2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 756 Malicious Competition?

"Is he alright? Has he been taken to the hospital?"

"The person is fine and has been taken to the hospital, but there's a lot of discussion about it online right now."

"In that case, let's release the complete surveillance video and have the public relations department respond. We should also send someone to visit the car owner and see what his demands are."

"Oh, right, the focus of the response should be on the safety awareness of car owners, while downplaying the role of our vehicle body."

Competition among car manufacturers has never been harmonious.

In 2009 and 2010, the car market experienced a boom, with supply falling short of demand. Even the most basic cars could be sold, and the primary concern for most car companies was production capacity.

Right now, everyone is busy making money and has no time to think about anything else, so their underhanded tactics aren't as outrageous.

However, this year's environment is very different from previous years. Eight months have passed, and the total market sales are almost the same as last year, which is equivalent to digesting the existing market.

After two good years, not all companies are willing to accept the lesson of BYD's big criticism last year. Besides, BYD still sold 51.98 vehicles last year, setting a record since its establishment.

While production capacity increased, the market did not continue to expand as expected, leading to more and more underhanded tactics.

In the first eight months, almost every month a certain model from a certain brand was heavily criticized. Some of these criticisms were genuine, while others were purely malicious attacks, keeping the legal departments of car companies very busy this year.

Just a few days ago, a Yuechi A1 was involved in a serious accident and was pushed off the overpass by an out-of-control truck.

The car was mostly undamaged; only one A-pillar was broken after rolling over and hitting the guardrail. Everything else was relatively intact.

The people inside the car only suffered minor injuries.

However, falling from a 20-meter-high overpass, the car's condition was certainly not good. From the outside, it was indeed a terrible sight, and the A-pillar on one side was also broken.

This gives many unscrupulous media outlets and competitors room to make a fuss.

When they report on it, they only post pictures of the horrific damage from a distance, or close-up shots of the broken A-pillar. That's ridiculous.

You can't sue them yet because the photos weren't faked, and they didn't deliberately mention the Wei Lai brand in their words. It's just that the meaning behind their words is obvious to everyone.

In fact, the 4S store had already reported the accident to the company on the day it happened, since the car fell from a 20-meter-high overpass.

After receiving the information, the company immediately obtained the complete surveillance video of the elevated road and the dashcam footage of vehicles traveling on the road during the same period.

After comparing the data with the background, it was found that the accident was not caused by the vehicle itself, but by external forces.

The vehicle's structure provided excellent support for the cockpit, and the occupants were relatively lucky; if the roof had hit the ground first, the situation would have been very different.

Furthermore, there is a small river below, and there is water in the river, which is somewhat better.

To be honest, this was a great opportunity to promote vehicle safety and a great marketing opportunity. The public relations department had even prepared a plan, but it was rejected by Tan Jincheng.

As a marketer, he knew that a fundamental principle was that you shouldn't use other people's suffering as a marketing pain point, as this could easily backfire.

However, faced with such attacks, Weilai Motors had no choice but to fight back.

In fact, only a few days had passed since the accident, and all sorts of out-of-context news were already circulating online. This speed was something that the public relations department of Weilai Auto had not expected.

Fortunately, Tan Jincheng has always made sure that all companies he works for pay special attention to the internet; otherwise, it would have been very troublesome to deal with once the public opinion situation escalated.

Preconceived notions leave netizens helpless even when they realize they've been fooled.

I've seen too many cases of reversals, but it's all useless to the brand. After netizens realize they've been scammed, they just curse a few times and then go back to what they were doing. I've hardly seen anyone feel guilty and buy your products.

This includes Tan Jincheng himself.

This incident also made Tan Jincheng realize that market competition will only become more and more intense in the future, and the public relations department must keep a close eye on the internet, while also making great efforts in terms of car safety.

This time, Weilai Auto was lucky; the car itself was of decent quality, and none of the occupants were injured.
"In addition, this incident also serves as a reminder that in the era of smartphones, the spread of online public opinion will only accelerate, and your public relations department must be fully prepared in this regard."

"We can't wait until things escalate before responding; we must respond immediately and give the employee who reported this a bonus."

Within 48 hours of the concentrated public opinion incident, an employee noticed something was wrong and immediately reported it. This employee's reaction speed is quite good. It's one thing to keep emphasizing, but whether the employee can react this quickly is another matter.

However, it took us almost two days to react, which is a bit slow. It looks like we'll have to transfer someone from Orange Technology.

Traditional enterprises are still a bit slow in responding to the internet; it's fortunate that it's 2011.

By 2023, the opportunity will have passed.

Take some emerging forces from the previous era as an example. Those that are closely monitored by the internet generally sell quite well, such as a certain company, a certain company, and there is relatively little negative news about them online.

Especially for a certain brand, you rarely see them; people usually just praise their cars for being beautiful.

