Seeing that Gu Kun was very courteous and corporal, Giorgio Armani finally suppressed the words he was going to use to angrily criticize the "barbarians at the door", making the first exchange between the two parties seem to have no smell of gunpowder.
I have to say that although this old man looks very old, his demeanor is still very elegant. He is only 65 years old and his hair is pure white, giving people a sense of déjà vu.
Gu Kun politely poured a glass of Tuscan wine for the other party: "Mr. Armani, times have changed. Luxury goods in the new era require new publicity and exposure, and those who don't like it need to know about it."
Wearing this brand is a symbol of status and respectability'."
Armani: "You are insulting art!"
Gu Kun: "I just mentioned an objective existence and external threat. I didn't say that I would interfere with your business philosophy - you don't have to do this, but Bernard Arnault is already doing this. His lvmh
There is no exception for brands. You don’t have to do this, but you can’t pretend to be an ostrich and deny the objective existence of reality.”
Before the arrival of the Internet, and after the arrival of the Internet, the brand ideas of luxury goods were completely different.
Before the Internet was popularized, insults were not a form of productivity, and click-through rates were not a form of productivity. Most of the reputation a brand needs is a good reputation, and only a few will degenerate to the point where they think insults are useful. (Melatonin is an exception)
But after the popularization of the Internet, the logic has completely changed. People can accuse Lv brand bags of being carried by vegetable sellers, but as long as this reputation spreads, people will generally realize that "this bag costs at least 20,000 yuan."
", then the purpose of the brand side has been achieved. From now on, if you carry a donkey brand bag on the street, others may not like it, but they have to know that you are carrying 20,000 yuan, and the purpose of reflecting your worth has been achieved.
In fact, this is similar to giving a box of melatonin as a gift. The person giving the gift may think, "I gave something else away, and the person receiving it after giving it away doesn't know how much the thing I gave is worth, and may even wonder whether he will receive it."
If you receive fake goods and receive discounted goods, is it because the unit distributed them so that you can’t eat them all before sending them to you? Is your sincerity enough..."
Instead of leaving so many chains of suspicion, it would be better to send a waste that everyone knows how much it is worth and that everyone knows that it is indeed useless.
In this way, at least the recipient of the gift received a clear message: Although he gave me a piece of spicy chicken, it was at least a piece of spicy chicken worth three hundred yuan in hard currency. I forwarded it to deceive others, and others also knew this.
It costs three hundred yuan.
Anyway, everyone doesn't eat melatonin, so whoever eats it has shark arms, so it doesn't matter if the shelf life has passed, then just circulate it.
If Shi Yuzhu's reputation hadn't been too good for packaging transformation, his idea could have been transplanted into luxury goods. Anyway, luxury goods only need to be recognized by everyone as to how much they are worth and have this attribute.
In terms of practicality, it is just as useless as melatonin, and its quality is far inferior to fakes.
At this juncture of 1999, people who run independent brands and regard themselves as artists mostly look at Bernard Arnault in the same way that people in China look at Shi Yuzhu.
As long as Gu Kun follows them and scolds Arnott, it is the best way to close the distance between the two parties. This is a typical tactic to divert attention from conflicts, and both the guests and the guests play it very well.
What can be better than establishing a common illusion to unite internal enemies?
As expected, Giorgio Armani's resistance subsided slightly. After he and Gu Kun pretended to be elegant and discreet about Arnott, the two started chatting and laughing.
Of course, Giorgio Armani is a very proud person. Even when he is a troll, he does it with dignity and no swear words are allowed.
Gu Kun saw that the situation was almost ready and put forward his first substantive plan:
"George, I really want to build the Armani brand into a pioneering image to fight against LVMH in the men's luxury market. Therefore, you need to defensively expand your influence and increase publicity. If you feel that your publicity is too embarrassing and not reserved enough,
, I can do it for you.
As long as you allow me to increase my financial stake and share more profits from the future growth of the brand, I will help you with these not-so-elegant publicity. The last thing I am afraid of is vulgarity, but at the same time I respect it very much.
artist.
If you don’t believe me, you can go talk to Galeazzo or McQueen. I have some friendship with both of them, even though they currently belong to someone else’s camp. Although my friendship with Galeazzo is not deep, it has been for several years. At that time
I was just a shipwreck hunter selling goods in the Netherlands, far from as developed as I am now, so you can get to know what kind of person I am."
The Galeazzo and McQueen mentioned by Gu Kun are the chief designers/design directors of LVMH Group and Kering Group respectively. Those people have good personal relationships with Armani, but they are a bit "literary", because artists are definitely not
People who openly admire other artists are very proud.
But most of them are willing to believe the opinions of their peers.
Giorgio Armani hesitated for a few seconds: "I will not allow anyone to interfere with my independent business decisions and design decisions. But now you have used various means to hold close to 40% of the shares, second only to me!"
Gu Kun smiled: "What's so difficult about this? You may not be familiar with the new situation outside, but you should also know that the hottest concept in the investment world right now is the Internet. In Internet companies, in order to introduce large amounts of money, they burn money to expand rapidly.
