of professional water heaters, but they are international brands. Among the domestic national brands, whether it is the comprehensive Midea, Haier, or Fangtai, boss, etc., they have not established the category mentality of professional water heaters.
Therefore, we believe that there is an opportunity for professional water heaters to occupy the minds of the category, and at the same time, Wanjiale, as the big brother of the industry, should also shoulder the responsibility of leading the rise of domestic water heater brands, so this year we have clarified the new brand positioning of "professional water heaters, choose Wanjiale".
Inspur new consumption: Wanjiale development for nearly 40 years, as the founder of China's water heater industry, has been leading the industry trend, and is still standing at the forefront of the industry, compared with many rising stars in the industry, what is the most important heritage and the most irreplaceable competitive advantage accumulated over the years?
Pei Yuxiong: Wanjiale is China's first batch of water heater brands, when a national leader went abroad to visit and returned to Shenzhen said that China does not even have a water heater, so Wanjiale responded to the call of the country, devoted itself to the water heater industry, so that more Chinese people came into contact with gas water heater products, and comprehensively changed the old habit of Chinese people to boil water and bathe.
This year, our new brand positioning is not just a slogan, historically, the deep accumulation of technology is the intrinsic gene of Wanjiale, and many new technologies are the first to break through in Wanjiale.
For example, in 1998, the first in-line gas water heater with flame-out protection device was developed in China, the first strong exhaust gas water heater in 1997, the first condensing gas water heater in 2005, and the first small-volume gas water heater in 2021.
At the same time, Wanjiale is also the main drafting unit of the national standard for household gas water heaters, the participating drafting unit of the national standard for household gas cooker, and participated in the formulation of 140+ national, industry, local and group standards, which has promoted the standardization process of China's gas appliance industry.
The recently launched small-volume gas water heater is also the first in the industry, and the key technology has reached the international leading level, which is 50% or even more than 60% smaller than the traditional water heater.
The long-term technical heritage and innovative spirit are the confidence and advantages of Wanjiale to be a leader in professional water heaters.
Wave of new consumption: "rejuvenation" is a lot of old domestic products can not avoid the topic, but most of them are difficult to overcome their limitations, can really go through the cycle, do a good job of younger very few, in recent years in the younger user group to shorten the distance, do a good job in brand communication, what do you do right?
Pei Yuxiong: First of all, to do a good job in brand rejuvenation, it is necessary to meet the consumption needs of young people.
In the future, more young users will tend to hidden and small-volume products, so Wanjiale has pioneered small-volume water heaters to meet the needs of young users.
Focusing on the hot water scenario, we have done a lot of research on consumer needs, and we can divide the needs into functional needs and experiential needs. For young consumer groups, the demand for experience has become higher, which is embodied in the requirements for product appearance, personalization, intelligence and comfort.
In response to the unique needs of young consumer groups, Wanjiale hopes to do a good job in the appearance of the product, and cater to the preferences of young people in the design, simple and generous.
At the same time, in terms of intelligence, we are building Wanjiale's proprietary IOT intelligent platform to develop more intelligent functions suitable for young people and provide more personalized services.
Secondly, we have made a series of upgrades to the brand's visual system.
It is very important for users to feel your vision, and if you still stay in the aesthetics of the 80s and 90s, then rejuvenation is destined to be bad. In the future, the market will also see Wanjiale's Tmall, Jingdong and key offline stores more in line with the image of mid-to-high-end and young users' aesthetics.
In the end, in terms of communication, we chose more youthful content.
For example, the implantation of "Flowers" in the first half of the year, because Wanjiale has some minds in the middle-aged and above user groups, but young users still have less perception of our brand.
In addition, this year, Wanjiale signed a contract with the Chinese national diving team represented by Quan Hongchan, and this year is also the Olympic year, diving is almost a national attention to the competition, Quan Hongchan is also very popular with young users, so Wanjiale will vigorously promote cooperation with the Chinese national diving team.
These are all our attempts to rejuvenate the brand.
Inspur New Consumption: Is there any unique strategic significance for joining hands with China's national diving team?
Pei Yuxiong: Wanjiale and the Chinese national diving team are very similar in history, the second year of the establishment of the Wanjiale brand, the Chinese national diving team was established, belonging to the same period, in the birth background is very compatible.
Moreover, the Chinese national diving team has been constantly breaking through itself and creating breakthroughs in diving technology, which is highly consistent with the spirit of Wanjiale to be an innovation leader in the water heater category, experiencing various difficulties but constantly overcoming in the process.
In addition, Wanjiale's brand positioning is a professional water heater, which is related to water strength like the diving team, and the two can be linked by "water".
Finally, Wanjiale attaches great importance to the call of the country, and the background of our establishment is to respond to the instructions of the leaders to establish Chinese's own brand in the water heater industry, and today, Wanjiale has also become the main drafting unit of the national standard for household gas water heaters.
We have reached a strategic cooperation with the national diving team, not only for brand endorsement, but also emotionally, we are also particularly willing to cooperate with positive national IP to jointly amplify the potential energy of the brand.