In terms of looks, Wei Lai might not be any less handsome than him, but Wei Lai has a lot of negative news online. Both of them come from the internet media industry, but Li Bing is far inferior to He Zong, who came from UC.

However, we can't entirely blame our peers; this big mouth himself often talks nonsense online.

The concentrated leaks about the Yuechi A1 this time are clearly the work of a competitor. The media outlets that leaked the information don't have much cooperation with Weilai. As for which one, Tan Jincheng really can't guess.

The sales of the Yuechi A1 are as stable as those of the CRV. Even the Tiguan, which is very strong, can only manage to grab third place every month. As for the Qashqai, which has risen in popularity this year, it is basically competing with the Tiguan for position. The RAV4 has an even harder time.

In addition, there are many more domestically produced SUV models this year, and they might cause some trouble.

Back in Ningbo, Mr. Tan won't be able to stay at home for more than a few days. In a few days, he will have to go to the coastal city in Northeast China to attend the Davos Conference, which will last for three days.

"I've looked at your itinerary. You're going to Bincheng and then you have to go to Dandong?"

"Yes, we issued a share reduction announcement half a month ago. Mr. Li asked me what it meant. I told him over the phone, but he didn't believe me. It's better to come in person to talk to him. It can also be considered an inspection of the suppliers."

Since last year, the A-share market has had a bad habit: as soon as a stock rises even slightly, it can't wait to start issuing high stock dividends and bonus shares. This year, it's become even more exaggerated, with almost all of the first batch of stocks listed on the ChiNext board having already issued high stock dividends and bonus shares.

All the ChiNext stocks held by ByteDance's advertising platform have undergone high stock dividends and bonus share distributions. Doubling the share capital is considered a modest achievement. The most exaggerated example is the film and television company owned by the two big kings. In less than two years since its listing, the total share capital has rapidly expanded from 1.68 million to 6.05 million.

Capital operations are quite frequent in ChiNext stocks, and the main board is not far behind. Shuguang Auto's total share capital has increased from 2.21 million shares when Tan Jincheng invested to 5.75 million shares this year.

It's really short-sighted. The stock price had only risen to around 20 yuan, and the market value was less than 50 billion yuan, yet they were already eager to issue a high stock dividend.

For an old stock, without any financing or positive news, and with a low share price, to suddenly issue a high stock dividend is a clear indication that someone wants to reduce their holdings.

Tan Jincheng didn't hold back either. Juxing Engine previously held 5.06% of Shuguang Auto's shares, but after the high stock dividend plan was officially implemented, it issued a reduction announcement.

Based on the current market value, the shares of Shuguang Automotive held are worth about 2.8 million yuan, which means that I haven't actually made much money.

Everyone says that investing is a waste of time. It's already 2011, and the value of holding these stocks is no longer high. It's better to sell them and invest in some cutting-edge technologies. After this reduction in holdings, there's no need to issue any more announcements.

Li Xianjin was somewhat taken aback by Tan Jincheng's sudden reduction in holdings. The automotive industry has developed very well in recent years, but Shuguang Auto's business has not made much progress in recent years.

This old man only had a superficial understanding of stocks. If it weren't for Tan Jincheng's takeover bid back then, he wouldn't have known anything about them.

Tan Jincheng's reduction of holdings led him to believe that the cooperation with Shuguang Auto was over. No matter how Tan Jincheng explained on the phone, he was still somewhat skeptical. He had no choice but to tell him that he would go to Dandong after the Davos meeting.

The reduction in holdings has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not there is cooperation; it's simply that Tan Jincheng doesn't value their company's stock anymore.

Instead of holding onto the two shares of Shuguang Auto worth over 200 million yuan, it would be better to sell them and use the money to buy more shares of BYD. The two shares owned by Boatman Brother continued to fall this month.

BYD Electronics has fallen below HK$2, and BYD shares, which mainly focus on the automotive business, are not faring much better, falling below HK$10.

For BYD shareholders, things have changed drastically. In just two years, the stock's market value has shrunk by nearly 90%, making it seem as if the company is about to go bankrupt.

In 2009, Jinqing Investment reduced its holdings in BYD by 1200 million shares, recovering HK$8.778 million.

The plan is to spend between HK$1.1 million and HK$1.4 million to buy back all 1200 million shares that were previously sold off. In less than two years, the net profit of more than HK$7 million is something that only Buffett, who never sold, and the investors who are stuck with their losses can truly understand.

"So you won't be back until around National Day?"

"Yes, what's wrong? Is something the matter?"

Tan Jincheng was playing with Xiao Jinchuan. The little guy was already over a year old, and he was chubby and fair-skinned, much more fun than when he was first born.

Mr. Tan is too busy and doesn't usually have much time to spend with the little one, so the time the family of three spends together like this is very precious.