, it is very common for the founder team’s asset interests to be diluted.
But they designed a mechanism that allows the founder team to only reduce the share of dividends without losing control of the company's decision-making, that is, to engage in AB shares, with different rights for the same shares. I think the conflict between us can be completely resolved
By issuing additional AB shares with different rights for the same shares, I have the right to pay more dividends, but I cannot interfere with you. Moreover, we can even increase the promotion effect of some specific markets like Internet companies, and set a threshold for capital increase and share increase.
, the increase in shares will be allowed only after the treatment is cured."
These words really shocked Giorgio Armani and left him speechless.
Of course he had heard of the AB share plan with different rights for the same shares. After all, he was also the owner of a world-class independent luxury brand company, so he still had business common sense.
However, because of the nature of the luxury industry, he only knew the name and a literal understanding of the different rights for the same shares, and nothing else. He had never heard of the different rights for the same shares.
, can actually move from technology stocks to the luxury industry.
What is Gu Kun trying to do? His imagination is too big.
The key is that with this kind of thinking, no giant in the luxury industry has ever been so generous before. This is simply the "catfish effect" of Gu Kun coming in to destroy all vested interests.
If Bernard Arnault, Francois Pinault and John Rupert knew that Gu Kun was doing this, they would still hate Gu Kun to death.
Therefore, even if he did it, Gu Kun would have to keep it secret for the time being.
Fortunately, Armani is not a listed company, and the equity of small shareholders is basically concentrated. As long as Gu Kun and Giorgio Armani reach an agreement, it is easy to block the news for a few years. The two parties can issue new shares in the form of a secret supplementary agreement.
"If you can really help Armani grow without interfering in operations and design, it would be no problem for you to increase capital and share more financial benefits. However, how do you define your contribution? Let's talk about your intention to gamble."
Giorgio Armani has loosened up a notch like never before.
Gu Kun breathed a sigh of relief and said calmly on the surface: "It's very simple. For example, I will set up another sales company, and you will exclusively grant the distribution rights to the Asia-Pacific, or at least East Asia, and Southeast Asia markets.
That sales company.
Then, we leave a one-year buffer period, counting from next year, and bet on two or three years to see how much sales of the Armani brand in East and Southeast Asia will grow. If it exceeds the current sales by a certain multiple, the sales
The company has the right to demand a lower purchase price discount, and I also have the right to demand the issuance of new shares in Armani that only pay dividends but do not vote."
Obviously, Gu Kun wants to bet on Lanfang's sales and shipments in the next few years and its ability to influence the Chinese market. The reason why it will start from next year is because Lanfang's high-end shopping venues are still in full swing.
During the construction period, even if it is completed, it will take a period of buffering and publicity to let Chinese tourists realize its high-end features and form a reputation.
Therefore, it is relatively safe to start betting from 2000.
If Giorgio Armani bets well, Gu Kun can use this case to do the same with Gucci.
I believe that by that time, Arnott's attempt to acquire Gucci would have become a big deal, and Gucci's boss would definitely invite Gu Kun, a white knight, to resist Arnott's barbarian at the door.
When the time comes, they will hit it off, wouldn't it be beautiful?
Giorgio Armani thought about it and understood Gu Kun's proposal.
Gu Kun is a Lanfang native and a Nanyang tycoon. He still does not have enough say in other markets, but in the Asia-Pacific region, his popularity and publicity power cannot be underestimated.
After all, Gu Kun still has the status of "formerly the world's top superstar" there, and he knows and has friendships with many people in Hollywood. Even Armani had hired Gu Kunruan as an endorsement before, when Gu Kun was not so rich.
If Gu Kun becomes the majority shareholder, the brand promotion will be fully launched, and the promotion efforts will be very important.
Moreover, after becoming a major shareholder, there is no problem of losing your integrity when endorsing your own brand. Ma Feng endorses Ali Baba’s various businesses every day, and no one despises him as an advertising dog.
Armani just has one last worry: "Gu, please tell me seriously, do you think the biggest growth point of the Asian market in the future will be the Chinese cultural circle? You have to know that in the Chinese cultural circle, the annual shipment volume is not even
Even if it is one-tenth of the Japanese market, the value of China’s agency rights is less than one-tenth of Japan’s agency rights.”
However, Gu Kun is extremely confident about this issue:
"That's just the remnant of the Showa era. We have to look at the problem from the perspective of development. It is inevitable for the Japanese to enter a low-desire society. Only rising countries, only countries that trace back to their fathers' generation where everyone was still poor, can
The need to show off. If the aristocracy has been formed and the class has been solidified, whether you pretend that others know what class you are, then why spend this unjust money?"
The Chinese cultural circle will not always need luxury goods. When the Chinese class is solidified and my grandfather's generation is not "all poor", the Chinese will no longer crave luxury goods.
Luxury goods are used in those societies where "my grandfather is as poor as your grandfather, and now I need this bag/watch to prove that I am not as poor as you." After this stage, social discourse will become
"I like driving Santana not because I have no money, but because I am used to it. I drove Santana thirty years ago."