[Half-month talk on the pottery industry]
Issue 1
On May 7, the second meeting and annual meeting of the fifth membership conference of the Foshan Ceramic Industry Association was held, and the "Foshan Ceramics" collective trademark management work composed of the association's 19 vice-president units in the ceramic tile industry was formally established. group, and officially launched the application of the "Foshan Ceramics" collective trademark.
Coincidentally, on May 12, the Foshan Municipal Government held the Foshan Standards Work Conference and the launch of the first batch of Foshan standard products. Fifty-six products from 37 companies including Xinmingzhu, Jianyi, Dongpeng, and Mona Lisa were rated as Foshan standard products, covering the fields of home appliances, ceramics, and sanitary ware. Among them, 23 ceramic ware companies in Foshan are on the list.
The release of "Foshan Ceramics" and "Foshan Standard" are so close to each other. Although it is a coincidence, it also reveals the necessity of it. This shows that as far as the ceramic industry is concerned, the government, ceramic enterprises and people from all walks of life are strengthening the protection of Foshan ceramic brands, the local honor of Foshan manufacturing is being strengthened, and the maintenance and control of Foshan product standards are becoming increasingly strict.
This is a good thing, a good thing that is beneficial to Foshan ceramic brands.
But as soon as "Foshan Ceramics" was released, it stirred up waves and sparked heated discussions in the industry.
The reason is mainly focused on "What kind of ceramic brand is the real Foshan ceramic brand". This topic has been around for a long time, but there has been no conclusion yet.
For world ceramics, look to Italy, and for Chinese ceramics, look to Foshan. After decades of development, Foshan Ceramics has become the holy land of Chinese ceramics. Except for a few big brands in East China and Dongguan, Guangdong, almost all first-tier ceramic brands come from Foshan.
However, because there is little capital involvement in the ceramic industry, development is relatively slow. At the beginning of the development of the industry, various ceramic companies pursued a multi-brand strategy. In recent years, brand concentration has become higher and higher, resulting in a relative lack of production capacity. Foshan ceramic brands are not produced in other production areas. Set up production baseOr product OEM is an indisputable fact in the industry. In addition, due to the influence of national environmental protection policies, many Foshan ceramic companies have relocated their production lines, leaving only a few production lines in Foshan.
On the other hand, some ceramic brands that do not belong to Foshan have set up companies and exhibition halls in Foshan in order to join the army of "Foshan Ceramics" and call themselves Foshan ceramic brands.
This is where the contradiction arises. Who is the real Foshan ceramics brand? For a long time, the focus of debate has been on the place of company registration and production. Everyone has different opinions and it is difficult to reach a conclusion. With the release of the "Foshan Ceramics" collective trademark, this controversy seems to have come to a conclusion, but in fact it has further intensified.
Regarding the release of "Foshan Ceramics" and "Foshan Standards", I would like to share some of my own views and extend my thoughts on the mystery behind them.
01
A ceramic brand that has been established for more than 8 years and originated in Foshan is called Foshan Ceramic Brand
It is unscientific to determine whether a ceramic brand is a Foshan ceramic brand, regardless of whether it is based on the place of registration or the place of production.
In recent years, ceramic brands have developed in a "U" shape, that is, the first-tier brands are increasingly concentrated, the development of second-tier and third-tier brands is weak, and wholesale brands still have room for development. The brand concentration of big first-tier brands is getting higher and higher. They not only monopolize the markets in first- and second-tier cities across the country, but also take into account the development of lower-tier markets such as third- and fourth-tier cities and small towns. Their markets continue to expand and require continuous improvement in production capacity as support. Therefore, since the second half of last year, what we have seen is that capital has continued to intervene in ceramic brands, and ceramic companies have continued to acquire, build lines and put into production in various production areas across the country.
It is difficult for many people to understand this behavior. They think that if a Foshan ceramics brand builds factories and lines in other production areas, it is no longer a Foshan brand.
This is caused by the long-term misguided concept of production areas in the ceramic industry. For a long time, each production area has been clearly distinguished, and the production areas outside Foshan have been labeled as a certain production area. Therefore, when the Foshan brand expanded nationwide, this label was continued. The Foshan brand was misunderstood as a brand from a certain foreign production area, or the Foshan gene was no longer pure.
This view is wrong.
For example, due to the need for production capacity expansion and cost control, Apple mobile phones have production bases in many countries around the world. Isn’t it an American brand? Many luxury brands have production bases in Southeast Asia. Are they Southeast Asian brands?
The answer is obvious.
Foshan's first-tier brand has expanded externally and set up production bases in foreign production areas, but it is still an authentic Foshan brand!