"The domestic version of Angry Birds Seasons will be released next month. I was thinking of waiting for you to come back so you could try it out."

Angry Birds Seasons is essentially the same game as Angry Birds. Orange Technology had already developed the iOS client for this game, but it wasn't released in China. This time, TiMi Studio took over the Android version and optimized the domestic iOS version to better suit the gaming experience of Chinese players. This was intended to give TiMi Studio some practice and help them find their rhythm in mobile game development.

Teams need time to gel. As the person in charge, Gu Qingqing was somewhat uneasy about a new team immediately starting to develop a large-scale mobile game like Honor of Kings.

While developing the game, we will also create a domestic version based on the existing version, which will allow the team to gain experience.

The game can have its closed beta test delayed, but it must be a high-quality product.

TiMi Studio is an independent studio, but Orange Technology is its controlling shareholder. Therefore, there is no conflict of interest in entrusting the development of the domestic version of Angry Birds to TiMi.

"Ha, I have to try it out? It's just an optimized version for the Chinese market, what big of a problem could there be?"

"You were the one who first proposed the game, right? Orange's game department treats you like a god. They won't be confident if you don't try it out."

From Happy Farm to the currently optimized Angry Birds, every game has achieved great success. It's hard to say about other departments at Orange Technology, but as Gu Qingqing said, the game department definitely regards Boss Tan as a god.

It's no exaggeration to say that if Boss Tan said he wanted to start his own business, he could take more than 70% of the employees in Orange Technology's gaming department with him with just one sentence.

"There shouldn't be any major problems. If we can't even do a proper optimization, what's the point of playing this game? But if you're still worried, you can send me an installation package once it's finished. I'll try it out and see what improvements I can make."

Zhang Yiming has already cast his vote, so whether or not the King of Glory team can succeed is not that important to Tan Jincheng. However, since this is his wife's career, it is still necessary to give her some attention.

Recently, ByteDance's advertising platform has been quite popular in the investment community. Tan Jincheng has received many inquiries from investors, and even Shen Nanpeng called him.

Zhang Yiming and Liu Cheng have been very happy lately. Usually, it would be a huge hassle for them to find someone, the first thing being to dispel the other person's suspicion that they are a scammer.

During our last meal, Liu Cheng mentioned that his company had hired a receptionist, but after arriving at the apartment building and confirming the address was correct, she went back because she thought the company was a pyramid scheme.

There are many pyramid schemes these days, and many of them are hidden in residential buildings.

With the investment from ByteDance's advertising platform, it became much easier for them to recruit people by leveraging Tan Jincheng's reputation. No one knows ByteDance's advertising platform, but everyone knows Tan Jincheng, the investment institution that invested in Xiaomi.

Lei Jun's Xiaomi is not far from ByteDance, and he even took the time to visit it, but he couldn't invest in it.

The two who just received the money are not short of funds and do not need financing for the time being.

Tan Jincheng also shared some tips on subsequent financing with the two of them, which is to wait until the company has spent half of its money before starting to raise funds, rather than waiting until the money is all spent before looking for investors.

This way, I can gain more say in the matter.

When entrepreneurs seek investors, their most valuable and only asset is their 100% equity stake. The key to their success lies in how they use this equity to present a compelling picture to investors.

To put it bluntly, this thing is similar to stock trading. You use the shares you own to make an expectation. As for whether your project will succeed or not, that's not important at all.

Tan Jincheng rarely looks at PPTs. The projects he personally handles are either ones he has some knowledge of or based on introductions from friends. Looking at PPTs is just something the ByteDance investment team uses to pass the time.

A few years ago, Tan Jincheng was looking to expand his network of contacts, but now he has become someone else's network of contacts.

Weilai Auto's public relations department reacted quickly. After being instructed by their boss, they promptly uploaded the complete version of the surveillance video to the entire internet and also persuaded the car owner to give an interview.

Previously, these media outlets deliberately obscured whether the car owner had died.

In addition, detailed photos of the wrecked vehicle have also been released.

Just as there are fans of the Yuechi A1, there are also those who don't. A couple of days ago, Yuechi A1 fans were feeling very uncomfortable because they didn't know the inside story and were suppressed by haters. But since Weilai Auto publicly responded, they finally had a place to vent their frustration.

"Look at how broad their perspective is. A car fell from a 20-meter-high overpass, and they attributed the success to the driver's safe driving. What else can you little haters say?"

In his public response, Wei Lai downplayed the quality of the Yuechi A1, only emphasizing that the safety of a vehicle is a basic requirement for car manufacturers.

Last year, 14.56 units were sold, and this year more than 10 units were sold. Combined with the sales in 2008, the sales volume of Yuechi A1 has reached nearly 30 units.

Unlike other car manufacturers' target age groups, the Yuechi A1 boasts a new and stylish exterior, coupled with a low price and newly introduced car loan policies, resulting in a predominantly young consumer base.

