Rebirth in Hong Kong: From Dessert Shop to Industrial Empire

Chapter 141 Wan Yingying (Second update of 10,000 words per day, please vote with monthly tickets and recommendations, and please continue reading)
He paused, then changed the subject, saying, "The company is currently in a period of rapid expansion. The Japanese market is fiercely competitive, the Korean market has just begun, and North America is also being tested."

Our brand image, media relations, and even crisis management have become more important than ever before.

In the past, these tasks were handled ad hoc by the marketing department or by myself, lacking a systematic and professional approach.

"what do you mean"

"I think it's time to establish a permanent, independent public relations department."

This department does more than just issue press releases; it proactively shapes and maintains the company's core image, unifies all external communications, deeply participates in brand strategy, and, in particular, anticipates and responds quickly to potential public opinion crises.

At this point, Chen Bingwen looked at Fang Wenshan and instructed, "Li Weiming is well-spoken, has experience in international brand cooperation, and is skilled in external communication and image packaging."

Although he may lack in frontline marketing and performance evaluation, the qualities he demonstrates are exactly what this newly established public relations department requires.

Perhaps he could become our first public relations manager.

Fang Wenshan immediately understood Chen Bingwen's strategic intentions.

Placing Li Weiming in the position of public relations manager not only makes the best use of his talents but also avoids the shortcomings of his role as a front-line marketing leader.

This completed a key piece of the company's functional puzzle, preparing the organization for future brand development and potential media battles.

Li Weiming's background is indeed more suitable for this direction.

I'll communicate with him as soon as possible to understand his thoughts. A professional public relations department can indeed make us more proactive in brand communication and risk prevention.

"That would make things easier. My idea is to hire all four of them."

Angela Leong has been appointed as the Asia Pacific Marketing Director, with her primary task being to oversee the launch in the South Korean market and consolidate the results in Japan.
Zhao Liming, in charge of the North American market, will take over the North American market development work that you were previously in charge of.

Zhou Zhiqiang is the European Regional Market Director.

As for Li Weiming, talk to him; the goal is to become a public relations manager.

Tell him that as long as he has the ability, Chen's Restaurant has plenty of opportunities for him to shine!

Fang Wenshan nodded in agreement: "Okay. I will immediately arrange for a headhunter to notify them and communicate with them as soon as possible regarding their specific responsibilities and compensation."

Angela Leong and Zhao Liming need to be back in place as soon as possible; Japan and North America can't afford to wait.

"Okay, go ahead and make the arrangements!" Chen Bingwen replied.

Fang Wenshan accepted the order and left.

The office returned to quiet.

Looking at the pile of documents on his desk, Chen Bingwen suddenly had an idea.

He thought back carefully and realized that he hadn't seen the recent sales reports for the Hong Kong Island market when he was processing the documents.

As Chen Kee's home base, any slight movement in the Hong Kong Island market affects him greatly.

The absence of such a crucial report is unusual in itself.

He immediately searched through the pile of files again to confirm that it wasn't there.

He pressed the intercom and asked, "Ali, hasn't the Hong Kong Island sales report arrived yet?"

"Mr. Chen, Deputy Manager Wan said there are some problems with the data and they are checking it. It should be sent over immediately," Ali's voice came through.

Chen Bingwen frowned slightly.

Is there a problem with the data?
On Hong Kong Island?
He suddenly had a bad feeling!

As Chen Kee's home base, the stability of the Hong Kong Island market is fundamental, and any disturbance should be taken seriously.

The delays in these critical reports and the excuse of "data problems" themselves send an unusual signal.

The novelty has worn off?

Sluggish sales in distribution channels?

Or did an unexpected competitor emerge?
Various possibilities flashed through his mind.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

Wan Yingying, the deputy manager of the marketing department, walked in with a folder in her hand.

She looked a little nervous as she gently placed the folder on Chen Bingwen's desk.

"Mr. Chen, this is the sales report for the Hong Kong Island region over the past month."

"Thanks for your hard work."

Chen Bingwen picked up the report and opened it.

My eyes quickly scanned the rows of data and charts.

Bottled sugary drinks and "Jinba" energy drinks—their sales figures, without exception, have shown a downward inflection point in the last two weeks.

The decline was not drastic, but the trend was clearly visible.

The decline was particularly pronounced in convenience stores and supermarkets near cinemas, with some locations experiencing drops exceeding 15%.

Chen Bingwen frowned slightly.

Hong Kong Island is Chen Kee's home base, with the deepest channel penetration and the highest brand awareness.

This decline is abnormal.

He pointed to the data column that had declined the most and asked Wan Yingying, "What's wrong with the data?" Seeing Chen Bingwen's expression, Wan Yingying suppressed her unease, took a deep breath, and said, "Mr. Chen, our preliminary analysis suggests there are two main reasons."

First, bottled sugar water and "Jinba" have been on the market for some time, and the novelty for some consumers is fading.

Secondly, the peak of the popularity of the movie "Drunken Master" in Hong Kong Island has passed, and its driving effect on the "Chen's Dessert Shop" scene is weakening.