Therefore, it is obviously unfair to judge whether a certain ceramic brand is a Foshan ceramic brand based on the place of production.
And it is even more inaccurate to use the place of registration as the criterion. It is too easy for a ceramic brand from a foreign production area to register a company in Foshan or even set up an exhibition hall. Could it be that it has suddenly transformed into a Foshan ceramic brand? If this is the case, then there are too many people who refuse to agree.
Therefore, I believe that based on the place of origin, only ceramic brands that originated in Foshan and have been established for more than 8 years can be called Foshan ceramic brands.
The reason why I say this is because as a ceramic brand, its development path is divided into seed stage, germination stage, growth stage, and maturity stage. And 8 years is the basic period for a ceramic brand to grow from seed to maturity. the term. If a ceramic brand registers a company in Foshan and has developed for more than 8 years, there is no doubt that it can be called a Foshan ceramic brand.
Of course, there are no absolutes in the world. Eight years is just a conventional measurement indicator. It cannot be ruled out that some brands develop at an extraordinary speed, such as Bighorn Deer Ceramics. But this is almost rare.
02
Foshan brand is the exterior, Foshan standards are the foundation, both are indispensable
Why do ceramic tile brands across the country flock to call themselves "Foshan Brands"?
Because Foshan has been a pioneer in China's construction and sanitary ceramics industry in recent decades, it has formed the most comprehensive industrial cluster and sales cluster in China, representing the highest production technology level of China's construction ceramics, and has produced more than 90% of the country's well-known first-line ceramic brands. .
In the early stages of the development of architectural ceramics in China, the ceramic tile marketThe market is a blue ocean, and every Foshan ceramic brand has adopted a multi-brand strategy and raced against time to seize and harvest the market. In recent years, the overcapacity of ceramic tiles has been serious, and with it, the concentration of brands has become higher and higher. Foshan ceramic brands have become more important than ever.
However, the Foshan brand is only external, and Foshan standards are the foundation.
Due to the needs of market development and production capacity expansion, Foshan ceramic brands have built factories and lines in foreign production areas. Even if they entrust enterprises in foreign production areas to perform OEM production, they must strictly adhere to Foshan enterprise production standards, quality control, corporate management and Based on resource allocation, every brick produced follows the same standard system of the major ceramic brands as the Foshan production area. This is the "Foshan Standard", or in other words, the "Foshan Ceramic Standard".
Therefore, Foshan ceramic brand is only an external manifestation, and Foshan ceramic standards are the unchanging basic factors.
03
In addition to Foshan, all pottery production areas across the country will be integrated and unified
For a long time, each ceramic production area has its own ceramics expo, as well as ceramic brands that are relatively unknown in their own production areas.
At the annual Ceramics Expo in various production areas, the focus is mainly on their own brands. Manufacturers in major production areas will display their own ceramic brands.
However, as Foshan ceramic brands expand to various production areas, the brands participating in the Ceramics Expo in each production area will be dominated by Foshan's big brands, and the exhibition will also be in line with Foshan. The purpose of holding exhibitions in production areas will shift to the development of local industrial clusters and smart manufacturing, rather than focusing on the construction of local brands.
Therefore, in the next period of time, as major ceramic brands build lines and put into production in various production areas, except for Foshan, the ceramic expos in major production areas across the country will be dominated by nationally renowned ceramic brands, eliminating regional differences. In other words, it will be extremely difficult for emerging ceramic brands to rise in the future (except for brands in subdivided fields), and the differentiation of ceramic expos in various production areas will become smaller and smaller.
04
Foshan Ceramics is still the highest point among domestic ceramic brands, and it is nonsense to say that it “cannot be internalized”
Recently, there has been a negative comment about Foshan ceramics, saying that Foshan ceramic tiles have weakened and cannot be "involuted". I strongly disagree with this view.
First of all, this view confuses the definition of Foshan Ceramics. In other words, if you don't even know what brands Foshan Ceramics are, why can't Foshan Ceramics be inscribed?
As we mentioned before, Foshan Ceramics has expanded its production base due to the need for brand development, but it is still a Foshan Ceramics brand. This is an indisputable fact!
Secondly, as far as Chinese architectural ceramics are concerned, Foshan is still the "holy land" of Chinese ceramics. No matter how developed any production area is, it can only serve as an industrial cluster base for the ceramic industry, and it is impossible and impossible to surpass Foshan.
Finally, from the perspective of brand development, the birth of a ceramic brand requires a long development process. The current ceramic industry has high brand concentration, a strong trend of sinking into the market, and the transformation from "industry recognized brand" to "consumer With three major trends including "cognitive brand" transformation, the road to brand rise is extremely difficult.
Therefore, Foshan ceramics brand is still strong and will remain strong.
