2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 857 New Year's Eve Talk
PS: Happy New Year’s Eve to everyone!

If we're talking about who's happiest when Boss Tan comes home, it's because...

That would naturally be Tan Jinyue and Tan Jinchuan, the aunt and nephew. Their youngest daughter is too young to experience the joy of her father coming home.

"Brother, my sister-in-law makes me take care of the child every day. I'm almost turning into Jiang Dehua from the TV series. The worst part is that Tan Jinchuan doesn't listen to me."

Time flies, and Tan Jinyue is already 12 years old, and her nephew is five. They are all at the age where things can get chaotic. In the past, they could suppress each other with their bloodline, but now, it is a bit difficult.

Boss Tan was completely bewildered: "What Dehua?"

Gu Qingqing explained with a smile, "It's a TV series that Mom and Dad have been watching recently, called 'Parents' Love,' in which the younger sister helps her older brother and sister-in-law take care of their child."

After a brief introduction to the plot, Tan Jincheng couldn't help but laugh; the plot was quite amusing.

“What’s wrong with taking care of the kids? Your brother and sister-in-law took care of you when you were little, so just consider it paying off a debt.”

12-year-old Tan Jinyue is already over 1.5 meters tall. Her slender figure makes her look somewhat thin, and she is quite graceful, but she still has the temperament of a child.

At this moment, she pouted and complained to Tan Jincheng about her nephew, which made the whole family chuckle.

Tan Jincheng also laughed heartily, all the fatigue from the journey swept away.

"Alright, alright, I'll take you to a big banquet tomorrow too. If that kid Tan Jinchuan misbehaves, you can beat him up."

Tan Jinchuan was currently clinging to his father's side, constantly complaining about his father patting his head and threatening to beat him, expressing his dissatisfaction. The family was enjoying a harmonious time together.

These days, the house is quite lively. There are three children, plus the parents and the couple, making a family of seven. With two nannies, it can be considered a large family. Occasionally, the Zhang Xupeng family, who live not far away, will come over with their children to visit, making it even more lively.

"What are your plans for going back to your hometown for the Chinese New Year?"

Without the worries of work and life, Tan Lihua, who was living a life of ease, gained weight very quickly and is now quite overweight.

"Let's go back after the third year of junior high. I'm going to inspect other cities anyway, so let's start with Wangjiang."

This time he traveled all over the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai region, but he didn't go back to his hometown. The main reason was that he didn't have enough time and couldn't arrange his itinerary.

Dong Ge goes back to his hometown every year to show off, and frequently makes it to the trending topics. This has made the business community quite enthusiastic about going back to their hometowns. Any well-known entrepreneur with a rural hometown likes to go back there.

Tan Lihua nodded, calculating the time. If he left on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, he could stay at home for a few more days, which would be quieter.

January 2016, 2, New Year's Eve.

As the year draws to a close, the Spring Festival Gala is undoubtedly the most anticipated event at the end of each year.

"From a business perspective, the Spring Festival Gala has been very successful in recent years."

With the increasing variety of entertainment options in the mobile internet era, coupled with the visibly declining quality of Spring Festival Gala programs, its reputation and viewership have been steadily declining.

However, the decline in viewership does not mean a decrease in the popularity of the Spring Festival Gala. On the contrary, the promotion of smartphones and 4G networks has increased the discussion surrounding the Gala. The hundreds of millions of clicks and the high number of related terms on the Internet all prove the commercial value of the Spring Festival Gala.

"We know all that you're saying, but it's true that it's getting uglier and uglier."

On New Year's Eve, after the New Year's Eve dinner, the villa of the Tan family was unusually lively.

Tan Jincheng's family, including Gu Qingqing's parents, and the two brothers Zhang Xupeng and Zhang Xuhui also came over after the New Year's Eve dinner. There was also an unexpected couple, Zhang Li and Wang Fengying.

In January, the sales of Yuechi A1 exceeded the company's internal expectations. Wei Lai further adjusted this year's production plan. With the increased production tasks, Zhang Li's workload became heavier and heavier, and he would not be able to go back to his hometown during the Spring Festival.

