The operational philosophy of modern enterprises can never be "good wine needs no bush," especially for a brand new one.
If advertising and marketing are done well, the probability of success will greatly increase, and the cycle will be significantly shortened.
"Boss, these are some of the data you requested."
"Put them on the table."
Manufacturing is tough; factory workers get no rest.
Even though it's Saturday, Yu Lin, the marketing director, still has to come to the office to handle various matters.
His subordinate submitted the report he had previously instructed them to keep an eye on regarding the recent actions of Shanchi, this dark horse.
Last night, the Super Girl finals concluded, and Shanchi's endorser won the championship.
By now, Yu Lin's understanding of Shanchi was quite comprehensive.
It was indeed an electric vehicle assembly factory founded by a young man with no particular background, and it had no core technology, at least overtly.
With more understanding, the positioning changed.
In Yu Lin's view, Shanchi Auto now played more of the role of an industry disruptor, and whether it could continue to exist in the future was still an unknown.
The boss started in international apparel trade, so his business acumen should be good.
He probably saw the development prospects of e-scooters and rushed into this project, attracting attention with unique marketing methods and low pricing.
Of course, the exterior design of his electric vehicles was quite advanced, which Xinri should learn from.
It must be said that those who have done apparel trade have good aesthetics online.
What's most infuriating is that the leader of their design team was actually poached from their own side!
Shanchi's approximate production capacity was no secret; sending someone to Beicang, Yongcheng, would reveal it.
Such a small capacity couldn't threaten Xinri.
The reason for still having subordinates submit reports was simply to see things through.
"It's a pity their marketing plan was done by that young boss; he definitely can't be poached,"
Yu Lin said with a wry smile, looking at the data in his hand.
Yu Lin himself was in marketing.
He was very familiar with Shanchi's offline marketing strategy.
Coupled with the provincial and local TV station distribution and online advertising, these could be considered steps to gradually build product awareness.
And that small advertisement before last night's finals was the true explosive point for a period of promotion.
Online reports today also stated that last night's Super Girl finals attracted a total of 200 million viewers.
Showcasing their brand in front of 200 million people, it must be said that a series of actions truly made it full of highlights.
What was most amazing was how this young man was able to decisively sign an endorsement deal in a bet-like fashion when the champion had just entered the top ten.
His vision was simply unparalleled.
There were rumors online that this young man was a fan of Chun Ge and a member of the "Yumi" fan group, which was why he signed Chun Ge without hesitation.
Yu Lin didn't believe this.
A company boss might have hobbies or might genuinely be a fan, but inviting an endorser could never be for such a simple reason.
An endorser must fit the image and have a promotional effect on the company and its products.
Currently, his marketing plan indeed seemed excellent and successful.
As for the controversies brought by the contestant, compared to the popularity she generated from entering the top 10 to ultimately winning the championship, these were not important at all.
Staring at the piles of data in his hand, Yu Lin said with some emotion,
"What a shame, it would have been great to discover such talent before he became a boss."
Then Yu Lin put away the data and instructed his assistant,
"Let's stop focusing on Shanchi for now. I'll let you know if there are any changes later."
"Understood, Boss."
From a marketing perspective, Shanchi's first phase of marketing peak had passed.
The next period should be full-throttle shipping.
Its production capacity posed no threat to Xinri; those struggling should be the generic brands.
However, we should also make a move, offer some promotions, perhaps we can also invite an endorser?
"Hmm, this method is feasible. Let's submit a proposal to the boss and try it."
——
"How to deal with it? Of course, full production. For orders, agree to them by grade, negotiate delivery times. Also, for orders of 100 units, follow the previous contract, and for orders over 100 units, increase the advance payment to 50%."
Tan Jincheng, back from the station, said leisurely while sitting in his boss's chair.
Returning to the company and receiving so much good news, Tan Jincheng was in a good mood.
It seemed the advertisement from last night was indeed effective.
In an era where the internet was not yet the mainstream media, maintaining good relations with TV stations was still crucial.
Zhang Xuhui was taken aback.
Why pay more for buying more?
Shouldn't there be a discount?
"Will increasing it to 50% cause dissatisfaction among terminal retailers?"
"It's fine, let Wu Zhenping arrange it; he'll understand. If Hui Ge doesn't understand, he can ask him,"
Tan Jincheng said with a smile.
The increase in advance payment was partly due to risk and partly because they didn't want terminal retailers to stock too much at once, which could lead to a de facto agency model and market monopoly in a certain area.
At present, Shanchi Auto was still focused on market expansion.
Calculated at 100 units per retailer, the new production capacity, in addition to opening up the Yicheng market, could also enable many more stores to sell Shanchi in existing regions.
"Okay, then I'll arrange it. Does the boss have anything else?"