Inspur New Consumption: The previous Olympic Games have been a feast of brand marketing, how do you plan to make differentiated value in this competition for attention this year?
Pei Yuxiong: This year is the Olympic year, and we expect to do two waves of activities that can better promote the rejuvenation of the brand.
Because we signed a contract with the Chinese national diving team, the first event was the Tianjin Diving Master Challenge Olympic Diving Champion held in Wuhan East Lake on July 27, forming a very big conflict, taking advantage of the hot spots of the Olympic champion and the diving master to do a good job in event marketing.
Compared with some traditional Olympic marketing, Wanjiale hopes to stimulate the attention of more users by combining hot spots and event marketing. At the same time, we choose some forms that young users like to see and are more acceptable, which is different from everyone else in Olympic marketing.
In addition, Wanjiale will hold a special [Champion Triumph] event to welcome the Chinese national diving team to win the triumph and explore the Wanjiale intelligent factory.
After the Chinese national diving team represented by Quan Hongchan finishes its journey to the Paris Olympics, it will choose Wanjiale as the first brand landing activity with the enthusiasm of the Olympic champion, which fully reflects the recognition of Wanjiale by national IP.
Through these two events, we hope to show a different strategy and play style from other Olympic marketing.
Inspur New Consumption: Just now you also mentioned that there will be more young users who tend to be hidden and small-volume products in the future, so what is the most important plan for Wanjiale on the road of building the two core minds of "professional water heater + small volume"?
Ma Haichuan: Based on the insight into China's kitchen appliance consumption trends, we believe that miniaturization, concealment, and embedded are the future development directions of the industry.
There are two reasons, one is that the volume of kitchen appliances is still relatively large, and more space can be saved after the volume is reduced; Second, the miniaturization of kitchen appliances is of great help to the aesthetic improvement of the kitchen.
We believe that the small volume can step on the dividends of the transformation of consumer trends, and at the same time, the super single product such as the small volume water heater can support the positioning of the Wanjiale brand professional water heater.
In addition, the future of users are more willing to pay for small volume, high-value products, today's small volume series of Wanjiale is mainly gas water heater category, if miniaturization becomes the mainstream, we do not rule out the extension of small volume of technical characteristics to range hoods, gas stoves, or dishwashers and other categories.
Inspur New Consumption: Specialization and miniaturization are the product trends recognized by Wanjiale, what preparations have you made and overcome in this direction?
Ma Haichuan: In the process of small-volume technology research, we have completed breakthroughs in the welding of special-shaped stainless steel heat exchangers, the design of high-performance zero-chilled water special-shaped water tanks and new burners.
Take special-shaped stainless steel heat exchangers as an example, traditional water heaters basically use oxygen-free copper heat exchangers, while our small-volume water heaters use stainless steel heat exchangers, because stainless steel can effectively solve the problem of anti-corrosion in the face of complex water quality.
In order to ensure miniaturization and improve the heat exchange area, we changed the original round tube heat exchange structure to a flat tube, and the ensuing problem is that it is difficult for domestic stainless steel materials and solder to meet our performance requirements.
We found a lot of materials, did a lot of experimental research, and finally spent seven or eight months to complete the breakthrough from scratch.
Inspur New Consumption: What is the confidence of Wanjiale not to worry about being surpassed in the miniaturization and specialization of water heaters?
Pei Yuxiong: We believe that there is no way to be the first to enter and the last to enter, Wanjiale takes the lead when competitors are not aware of the new trend, seizes the mental position, and focuses all resources on the output of small volume of mind.
All of our promotional materials will emphasize that Wanjiale's first small-volume water heater has the first sales volume in the country, which is 48% smaller than the traditional water heater.
In addition, Wanjiale will invest more resources in research and development to ensure that the product is ahead of the generation, although Smith, Haier, Midea and other brands are very powerful, but the precipitation and accumulation of technology is not just relying on capital to catch up in a short time.
At present, Wanjiale has accumulated 46 national patent authorizations in small volume technology, including 4 breakthroughs in core technologies, and the key technologies of the leading "gas water heater miniaturization technology research and application" project have also reached the international leading level.
At the same time, we have also done a comprehensive layout research, completed the technical reserves from small volume 1.0 to 2.0 and 3.0, and also achieved omni-channel layout on the product side.
As long as we do not make strategic mistakes and firmly adhere to the direction of miniaturization, Wanjiale is confident to maintain the leading position in product strength.
Inspur New Consumption: The investment in technology is a consensus, but it is not easy to implement, Wanjiale and China Polar Research Center to reach a strategic cooperation, what are the special considerations behind it?
Ma Haichuan: The cooperation between Wanjiale and the Polar Research Center gives us the opportunity to test products under extreme conditions, such as low temperature, high altitude and strong corrosiveness in polar environments, as well as strong winds, which are severe tests of product adaptability.
And on the Antarctic research vessels, our products not only have to experience vibrations and turbulence, but also operate stably in extreme high and low temperatures.
Judging from the test data and results, our products perform very well under these extreme conditions, whether it is in high and low temperatures, wind resistance, corrosion resistance and vibration resistance, they all show excellent performance.
