Top of the big era

Where there are more talents, the level will be higher. With the advent of the mobile Internet era, top talents are flocking to major Internet companies and smartphone manufacturers.

What this brings is not only the rapid technological innovation in this industry, but also the dazzling marketing strategies. "Hunger marketing" is easy to understand and easy to be understood by the outside world, and it is easier to spread. However, it is not very clever and can easily tie up the brand.

There are two main things that are really great.

One is the information difference and the other is the time difference.

Zhou Buqi had previously told Zhou Shaoning that he would hold the global launch of the Aster phone in Europe. The market price of electronic equipment is affected by many factors, including taxes and fees, regional competitiveness, public spending power, and official attitudes.

For example, if the European Court of Justice rules that Apple has a monopoly and is fined US$5 billion, Apple will not bear the US$5 billion. The inevitable result will be that the selling price of iPhones in Europe will rise significantly, and the fine will be passed on to European consumers.

However, the main reasons are taxes and competition.

The higher the taxes and fees, the higher the prices; the more intense the competition, the lower the prices.

Therefore, the global selling prices of electronic products have very typical regional differences. They are usually the lowest in the United States, South Korea and Japan, with fierce competition and relatively low tax rates.

Europe has poor competition and high tax rates, so selling prices are the highest.

Domestic competition is fierce and tax rates are high, so the selling price is in the middle.

Taking iPhone 14 as an example, it is priced at US$799 in the United States, US$820 in Japan, and US$850 in South Korea; it is sold in China for US$860, in the United Kingdom at US$940, and in France at US$1,010.

This is actually common sense in the industry, but the outside world may not necessarily understand it. This leads to a marketing strategy that uses information gaps.

For example, if you want to praise a certain product, you can compare the domestic selling price with the selling price in Europe, and block out the selling prices in the United States, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. Consumers take a look and think, Huh? It is really a national conscience. If you go to foreigners to make a lot of money and offer such a low price to your own people, you must support it.

If you want to discredit a certain product, the same strategy is used, blocking the selling price in Europe and comparing it with the selling price in the United States, Japan, South Korea and other countries. When consumers saw it, they immediately became angry. They felt that this was a double standard. Selling it to foreigners was so cheap, but selling it to our own people was so expensive. It was called a national scum.

Zhou Buqi had previously told Zhou Shaoning that Aster's new mobile phone launch conference would be held in Europe, and the domestic promotion would also focus on price comparisons in Europe.

This strategy of adapting to national conditions and utilizing China’s unique Internet information censorship mechanism is much smarter than hunger marketing.

This year's global launch of Aster3 was held in Paris, France on August 20, and it will officially go on sale in Europe on September 1. The domestic press conference was held on August 28. The strategy formulated by Zhou Buqi was adopted at the press conference, and the sales prices in the mainland and Europe were compared.

The price in Europe is 549 euros. Based on the current exchange rate of 1:9 between the Chinese currency and the euro, the price is nearly 5,000 yuan!

The domestic price is only 4,599 yuan!

More importantly, there is no domestic consumption tax. It is directly linked to manufacturers in the form of higher value-added tax, which is directly reflected in the selling price.

Europe also has consumption tax.

In other words, if you spend 559 euros to buy an Aster3 in Europe, this is not the final price, and consumers will have to pay an additional consumption tax.

When buying Aster3 in China, the sales price is the actual price. Consumers don’t need to pay additional tax. They can get it directly for 4,599 yuan.

How cheap?

Needless to say, let’s list the comparisons and let consumers make their own decisions!

What foreigners need to spend 5,000 yuan to buy, Chinese people can buy it for only 4,599 yuan. How cost-effective? There are not many benefits like this, it’s like taking advantage, so you have to buy it quickly!

This is a marketing strategy proposed by Zhou Buqi based on his foresight.

Another strategy was planned by Zhou Shaoning based on his own understanding of the smartphone industry. It aroused deep resonance from Zhou Buqi, and he had a feeling of "that's it"!

Zhou Buqi actually knows a common phenomenon in the mobile phone industry-out of stock.

For example, after a certain mobile phone is released in Europe, the price in Europe is much higher than in China, and people across the country are excited to buy it. But here comes the problem. It’s out of stock in China, and sometimes you have to wait 3 or even 6 months before you can buy it without restrictions in China.

In Europe, they can liberalize their purchases.

Why?

Zhou Shaoning gave an expert answer: "Moore's Law."

The largest cost of a smartphone is the integrated circuit processor, or chip.

Moore's Law means that chip performance doubles approximately every two years, while prices drop to half of what they were before. Chips are the core of mobile phone accessories. If the price of chips drops, the prices of all other components will drop.

It will be out of stock for 6 months, or in other words, it will be shipped on a small scale during these 6 months to maintain the market popularity, and then it will be put on the market on a large scale after 6 months.