The promotional slogans that Tan Jincheng provided for Zhongtai 2008 were largely reflected in the Yuechi A1.

The most obvious result is that, through market research, as sales and reputation have increased, the ownership of the Yuechi A1 in second- and third-tier cities and rural areas has been growing.

A spacious and comfortable city SUV is perfect for people who have moved from rural areas to the city to make a living and start a small business. It can comfortably carry passengers and a family, and is also sufficient for occasional cargo hauling.

And you know what? The small bosses on the construction site really like buying the Yuechi A1. It's spacious, durable, and the brush handles look brand new.

In addition, the Yuechi A1 has a very high degree of localization of its parts, making repairs inexpensive.
-
Bincheng.

This is the fifth Davos meeting, twice in Tianjin and three times in Dalian, basically these two places.

This event only started in 2007, making it a relatively new and very important economic conference. Tan Jincheng had managed to get a chance to attend the previous ones, but this was his first time participating.

Many of the high-ranking leaders were meeting him for the first time, and they were both curious and somewhat expectant.

From the very first session, the conference was chaired by the second boss, and it was a very high-level event with more than 90 national leaders and more than 1500 attendees.

This year's theme is "Focusing on the quality of growth and taking control of the economic landscape".

Tan Jincheng, who was attending for the first time, saw many old friends at the meeting, including Da Ma, Xiao Ma, Brother Boatman, and Mr. Li from Geely.

"Good lad, you reacted quickly. Your company responded as soon as the news started circulating online."

The boatman seemed to be in a good mood, patting Tan Jincheng on the shoulder affectionately.

He probably already figured out what BYD's future would be like, and he's too lazy to care about the stock price or how to explain things to shareholders.

"Hehe, no problem. Uncle, you wouldn't have set me up like this, would you?"

The boatman was both amused and exasperated: "You little rascal, my S6 sold less than 6000 units in its best month. It's not even in the same class as your Yuechi A1. Why would I set you up? Why don't you suspect Chery?"

"That's not necessarily true. The S6 was launched in April, and sales have been rising steadily. It should be able to sell at least 40,000 units this year, which is a very impressive achievement."

Layoffs, executive departures, declining sales, falling stock prices, quality issues, and other negative news have plagued BYD throughout this year.

Starting this year, Boatman and his BYD began a comprehensive contraction strategy, reflecting on their mistakes and seeking new breakthroughs.

Of course, such a large group company is not without its highlights. The S6 is a rare highlight for BYD this year. This car was launched in April this year, and only 104 units were sold that month.

Even in June, the S6 only sold 1535 units that month, and it was thought to be another failed model. However, no one expected that the sales of this car would actually reverse in July.

In August alone, sales increased to nearly 6000 units, a rapid and astonishing growth. It is no surprise that sales will peak in September, with sales exceeding 6000 or even 7000 units.

This achievement greatly encouraged everyone at BYD, proving that the SUV market is indeed promising.

Although the car market has grown rapidly in the past two years, it is considered a great success if a new car can sell 5000 units in a single month. Selling 30,000 to 40,000 units in a year would be a cause for celebration for small car companies.

The S6 is priced between 7.99 yuan and 13.09 yuan, which is very close to the price range of the Yuechi A1, making it the most direct competitor. Tan Jincheng's suspicion is not without reason.

As for the Tiggo 3, it's a model priced under 10 yuan, so it doesn't compete much with the Yuechi A1.

Selling 30,000 to 50,000 vehicles a year would amount to over a billion yuan in sales.

"Don't worry, we didn't do it. Besides, even if we did, you have your own way of dealing with it."

The boatman rolled his eyes. This kid really was a reckless character in private. How could you ask him directly about something like this? Even if they really did it, he would never admit it.

I don't know where the rumor came from, but someone said he was a "sixth brother" (a derogatory term for someone who is overly ambitious and unscrupulous), and that he bought the company's rented apartment in order to secure investment. That's certainly a "sixth brother" behavior.

"Hehe, let's not talk about that; by the way, Uncle, what kind of meetings were these?"

Tan Jincheng didn't expect to get any answers; he was just rambling on out of boredom.

"Since this is your first time attending, you're not scheduled to speak, just listen. I know you young people don't really like these kinds of meetings, but take my advice, listen carefully, it'll be very helpful."

Tan Jincheng nodded. Every year, the conference has a theme. For example, the theme for 2009 was to revitalize growth, which was naturally in response to the impact of the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis.

2010 was about sustainable growth, which is self-evident, but this year the focus is on the quality of growth, which is a very clear signal.

In the future, some outdated production capacities will likely face difficulties, and investing in high-tech industries will become the next key theme.

In addition, the invited participants also give a general idea of ​​which industries will receive preferential policies.

(End of this chapter)