Wang Fengying enjoyed a few days of vacation before coming to Ningbo to reunite with her husband for the Spring Festival.

Tonight, Tan Jincheng invited the couple to come over to watch the Spring Festival Gala and chat. Including their family, there are currently four main families living in this villa, making it feel like a small gathering, which is quite lively.

The adults chatted, drank tea, and watched the Spring Festival Gala in the living room, while the children played in the yard. Other children played games and toys in a room next to the living room.

This feeling gave Wang Fengying a novel experience, and even Zhang Li felt the same way.

Tan Jincheng was talking eloquently, while his business partner and good friend Zhang Xupeng was arguing with him.

The topic of discussion was the program list for the Spring Festival Gala.

"You mentioned that skits get a lot of attention, but you can check and see that the highest-rated shows every year are song and dance performances, especially those featuring many celebrities singing together. Take that children's song you just mentioned, for example."

"That trio of kids is very popular now, and their viewership ratings are definitely not low."

TFBOYS, who debuted in 2013, officially appeared on the Spring Festival Gala stage in the Year of the Monkey, starting their decade-long era of internet fame. This mainland boy group, modeled after the Little Tigers, has maintained high popularity since its inception, thanks to the support of internet traffic.

Although its reputation online is not good, its commercial value is by no means low.

"Then what do you think about having them endorse our clothing brand?"

"There's no problem. Don't be fooled by the fact that they're often ridiculed online; their ability to drive sales is quite impressive."

TFBOYS has a very wide fan base, including Gen Z like Tan Jinyue. These people don't have much spending power now, but when they come of age in a decade or so, their spending power will be considerable.

In addition, they have a unique fan base: "mommy fans," whose spending power is quite high.

When Zhang Xupeng mentioned finding them to endorse his products, he was naturally referring to the children's clothing brand under Jinpeng Industrial. After all, they are only teenagers, and it would be inappropriate for them to endorse GXG.

"That would be worthwhile to conduct some business research and see if it's feasible."

Tan Jincheng's words made Zhang Xupeng thoughtful. This team didn't have a good reputation online, with a lot of messy jokes circulating. Choosing them as spokespeople would definitely mean giving up a portion of the consumer group that didn't like them.

"Most people are just following the trend. They're just making fun of these three people online for fun. It's hard to say how much they actually hate them."

Wang Fengying replied with a smile, saying that she was considered one of Great Wall's top sales representatives, and a top sales representative would certainly be familiar with internet marketing.

"Mr. Wang is right. It's hard to say how many people hate them. There's also something that everyone might have overlooked: you all saw how happy Jin Yue was just now, right?"

"There are quite a few kids like Jin Yue."

Tan Jinyue is also a fan of TFBOYS. She was overjoyed when the three of them came on stage. In the world of those born in the 00s, the Spring Festival Gala is a relatively unfamiliar term. They will stay in front of the TV because of TFBOYS, which is one of the effects that this year's Spring Festival Gala aims to achieve.

Everyone seemed to be deep in thought.

"That's right. If Jin Yue were to ask President Tan for a few autographs from these three boys, or to see their concert, President Tan would definitely have no choice but to keep bothering her for a long time."

Capital and resources are controlled by a few people, and commercial endorsements should be considered from a business perspective, which may not be so trivial. However, if one's own juniors really like something, then it is not something that can be taken lightly.

It's just an endorsement; in the eyes of the few who control the resources, it's really nothing.

"As far as I know, many leaders and celebrities' children like this group very much; to be honest, if they weren't too young for adult brands, we might really consider them as spokespeople."

“For example, Weilai has found Hu Ge to be its spokesperson, and he will also be appearing on the Spring Festival Gala this year, which is a very good publicity opportunity for the Weilai brand.”

Hu Ge, who became a sensation in 2015, will be performing a duet with a woman on the Spring Festival Gala soon.