The attribution is Moore's Law. After half a year, the manufacturing cost of mobile phones may be reduced by 15%.

At that time, if we sell it domestically on a large scale, we can make considerable profits. There is no limit in Europe because the price in Europe is high enough. With such a time difference, the domestic price of the same product can be further reduced, making it more popular and popular among consumers.

In short, it is to use time costs to reduce manufacturing costs.

Around Astermini, the latter marketing strategy based on Moore's Law is obviously adopted.

Additional installment purchase limit!

There are 30 million college students in the country. In today's era, almost 100% of college students have mobile phones. 1ini, the price can be said to be very conscientious and low enough.

Basically, as long as college students are not from a poor family, they can basically afford it.

Smartphones represent the future, just like buying computers.

Why do you need to sell computers while studying in college?

In fact, it is not for learning, but to adapt to the new era. If you don't even know how to use a computer, you will only be able to work in low-end industries after entering society.

According to data feedback from Xiaonei.com, the demand for Asterini on university campuses can reach at least 4 million units, or even 5 million units!

Relying on subsidies to support so many mobile phones is not a long-term solution, nor is it necessary.

This is the batch sales strategy that Yan Guangming mentioned.

During the 91 Shopping Festival, the first batch of 1 million units will be sold first.

The second batch during National Day saw 250,000 units on the shelves; the third batch during Double Eleven saw 300,000 units on the shelves; and the fourth batch during Christmas saw 250,000 units on the shelves.

This semester is almost over.

From the first batch to the second batch, the manufacturing cost of Astermini can be reduced by 3%; from the second batch to the third batch, the manufacturing cost can be reduced by another 3%.

Every month, it can basically be reduced by 3%.

By March of next semester, it is estimated that the manufacturing cost of Astermini can be greatly reduced. If it is sold at a price of 1,999 yuan, it may be able to generate profits!

For this reason, Zhou Buqi asked Yan Guangming to explain in detail.

Yan Guangming said with a smile: "That's about right. The first batch of Asterini is actually a supply order placed in April. By the on-campus group purchase in March next year, the cost of raw materials can be reduced by 20%."

Zhou Buqi asked: "No need for subsidies?"

Yan Guangming said: "If nothing happens, theoretically it won't be necessary. By then, the cost of the mobile phone can be reduced to 1,500 yuan, and it can be sold at a price of 1,999 yuan, which is enough to maintain the operating expenses of all channels."

After a pause, he was afraid that Boss Zhou would be dissatisfied, so he quickly said: "To do business, you still have to make money. It's not about making money for the sake of making money, but because only making money can promote productivity. 1ini, this changed Aisda's internal management. It was very difficult.”

Zhou Buqi is quite familiar with this kind of manufacturing business, "Commission?"

Yan Guangming said: "Yes, commission! Asda is not the same as Ziweixing. Although making mobile phones is related to the Internet, it is still a manufacturing industry that requires production and sales. The best incentive method for this process is commission and profit commission. ."

The more profits and commissions there are, the more participants will be happy and motivated.

If Astermini didn't aim to make money, and would even repay the money... From a strategic point of view, this is of course right. But the management of the team caused trouble. Without profits and commissions, the enthusiasm and creativity of employees will be greatly reduced. Many employees are even unwilling to continue working on the Astermini project and will find ways to jump to other teams.

For this reason, He Yang also agrees, "The biggest driving force for business progress is to create profits. The same is true for Xiaonei.com. If you want to have more innovation and greater development, you must focus on creating profits, not public welfare."

Zhang Yiming seconded: "Most employees of Xiaonei.com are also pursuing the growth of personal value. It is best for the group's strategy to match the demands of employees, so that there can be better coordination and greater motivation. Xiaonei.com should control the balance between profits and subsidies. Xiaonei.com should be a testing ground for creativity and new project promotion. It should also have enough funds to promote new ideas from internal employees."

Zhou Buqi said: "Yes, but we still cannot ignore the strategic value of Astermini to Ziweixing. Among other things, the matching between WeChat and Astermini must be strengthened. Not surprisingly, Penguin must have organized a similar team internally We are developing similar products. Rely on Astermini and WeChat to capture the university campus market first! When necessary, Astermini and their products can be incompatible. WeChat is not a security product like Weidian Antivirus. This is a must-win. We must do it!”

Zhang Yiming said confidently: "There should be no need to adopt a technically incompatible strategy. Astermini will definitely dominate the campus market. The pre-installed WeChat is enough. Moreover, we also have 'instructions' to promote it."

"How is it?" Zhou Buqi was very concerned about this, "How is the operation of this domestic project?"

Zhang Yiming smiled and said: "Very good, in addition to the tie-up with Astermini, we have also established cooperative relationships with China Mobile, China Unicom, ZTE, Lenovo, Taobao, and JD.com."

"Where's Lei Jun?"

"No."

"Send Lei Jun an email and sign the contract with Xiaomi first!"