Chapter 82: Everything will be met by chance
As time just entered 1984, it was a bit unusual.
In the late January, Mr. Deng suddenly wanted to go to the south. Although this vocabulary combination has never appeared in formal official documents, it was widely adopted in the folk and media, and it embodies people's respect and expectations for Mr. Deng.
Fan Wubing closely watched the situation develop, proceeding in an orderly manner as he knew.
1984 was a very important year in the history of Chinese enterprises. Many companies that had been doing their best were born in this year. Later, people called it the first year of China's modern company.
Since New Year's Day, the domestic form of public opinion has been a bit strange. The enthusiasm for reform incited by high-density propaganda has become increasingly high. However, looking around the whole country, which region's reforms have been the most effective and most worthy of special book in the past few years? People naturally turned their attention to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, which was not included in the central plan in advance, and later did not receive special support from the central government, and is suffering from controversy at this moment.
In the past year, various criticisms and accusations against Shenzhen were in full swing. A northern party newspaper published a long article titled "The Origin of the Historical Concession", which alluded to the Shenzhen Special Zone as a new "concession". Later, there was an article reminding us to be wary of the emergence of new compradors and Li Hongzhang-like figures in China. Many old cadres who visited Shenzhen regarded the Special Zone as heresy and exclaimed that in addition to the five-star red flag, socialism is no longer visible, and the Special Zone is named "capital" but not "society".
In this case, Mr. Deng’s southern tour was more like a weather vane.
Along the way, he did not speak or express his opinion, and was silent and silent when visiting. His performance in Shenzhen was meaningful. He not only expressed his supportive attitude with his actions, but also left blanks in his words.
Soon, Deng Gong's southern tour measures spread throughout the country in the form of news, and the debate about the SAR came to an end. The second month after he left Guangdong, the senior management made a major decision and announced the opening of fourteen coastal cities and Hainan Island to foreign investors. China's opening to the outside world started from point to surface, and finally formed a pattern of openness across the coast.
In 1984, a vigorous operation began, and countless companies emerged in various places like mushrooms after a rain.
Just so happened that Fan Wubing met Bai Kening, executive vice president of PepsiCo in Beijing.
Bai Kening is a real American, but he was very interested in mysterious questions from the East since he was a child. After coming to work in China, he specially gave himself a Chinese name to show the differences between other Americans.
Lao Chen is naturally the one who threads the needle. He is happy to see that his country can also produce some high-end canned beverages instead of the same glass bottled beverages.
The two sides talked about a lot of issues, mainly OEM issues and the introduction of canned beverage production lines. Bai Kening agreed to the introduction of canned beverage production lines at once, but the OEM issues were a bit conservative.
Fan Wubing asked the reason, but it turned out that he was making OEM products, and Pepsi Cola Company also had to bear part of the responsibility. Whether there are any problems with dietary safety is a great impact. Naturally, they will not cause reputation damage because they produce things they don’t understand.
When promoting canned beverage production lines, Bai Kening seemed very enthusiastic and wanted to sell dozens of production lines to Fan Wubing in one breath.
It turns out that PepsiCo's development in mainland China was not satisfactory. The reason was that its old rival Coca-Cola Company had a more rapid development momentum in mainland China. Although Coca-Cola was also restricted at that time and could only be allowed to be sold to foreigners coming to China, in fact, Coca-Cola had long been scattered among the people, especially in relatively open big cities like Guangzhou, which were more likely to be exposed to the shadow of Coca-Cola.
I have to admit that in terms of taste, beverages that can surpass Coca-Cola can almost be said to be unique, that is, Pepsi can encourage and support it, so Pepsi has been thinking about how to do the best in the mainland market?
As the executive vice president of PepsiCo's mainland, Bai Kening is always worried about this. At this time, Fan Wubing made the request to purchase a production line, but it also conformed to his consistent proposal to support several potential rivals of Coca-Cola in China.
"We can even provide you with some loans as support for the emerging canned beverage industry." Bai Kening said to Fan Wubing.
"No, we have very abundant funds." Fan Wubing was not worried about the funds, he was just afraid of trouble.
Since he can solve the accounting problem at once, he is absolutely unwilling to leave any troubles. Loans can be done, and it must be done after starting a large company. However, for now, there is no need to take out a loan at all, which is also a need for actual situations.