While consumers' home environments are not as harsh as those in the polar regions, some of the characteristics of the polar tests do come in handy for everyday use, such as the high altitude and low oxygen environment in the Northwest, the high winds in high-rise buildings, and the low temperatures in the northern winters.
The reliability of Wanjiale's water heaters in polar environments makes us believe that these technologies can provide better adaptability and reliability in the home environment, and through the application of these technologies, we believe that we can bring consumers a more stable and durable product experience.
Inspur New Consumption: From a technical point of view, what is Wanjiale's judgment on the future industry pattern?
Ma Haichuan: From the perspective of industry development, today's gas water heaters have been able to better meet the functional needs of consumers, and we believe that the future technological innovation and development trend will mainly focus on several key directions.
First of all, form innovation is a major trend, for the small volume series of water heaters pioneered by Wanjiale, the simple "small" is not the goal, but the hope that through the small volume design, not only make the product more compact, but more importantly, provide new possibilities for product aesthetics and integration.
Secondly, health is also a trend that can not be ignored, with the growing pursuit of healthy life by consumers, Wanjiale's technical research and product layout in healthy bathing will continue to deepen to better meet consumers' needs for a healthy life.
In addition, the improvement of user experience is also the focus of our attention, compared with Japanese brands, domestic water heater brands still have room for improvement in constant temperature performance, heating time and large water volume.
Therefore, Wanjiale will continue to invest, through breakthroughs in basic principles such as combustion and heat exchange, and constantly optimize product performance, and strive to achieve the ultimate bathing experience for consumers.
Inspur New Consumption: The market environment has changed rapidly in recent years, and in the face of the future, what is the difference between the core capabilities to be built next and the past?
Ma Haichuan: In terms of talent investment, Wanjiale has been absorbing outstanding talents in the industry in industrial design in recent years. Last year, Wanjiale also obtained the evaluation of the national industrial design center, and built a diversified talent pool by recruiting relevant university graduates.
At present, the size of Wanjiale's designer team has doubled compared with previous years, and will inject more innovative vitality into our product design in the future.
Based on the development trend of intelligent industry, we have also set up a special intelligent center, part of which covers the basic research of electronic control technology, electrical devices and related software and hardware technologies, and has also established an IOT team to develop its own IOT platform to realize the intelligent upgrade of products.
In order to realize the full self-research of core technology, we have invested more than 70 million yuan in Shunde headquarters to establish an industry-leading fully automated production workshop to ensure that the core technology can be produced independently, and further improve the intelligent level and competitiveness of products.
Inspur New Consumption: In the case that many older generation of national brands have some rigidity or even withdrawal, why can Wanjiale dare to be the first, continue to innovate and lead?
Pei Yuxiong: First of all, the water heater track itself is gradually growing.
Rinnai, Smith and other brands have decades of history, this is a long-term industry, the next 100 years will need this category at least 100 years, so occupying the mind of the professional water heater category is in line with the long-term strategy behavior.
Moreover, Wanjiale has an advantage in water heater technology precipitation.
Among the domestic brands, in addition to the comprehensive brand, Wanjiale is a well-deserved first, but the performance and market position in the mental occupation do not match, so what Wanjiale has to do at the moment is to change from the de facto first to the first in mind.
As the de facto first in the water heater industry, Wanjiale should play the responsibility and responsibility of leading the rise of national brands.
Involution, difficulty in innovation, and "garbage time" are the mainstream contexts when everyone talks about challenges in recent years.
It is undeniable that with the changes in the market and the intensification of competition, the innovation space of some more mature categories at the physical level is indeed decreasing, but more may still not be enough in the creation of core value.
Through Wanjiale, we see that a category as a professional subdivision like water heaters can still do a lot of pioneering work.
From strong exhaust type, condensing type, to zero cold water, small volume, Wanjiale has created several eras, whenever everyone thinks that the product has matured, the demand has been met, Wanjiale can always open a new situation.
After creating the ultimate small-volume gas water heater, the key technology of the "Research and Application of Gas Water Heater Miniaturization Technology" project led by Wanjiale has reached the international leading level.
It is not easy to continue to innovate and lead, especially in recent years, judging from the performance of many new brands, explosive products are new but also "besieged". Because the ace product will form a centripetal force, resulting in R&D, channels, and various organizational capabilities are built around it, and successful experience has in turn become the shackles of the brand.
This is also why there are so many brands that produce explosive products, but only a handful of them can continue to produce explosive products. The so-called life cycle of a brand is more of a "self-fallen" brought about by this dependence on already successful products.
Like Arthur · Clarke's wonderful metaphor for a primitive race in 2001: A Space Odyssey: "They are in abundance, but they are gradually starving to death." ”
This sentence may be the most appropriate "epitaph" for those classic brands that were once household names, but fell to the new generation, and it is also the most cruel wake-up call for today's players who blindly complain about environmental involution and feel that there is nothing to do.
At least a brand like Wanjiale that has been prosperous for 39 years is telling us that the so-called brand cycle is not some unbreakable curse, as long as it is close enough to consumers and has enough faith in breaking through itself, the market will always have a lot to do.