We observed that sales of bottled sugary drinks declined most significantly in convenience stores and supermarkets near cinemas.

Chen Bingwen's gaze swept across the data curves on the report, finally settling on Wan Yingying's slightly nervous face.

"The novelty wears off?"

Is the movie's popularity waning?

Chen Bingwen's voice was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger, but the invisible pressure made Wan Yingying subconsciously straighten her back. "Is this the marketing department's preliminary conclusion?"

"Yes, yes, Mr. Chen." Wan Yingying took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady.

Chen Bingwen's sharp gaze swept over the data lines on the report, the downward arrows as glaring as needles.

Wan Yingying's explanation that "the novelty wore off" and "the movie's popularity waned" made some sense, but the magnitude and speed of the decline exceeded his expectations.

Hong Kong Island is Chan Kee's foundation, and problems there are far more alarming to him than challenges from Japan or South Korea.

"It's inevitable that the novelty will wear off, but our products are not disposable items; they should be supported by repeat purchases."

It's true that the movie's popularity has waned, but our products have a high distribution rate in regular channels such as convenience stores and supermarkets, so we shouldn't rely solely on the movie's popularity to drive sales.

The significant decline in spending around cinemas indicates a decrease in movie-related consumption, but what about other channels?
Why is there a general decline as well?

Manager Wan, you only analyzed these two reasons?

After speaking, Chen Bingwen looked directly at Wan Yingying, awaiting her reply.

Under Chen Bingwen's gaze, Wan Yingying suddenly felt a surge of pressure.

She hesitated for a moment, then finally took out a few more photos and documents from the folder: "Mr. Chen, these are photos taken by our market researchers in several small grocery stores in Kowloon and Sham Shui Po, as well as product samples collected."

The photo shows the shelves of several unassuming little shops.

On the table are bottles that look very similar to the packaging of "Chen Ji" bottled sweet soup, but the name is "Chen Ji Sweet Soup Shop" or "Chen's Sweet Soup". The font and color are deliberately imitated, and it is easy to confuse them if you do not look carefully.

Next to it was a blue bottle that imitated "Jinba" and was called "Jinli" or "Vitality Source". The packaging style was also very similar.

"Counterfeit products?" Chen Bingwen's eyes narrowed. He picked up a document containing purchase records and a rough ingredient analysis. "When did they appear? How large is the scale?"

"They started appearing sporadically about two weeks ago, and the number has increased significantly in the past week."

Wan Yingying spoke faster, "They mainly target small grocery stores and street stalls, where prices are 20%-30% lower than our genuine products."

The ingredients are very crude, the syrup is cloyingly sweet, and the flavoring is heavy. The taste of the imitation "Jinba" is even worse, and its energizing effect is questionable.

However, because of the low price and the fact that they capitalized on our name and the movie's popularity, they attracted many consumers who were either looking for bargains or didn't read the product carefully.

After hearing Wan Yingying's explanation, Chen Bingwen's face darkened.

The fading of novelty and the decline in the film's popularity are internal factors and market forces.

The emergence of counterfeit products is a form of vicious external competition that directly erodes market share and damages brand image.

The combination of these two factors resulted in a clear downward curve on the report.

"Why didn't you report it sooner?" Chen Bingwen's tone was stern.

If this situation is detected earlier, it will undoubtedly give us a greater advantage.

Although it's not too late now, Chen Bingwen is determined not to encourage this trend of not reporting problems in a timely manner.

In Chen Bingwen's view, this delay was fatal.

The business world is like a battlefield, and information is the lifeline.

Counterfeit products are like lurking viruses. In the early stages, there are only sporadic infections. If they can be detected and isolated as soon as possible, the cost will be minimal and the effect will be optimal.

However, if it is allowed to spread unchecked and only dealt with passively when symptoms become obvious, not only will the cost of governance increase dramatically, but market share will also be lost, and the brand image will be damaged.

Wan Yingying's delay caused Chen Ji to miss the golden window of opportunity to nip the problem in the bud.

More importantly, Chen Ji is at a critical juncture of rapid expansion.

In the Japanese market, competing product Lipovitan is launching a fierce offensive, and its "buy one get one free" promotion is poised to take off.

The South Korean market is just beginning and requires careful cultivation.

The North American market is still in the experimental stage.

Hong Kong Island serves as the foundation and base, and is the support point for all strategies.

Any delay or distortion of information at any stage can trigger a chain reaction, causing biased decisions based on incorrect or outdated information, which in turn affects the whole situation.

Chen's Group is now a large company with multiple layers.

Once a culture of "making a mountain out of a molehill" and "concealing or delaying reporting" takes hold, decision-makers will be like blind men touching an elephant, unable to perceive the true pulse of the market in a timely manner and unable to accurately allocate resources to deal with crises.

Today's minor oversight of counterfeit products could tomorrow lead to a major crisis in a key market being filtered and downplayed, ultimately resulting in disaster.

Transparency, accuracy, and timeliness of information are the most important guiding principles and early warning system for Chenji, this fast-moving behemoth. Any act that obstructs information channels undermines the company's foundation.

(End of this chapter)