"But we are willing to carry out close cooperation in technology. After all, we have to know much more about the domestic market than you Americans, and we also understand better what kind of drinks Chinese people need!" Fan Wubing then added.
"It's hard to believe that I'm talking about business with the same talented child." Bai Kening shrugged.
In fact, when Fan Wubing was in contact with the Sports Committee, he accidentally learned a news that Ouyang Xiao, a researcher at the Guangdong Institute of Sports Science, developed a beverage that allows athletes to quickly recover their physical strength and that ordinary people can drink, and is looking for buyers. Fan Wubing took a closer look and found that it is an orange-yellow beverage and water, with a very difficult name "sports drink to promote excess recovery". In fact, it is an alkali-containing electrolyte drink.
After comparing the two, Fan Wubing immediately realized that this was the prototype of Jianlibao that had not been put into production! So he decisively contacted the Guangdong Institute of Sports Science and bought out the formula of this beverage for 100,000 yuan.
"It's really cheap! It only cost 100,000 yuan!" Fan Wubing was so happy that he couldn't stop talking about it for several days.
Although Bai Kening did not want to do OEM business, she was stimulated by Fan Wubing's two canned beverage production lines and was willing to pay higher OEM fees. Bai Kening finally agreed to let the Shenzhen factory produce a batch of samples according to the formula provided by Fan Wubing.
As for the name, Fan Wubing called Jianlibao without even thinking about it. The trademark was copied as it was. Fortunately, he was impressed by it back then and it was not impossible to draw it.
Before the Spring Festival, a total of 2,000 boxes of brand new Jianlibao were shipped to Beijing with car skins.
When the Sports Commission saw the packaging of Jianlibao and heard this loud name, it was praised. This new trademark is shocking among many domestic products. The point at the top of the j-shaped figure looks like a sphere, which is a symbol of ball sports. The lower half is composed of three curves, like three tracks, and is a symbol of track and field sports.
Overall, the shape of the character is like a gymnastics or diving athlete who is flexing his body and sucking his belly. The entire trademark reflects the blood relationship between Jianlibao and sports. It was simply outstanding among the old and similar Chinese products at that time.
Another refreshing measure for everyone was that Fan Wubing used cans to package Jianlibao. In the eyes of consumers at that time, cans were undoubtedly synonymous with high-end beverages. At that time, there was no can manufacturer in China, and it was even more impossible for ordinary beverage factories to have such canning lines.
When the glamorous Jianlibao appeared at the sports drink selection meeting held by the Sports Commission, it caused a scream. Jianlibao became the first choice beverage for the Chinese Olympic delegation without dispute. Compared with all the participating beverages, it is the only canned product. The brand image is naturally related to sports, and the taste, color and quality are impeccable.
After seeing and tasting Jianlibao drink, Bai Kening suddenly felt a little regretful. He found that this drink might be more suitable for Chinese people to drink, and his Pepsi does not occupy an advantage in Chinese consumption choices.
"I probably have cultivated a competitor for myself!" Bai Kening said to Fan Wubing.
Although he said this, no one could see any regret or discouragement in him. Fan Wubing thought that this American was quite generous, or it was inseparable from his optimistic personality.
"I respect opponents like you. Since Pepsi can succeed all over the world, as long as the strategy is right, there will be no exceptions in mainland China." Fan Wubing said a few beautiful words against his will.
Fan Wubing knew very well that in the face of Coca-Cola's powerful offensive, the life of PepsiCo will become more and more difficult, especially after more than ten years, PepsiCo's sales in the mainland have dropped to an intolerable level.
Fan Heng could not stay in the capital for a long time because the factory director Wang Fuming and his team had already completed the business, so they returned to Panshi City together. Because Fan Wubing was specially invited by CCTV, he stayed with his sister Fan Ting and prepared to participate in the CCTV Spring Festival Gala live broadcast a few days later.
Because of his several big advertisements, Mr. Chen has been promoted to the head of the advertising department by the Taiwan Department. Director Huang has successfully directed the Spring Festival Gala last year, and his fame in the circle has also increased. With the care of these two old friends, Fan Wubing and his sister Fan Ting have greatly spread the various departments of CCTV.
Chapter completed!