"Yes, Mr. Wang's analysis makes a lot of sense. Putting aside personal preferences and considering it purely from a business perspective, celebrity endorsements do indeed provide great help to companies in the era of internet traffic."

Even if a contract expires and goes bust, its commercial value is still immeasurable during the period before the contract expires.

Even if a company goes bankrupt, the impact on the company is actually very limited. On the contrary, the company can market itself as a victim to gain some traffic.

A certain brand hired several spokespeople who all had scandals, and then they used this as a reverse marketing tactic, which worked quite well.

Since his last conversation with Wang Fengying about franchising, Tan Jincheng had never brought it up again. Tonight, he simply invited her over as a colleague and friend to sit down and chat.

Wang Fengying was initially hesitant when she received the invitation, but she gradually relaxed.

Both sides tacitly understood each other.

The people in the room were chatting happily about the value of the Spring Festival Gala.

"Speaking of which, the Spring Festival Gala production team has really made a fortune in the past two years. The internet industry is simply too rich, and they're always getting exclusive partnerships. It's so hard for us to even put up some ads."

"Haha, let alone you guys, we can't even compete with them."

Since Tencent's surprise red envelope campaign, the Spring Festival Gala's cooperation model has changed. In the past two years, the deep-pocketed Ali has secured the exclusive cooperation, and the theme is naturally still card collecting. Compared to last year, this year Ali's card collecting scope is wider and the influence is greater.

Orange Brands, which also collect cards, had considered securing a collaboration with the Spring Festival Gala, but they couldn't compete with Ahri, who was willing to go to any lengths to win.

"The advertising fees have been driven out of control. Take the midnight countdown we secured, for example; the price has skyrocketed." Midea, which took over the midnight countdown slot for the Spring Festival Gala from Harbin Pharmaceutical Group No. 6 Factory in 2003, initially only needed a few million yuan. By 2011, when Midea finally secured the slot, the price had risen to 57.2 million yuan.

A ten-second ad slot costs millions of yuan per second, but this is not the end.

Yanghe spent even more in 2012, but starting in 2013, the midnight countdown on the Spring Festival Gala was taken over by Weilai Auto. With its pockets gradually getting fuller, Weilai Auto monopolized the ten-second advertising slot for the midnight countdown on the Spring Festival Gala starting in 2013.

"It is indeed very expensive, but it is also worth it. If you ask me, the most valuable advertising spot on the Spring Festival Gala is the midnight countdown."

The ritualistic significance of the midnight countdown is appreciated by Chinese people worldwide. Those ten seconds are of immeasurable value. The fact that Weilai Auto was able to gain market acceptance so quickly in just seven or eight years is undoubtedly related to its close cooperation with CCTV.

The Spring Festival Gala is the most important part of the series of collaborations with CCTV every year.

Despite complaining about how expensive it was, Tan Jincheng was determined to get the advertising slot for the midnight countdown. Like Ali, he was willing to pay any price to secure it. The midnight countdown advertising slot on the Spring Festival Gala was not just about exposure.

Let's take a look at which companies advertised the midnight countdown before Wei arrived.

Midea, Harbin Pharmaceutical Group No. 6 Factory, BBK, liquor brands, and Seagull watches, etc., are all industry leaders or star companies for a long time. Securing the midnight time-telling advertising slot is of great significance to them.

"You keep saying that BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) are rich and powerful, but aren't you the same? Look how much you've raised the price of the midnight time announcement ad slot."

Tan Jincheng's identity is clear, and having a chat with him will unconsciously put some pressure on others, making it impossible for them to relax.

Zhang Xupeng's occasional banter with Tan Jincheng effectively eased the tension, making the conversation more harmonious and allowing everyone to speak freely.

"Speaking of the internet companies led by BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent), they have really made a lot of money through lending in the past two years. It is amazing how much money they can throw at it. Now they are supporting a lot of new brands. I wonder how much impact this will have on the automotive industry."

"There will definitely be an impact, but it's not really a threat. In addition, their actions have also had many positive effects."

Capital's goal is always to pursue profit. A mature market must have capital participation. The increasing influx of new capital into the new energy vehicle sector indicates that the real boom period for the new energy sector is getting closer.

