Hardware companies face brand "test"

Imagine a company's products are top-level products, but they do not have their own brands. What kind of choice would you make in view of this situation? OEM or autonomy? This road inevitably "tangled" multiple-choice questions, has become the current Chinese tool hardware industry collective "big exam"!

Big but not strong dilemma Throughout the history of the development of the Chinese tool hardware industry, it can be said that it is a trade history of OEM OEM. After this fluctuating domestic and foreign economic environment and the uneven development of the industry, when will it be possible to have its own internationally renowned brand? Has always been a lingering question mark in Shi Lanlan.

As the executive deputy chairman of the China Hardware Association and president of the Tool Hardware Branch, Shi Lanlan has a lot of feelings about the industry she has been in contact with for more than 30 years. From the exploration of the initial period of reform and opening up, to the country's retreat of the people led to the tide of corporate restructuring, and then China's accession to the WTO after the rapid growth in exports, China's tool hardware industry has come out of its own development path, can be described as brilliant.

According to customs statistics, China's tool hardware exports have maintained double-digit growth for many years. In 2012, the total value of China's tool hardware industry exports was 11.409 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 11.06%; the number of export countries and regions reached 215, mainly in the United States, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Russia, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, India, etc., while exports to India and Australia increased by more than 20% year-on-year. From January to September 2013, the total amount of import and export of tool hardware reached US$13.865 billion. Among them, the value of exports was 9.337 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 8.38% year-on-year. Overall, China has now become the world's largest tool manufacturing base and industrial cluster, accounting for about 50% of global tool exports.

Although China’s tool hardware manufacturing industry has steadily assumed the number one spot in the world, Shi’s heart still has a mindset that China’s tool hardware industry lacks its own national brand. "Many tools and products sold on the European and American developed countries' markets are made in China but they are foreign brands. Although China's tool products are accepted by consumers in terms of quality, brands have never been recognized." OEM or autonomy, Shi Zhilan's answer is very certain, "at this stage must develop their own brands." For many companies in the industry, the development of independent brands is not a one-time thing, let alone the international market, Even the promotion of independent brands in the domestic market is not an easy task.

"China Machine and Electrical Industry" learned from the exchanges with people in the industry that in the years when domestic sales companies suffered setbacks, foreign tool hardware brands have been driven straight into China and they have not encountered the same obstacles. Faced with the same marketing channels in China, why do foreign brands have the power to tap into the market, but Chinese companies can only rely on OEM to develop?

"The key point is that the independent brands are not well-known!" Shi Xiaolan said that many Chinese companies that try to make medium and high-end tool hardware have the same feeling: Products developed and produced from their own factories are affixed with a foreign brand. The market sells for 10 times more. "Unknown brand, even if the product quality is no better, have not been able to compete with foreign brands." Efforts by independent brands In the early years, China's tool hardware manufacturing companies and foreign companies did not have a direct competitive relationship, but with With the increase of national income and the promotion of global economic integration, coupled with the increasing awareness and desire of domestic companies for industrial upgrading, high-end market grabs, and increased international competitiveness, the competition between domestic tool companies and leading foreign companies has finally shown up. The Chinese market has become a battleground for the military.

Although "OEM" is not a rational choice, at least in the short term, it is quick and there is no great risk. However, some excellent domestic tool companies are not satisfied with doing OEM work for others and started to build "independent brands". Try it.

It is the so-called Hedong for 30 years and Hexi for 30 years. Even Bao Jiangang had never thought about himself. After many years, he would again regard the domestic market as the focus of the development strategy of the Jiejie tool. "China as a world factory's potential demand for tool hardware is very large. We should not abandon the Chinese market." There are not a few entrepreneurs who share the same ideas as Bao Jiangang. According to Shih Lan, the The more and more domestic tool hardware companies began to attach importance to product upgrades and promote the development of independent brands.

As independent brands have only just begun, Chinese users have not fully understood their own brands. "Domestic users, especially those in the industrial field, do not have much contact with independent brands, and they do not trust enough in quality and service. This has also become the main reason why the development of China's tool hardware brands is still hindered. The pace of propaganda for self-owned brands should be even greater. To make matters bigger, we should not use our own expertise, but let users in the industrial sector understand the advantages of Chinese branded tool products.” Shi Lanlan made it clear that the China Hardware Association will do more brand promotion work for aerospace and shipbuilding, Users in professional fields such as automobile maintenance understand domestic self-owned brands and trust domestic products, and finally form a pity in the domestic market, and use the Chinese brand to truly move toward the world.