"Not for now. Call me if anything comes up."
"Oh, right, a studio apartment will become available next month. It's a bit further than the current company dormitory. If you don't mind the commute, you can move there."
Zhang Xuhui paused, but immediately responded,
"Okay."
Why was there suddenly an extra studio apartment? He'd have to ask Xupeng about the situation.
Zhang Xuhui currently lived in a company-rented employee dormitory, but his conditions were much better than regular employees.
It was a two-room suite, and he was the only one living there.
Whether to move or not didn't really matter; buying an e-scooter was the priority.
Shanchi Auto currently had a discount for employee car purchases, covering employees of three companies, including Jinpeng Trade and Jinyi Industrial.
The luxury version had an employee discount price of 2000 yuan, and the standard version was 1800 yuan.
Each employee was limited to one purchase.
The luxury version was 300 yuan cheaper than the market price, and the standard version was 200 yuan cheaper.
Most employees who chose to buy bought the luxury version, either for the pursuit of performance or to "fleece more wool."
After Zhang Xuhui left, Tan Jincheng sat alone in his office, deep in thought.
The initial phase of publicity had concluded, and subsequent marketing would enter a dormant state.
TV media advertising would be proportionally reduced, while online efforts would primarily focus on guiding word-of-mouth.
As for expansion, this year's expansion had also ended.
The current factory area could only support so much production capacity; further expansion would require new factory buildings.
For new factory buildings, Shanchi was definitely going to acquire land; expanding through leasing was no longer an option.
In commercial real estate, whether residential or office buildings, Tan Jincheng had no ability to participate until Shanchi reached a scale of tens of billions, no matter how tempting the prospect.
But industrial land was different.
Industrial land was much cheaper, and many industrial land plots in Beicang were slated for overall rezoning in the future! This presented an opportunity.
Beicang District was not large, and it hadn't been established as a separate district for long, only 11 years this year.
Major development truly began around 2000.
Currently, large areas of farmland and numerous factories still existed in the future urban areas.
In the future, these factories would relocate to farther places like Xiaogang, Chunxiao, or the mountainous area near Yinzhou District, to free up residential space and improve the environment for the urban area.
The immense profits involved were self-evident.
In his previous life, a certain boss relocated his factory from what seemed like a suburban location to an industrial park near Yinzhou District.
Through this two-step maneuver, not only did the factory area become larger, but he also made tens of millions in the price difference.
This boss's factory area wasn't large, and the timeline was also about 10 years later than the present.
The price of industrial land then couldn't be compared to now.
By next year, Shanchi Auto would meet the criteria for applying for industrial land.
In fact, they were already qualified now; relevant departments had already advised Tan Jincheng to submit an application report.
The approval time for industrial land wasn't that fast.
For an industrially developed area like Beicang, getting approval next year for an application made this year would be considered fast.
However, there was no hurry for now.
At least they had to wait until the end of September for Shanchi's market reputation feedback and capital repatriation.
Additionally, there was a lot of information to prepare.
Excluding the small portion sold to employees at a discount in July and August, the sales figures for market terminals had actually come out, totaling 12.88 million yuan, of which 5.152 million yuan was advance payment, and the remaining 7.128 million yuan would also be received by the end of this month.
Working tirelessly, an average monthly sales of over 6 million yuan was still not enough to cover upfront investment, marketing costs, and bank interest.
In reality, Shanchi Auto, though seemingly prosperous, was still operating at a loss.
When it came to making money, for now, it still depended on asset-light export-oriented companies like Jinpeng Trade and Jinyi Industrial.
Jinpeng Trade, with a gross profit of over 40% plus tax refunds, could easily earn around two million yuan a month.
The difficulty of real industry was evident from this; the human, material, and financial resources required were enormous, and the aspects involved were exceptionally complex.
Although Shanchi controlled procurement costs well within 1000 yuan, with marketing, labor, and other costs, coupled with low pricing, the gross profit margin was actually not high.
Currently, the gross profit of the standard model is roughly less than 30%, and the luxury version is relatively higher under similar marketing but also does not exceed 30%.
But in reality, this was already a very good gross profit margin.
It's remembered that after 2018, the gross profit margin of e-scooters generally dropped to the 15% to 20% range, and by 2023, the net profit of leading brands was less than 10%.
Relying solely on selling e-scooters to achieve one's automotive dream was almost impossible.
One had to find ways using memories from a previous life in areas such as real estate to "fleece some wool," or after growing large, make a fortune in the capital market, completing rapid accumulation to realize one's dream.
However, with future cost controls and reduced marketing expenses, Shanchi's gross profit margin still had some room for improvement, after all, this was the best era for e-scooters.
"Then let's start by increasing the gross profit margin."
(End of chapter)