Whether it's the direct boost to new energy vehicle sales driven by ride-hailing services or the buzz generated by the establishment of numerous new brands, both are simply heating up the market, which is definitely more beneficial than harmful to traditional automakers.

New energy vehicle brands are doing well, and some can go public in just a few years. However, whether in the domestic or international market, there are really not many new energy vehicle brands that pose a real threat to traditional car companies.

"That's true. New energy vehicles are not yet mainstream. Their involvement can better promote the concept and have some impact on traditional fuel vehicles, but it's not particularly significant."

"That's not quite right. New energy vehicles have already achieved a high penetration rate in some countries, so traditional gasoline vehicle manufacturers still need to pay attention to them."

"Mr. Tan, you're talking about Norway and Sweden, right? You guys really have foresight in this regard; you made your plans very early."

Although there is strong policy support for new energy vehicles, their penetration rate in China is currently negligible, with only a few hundred thousand vehicles out of an annual production and sales volume of over 2000 million.

However, there are two countries with very high penetration rates of new energy vehicles, but they are easily overlooked because the market is small.

This is Norway and Sweden. Sweden goes without saying, with its environmentalist girls; the country is practically obsessed with environmentalism.

In Norway, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles has reached 22.3%, and the penetration rate of pure electric vehicles is as high as 17.1%. This means that for every 10 cars sold, two are new energy vehicles, and they are mainly pure electric.

In terms of transitioning to new energy sources, the two extremely cold Nordic countries are even more aggressive than us, which is something many people did not expect.

Tan Jincheng did not deny the compliment: "The Norwegian government's current goal is to achieve 100% penetration of new energy vehicles by 2025. Although the market is not large, it can be used as a foothold for entering Europe."

The Norwegian government provides substantial support for electric vehicles, having established a series of preferential policies specifically for them as early as 20 years ago.

For example, you don't have to pay purchase tax or value-added tax when you buy a car, you don't have to pay tolls or parking fees when you drive, and you can use the bus lane when there is a traffic jam. They have also put a lot of effort into ensuring daily charging.

In the high-tax Nordic region, driving an electric car can save a lot of tax money, and this benefit alone is irresistible to many people.

Charging stations are still somewhat scarce in China, but this is not a problem in Norway. Although the extreme cold may affect battery life, the abundance of charging stations and the small land area mean that battery life is not a major issue.

"Currently, the most popular pure electric vehicle brands in Norway are the ES6 and the Model S. Weilai's business strategy is indeed quite forward-thinking."

The Mate S is definitely the best-selling pure electric vehicle. As a brand from the same European and American countries, coupled with its excellent quality, the Mate S has a natural advantage. However, the ES6 is not bad either. Norway does not have a local car brand, so all brands can be sold in their country, ensuring fair competition.

The ES6 is of excellent quality, and it's not bad either. Plus, it's cheaper than the ES6. After several years of operation, the ES6 has a good reputation in Norway.

In 2015, more than 3000 ES6s were sold in Norway and throughout Europe, with Norway alone accounting for one-third of the sales, demonstrating its popularity.

The newly released ES8 has been launched on the Weilai APP, and it has also sparked a lot of discussion among electric vehicle enthusiasts in the European region of the APP, with Norway and Sweden remaining the most popular areas of interest.

"It's a pity that the market is too small. Selling just a little over a thousand vehicles would take up almost 8% of their market share. Sigh."

“The sales volume of each country in Europe can be regarded as the sales volume of a single province in our country. The area of ​​each country is roughly the same as that of each province in our country. However, this increases the difficulty of our promotion.”

Policies vary from country to country, making operating costs much higher for car manufacturers. Currently, WooLang has a good reputation in Europe, but in terms of making money, it's practically impossible to earn any.

The reason is simply that the operating costs are too high.

"Does Weilai have any plans to develop a hybrid version of the Yuechi series?"

