The room quieted down for about 3 seconds, and the next moment, there was a bigger commotion. Everyone was shouting questions and Feng Yu could not even hear them clearly.
Feng Yu exploded and banged the table hard. “Shut up!”
“I gathered everyone here is to discuss this alliance. There must be rules in every alliance. How can you all be so rowdy?!” Feng Yu was furious.
Everyone got a shock, and most of the people there kept quiet. Only a handful were not pleased. Among these people, it is the General Manager of the Rising Sun group.
“Manager Feng, from what you say, this alliance must follow your rules?”
Feng Yu looked at that man and sneered. “So what if I am the one setting the rules? My rules will bring benefit to everyone here. If you have the same capability as me, you can set the rules.”
Feng Yu hated people who are incompetent and still want to stir up trouble. You think you are working for the government, and you are one level above others?
Feng Yu does not care about these low-ranking officials! Even if your City Mayor or Province Governor is here, I will still say what I want to say!
Feng Yu continued after everyone quiets down. “I know the higher management staff of most of the supermarket chains in western countries. I can convince them to give us a specialized counter in their supermarkets. The westerners are used to shop in supermarkets and is a critical sales distribution point. We can also increase our brand awareness there. The beverages that can’t enter the supermarket chains there is doom to fail!”
Some leaders of large companies in the audience were deep in thoughts. They had exported their drinks overseas, but the furthest is only Southeast Asia. Even if they had exported their products to Europe, it is also in tiny quantities. Most of the time was a one-time transaction. These were loss-making deals, but they did it for marketing.
Our products are exported to Europe, and this is proof of our quality. Many products emphasize how many countries they exported to in their advertisements to attract Chinese consumers.
Even foreigners buy this product, and this means this is a good product!
The Chinese beverage companies, including Jianlibao, are unable to replicate their sales techniques in other countries. When companies started selling their drinks in China, they did aggressive advertisings during the festive season and packaged their beverages as gifts!
Once the companies have enough customers, they start to market their drinks as an exclusive beverage and slowly expand their market share. Their main form of advertising is CCTV advertisements.
But in the western countries, there were more TV channels, and the viewers were spread over several channels, unlike China, where there is only one CCTV. Advertising in CCTV was much more effective, and all the sales of the products advertised will hit greater heights.
“Manager Feng, you are going to help us sell our products overseas?” Someone asked.
“We need to invest a sum of money in advertising in the US, Europe and other regions. This sum of money will be much more than advertisement fees in China. But consumer spending in developed countries is much higher than in China and if we work together, we can get better rates. This way, we can lower our products’ marketing costs.”
“Manager Feng, are you telling us to pay for this? What will be the main product that will be advertised, and what is the proportion for us?”
“Let me make this clear. Not everyone here can pay for the marketing cost. Only the selected products have the qualification to pay for it.” Feng Yu emphasized.
The people in the crowd looks at each other. What does this mean? There is a selection process? Since not everyone is qualified, why are we invited? To look at the big companies showing off their financial strength?
Zhong Qingxian, who was arranged to ask questions beforehand, asked loudly. “Manager Feng, how are we going to select the brands?”
“Very simple. First, the product must pass the US, Europe, and other countries’ food safety standards. If the product cannot even pass the standard checks, everything will be useless. Next, the company must be of a certain scale. What do I mean by the scale? The company must be able to supply enough products for all the supermarkets. I made a rough estimation and just North America has over 1,000 supermarkets and Europe has a few thousand supermarkets. Let’s round it off to 5,000 and every supermarket needs at least 100 bottles or cans. That means you all must have the ability to supply 500,000 bottles or cans every time. This is the lowest requirement. If your product is popular, your factories have to increase production to meet the demand.”
Feng Yu’s requirement is not based on the manufacturing cost, but it is to guarantee the supply. He does not want to market some products and the factories cannot meet the demand. In Feng Yu’s previous life, Jianlibao had made this mistake in the future years. It happened after 2,000, and Jianlibao could not meet the demand of their distributors after aggressive marketing!
That was wasting money on advertising and killing themselves!
Of course, the people who were here for this meeting can meet Feng Yu’s standards. But if the companies were to export so many goods, their China market will be affected. It is not wise for them to give up their domestic market for other markets.
After Feng Yu announced his requirements, many companies decided to give up. But the companies Feng Yu wanted, were still looking at him attentively. These companies were confident of meeting the expectations and will pass the food safety checks of the various countries.
“Next, the companies must have enough funds for advertisements. We have to advertise on the TV stations, the printed media and have promotions in the supermarkets. This is not a small amount, but the benefits are once your product is accepted by the consumers, your sales will shoot up. I am sure all of you know this.”
“Ok. Let’s talk about positioning in the supermarkets. Our product will be separated into different categories, and the marketing for different categories will be different. Similar products will be group together for the consumers to choose from. For example, dairy products will be placed together with diary products and carbonated drinks will be placed together with carbonated drinks. Tea beverages will be placed together, and sports drinks will be grouped together. All of your products must be sold at different pricing, even if it is different by 1 cent.”
“Manager Feng, many of our products are selling at the same price in China, and why must we have different pricing in other countries?”
“Our products are new and unfamiliar to the consumers there. Of course, the retail price of your products will be discussed further, but this price must meet the requirements. Don’t think all the products can be sold at high prices overseas. Even Coca-Cola is selling at different prices in different countries.”
“There are a lot more details which I will not go into today. Those who meet the requirements and are interested in venturing overseas with us, coming over to get the registration form. I will send a batch of products overseas for food safety checks. Once your products pass the checks, we will continue the discussion.”
Most of the people went forward to get a registration form, but Feng Yu knew less than a tenth of the forms will be returned. For the Chinese beverages to compete with the overseas beverage giants, they have to join forces. No Chinese companies can beat them alone!