Wang Fengying saw the timing effect and foresight in the business strategy of Wei Lai. The Yuechi series sold extremely well, completely suppressing the Haval series that she led. The two brands each accounted for the vast majority of their respective sales.

Good sales now do not guarantee good sales forever, especially with the increasing penetration rate of new energy vehicles. Wang Fengying also wanted to hear Tan Jincheng's plans for the future of Yuechi.

This has nothing to do with inquiring about company secrets; rather, it reflects a sincere desire to seek advice.

"Indeed, there is. Our future focus in the whole vehicle business will definitely be on new energy vehicles. This was determined from the very beginning of the company's establishment. The explosive popularity of the Yuechi series was expected, but to be honest, it was also unexpected."

What Wang Fengying asked about wasn't a secret; in fact, Weilai had already begun research and development internally.

We expected it to sell well, but we didn't expect it to sell this well. This is the consensus of everyone at Weilai.

To be honest, sometimes when a product is popular in the market, even the business owners find it difficult to fully explain the specific reasons. Take the Yuechi A1 for example; it has many flaws and has been criticized a lot, just like Xiaomi phones, which also have a lot of negative reviews, but they still sell well.

Analysts can find a variety of reasons, but it's actually hard to explain why it's so popular overall.

Aren't you worried that the hybrid series will affect existing sales?

"I am worried, but we still have to do what we need to do. We need to explore the market and not stop moving forward just because of our current achievements."

The Yuechi A1 is, after all, a low-end model. Once the market reaches a certain saturation point, its sales will inevitably decline. Developing new sales highlights is a problem that must be considered. I remember that the legendary car in my previous life seemed to have missed the market and gradually declined because its hybrid technology was developed too late.

Wang Fengying nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

Tan Jincheng smiled, not worried that the Haval series would change its original trajectory. While Wang Fengying was able to lead the Haval series, Great Wall's overall business strategy was still under the control of Boss Wei.

Just as Weilai has always focused on developing new energy vehicles, this reflects Tan Jincheng's will, while Great Wall's focus on the fuel vehicle sector also reflects Mr. Wei's will.

Take the Wei brand they are preparing to launch as an example. Although they have started to lay out their plans in the new energy vehicle sector, Tan Jincheng knows that Great Wall Motors does not actually attach that much importance to the new energy vehicle sector.

Unfortunately, the business direction of private enterprises is largely determined by the boss; whatever the boss wants to do, that's what happens.

This is especially true for traditional enterprises, such as Great Wall, which has a history of more than ten or twenty years.

"President Tan really has great courage. The reason why Weilai has been able to achieve such results today is not only because its business approach is different from that of traditional enterprises, but also because of President Tan's courage."

Wang Fengying sighed. Compared to the Haval series, the Yuechi series sold better, but they dared to be prepared for change even if it would affect the existing market structure.

Not everyone has this kind of courage. Judging from the current sales of the Yuechi series, even if sales decline, it can still sustain itself for several years.

"Mr. Wang, you flatter us. We're just like those who have nothing to lose and aren't afraid of those who have something to lose."

Compared to companies like Great Wall Motors and BYD, Weilai is a newcomer, practically starting from scratch, except that this newcomer has bigger feet. After the market closed on the last trading day of the A-share market, Weilai announced its 2015 earnings forecast.

The company expects to earn approximately RMB 85 billion in net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company in 2015, compared to RMB 50.06 billion in the same period last year, representing a year-on-year increase of 69.8%.

It's truly shameful that the CEO of such a new car company claims to have nothing to lose.

The New Year's Eve chat lasted until midnight. The children had long since fallen asleep, wobbling and swaying. After having a late-night snack at Lao Tan's house, everyone took their children home to sleep.

"Looks like you guys are making some big moves this year."

As Wang Fengying stepped out of the courtyard, she sighed to her husband. The night breeze of Ningbo had woken her up from her drowsiness. Based on the information Tan Jincheng had revealed during their conversation, it seemed that 2016 was somewhat different from 2015.

"Ha, stop guessing. I'm more inclined to believe our boss will win the bet with you."

(End of this chapter)