There is no problem with North American Fantasy Comics and North American Wolf Smoke Games, as long as they are implemented according to the established development plan.
However, no plan can be perfect, and there will certainly be various problems encountered during implementation.
And David Maxwell, the head of these two companies, is here to solve these things.
So after communicating with the heads of these two companies, we asked them to leave.
The last people who walked into Chu Huan's office were Li Haojun, general manager of Qingjin Clothing, and Taylor Smith, deputy general manager.
"What Nike wants to do is not just sports shoes, but all sports products including sports shoes, clothing, sports bags, various sports equipment, etc. These are what Nike will do this year!"
Chu Huan calmly spoke to the two of them.
David Maxwell was sitting on the sofa and was reading about Nike, Qingjin Clothing's O and several low-end brands. At this time, he heard Chu Huan's instructions to Li Haojun and Taylor Smith and looked up at Chu Huan.
joyous.
David Maxwell believes that everyone's energy and ability should be limited. Someone who shows genius-like abilities in a certain field may not have such strong abilities in his field.
But when he sat here and watched Chu Huan have a very detailed understanding of every company under his name, not just his own company, but the industry in which the company was located, and more importantly, he also discovered that Chu Huan
Huan can always find the direction that his company needs to develop with the most accurate vision.
At this time, David Maxwell would inevitably feel admiration in his heart.
If someone had told him a month ago that in the future he would have admiration for a 23-year-old young man in the business field, David Maxwell would have told him that this was nonsense.
But now he had his own thoughts of admiration.
Just now it seemed that Chu Huan was just talking about the simplest trend of Nike's future development, but in fact after looking at Nike's operating conditions, we can understand that this is an extremely important step for Nike's future development.
Looking at current sports brands, Adidas has already started producing and selling products other than sports shoes in 1972.
However, Nike's current products are still too single, giving sellers the impression that this brand is still just a relatively average brand.
Sports clothing and sports bags are all products that can enhance brand value.
Chu Huan didn't know what David Maxwell was thinking, but continued to preach to Li Haojun and Taylor Smith, "In addition, you should pay attention to expanding the diversity of products, not letting you expand endlessly. At this stage,
The expansion of those long-term products must be very cautious, and don’t touch this type of product before the company has developed it!”
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Nike was known as one of the most successful companies in North America. However, some people have said that if Nike could reduce its production scope, cut off those long-term products, and concentrate its advantages, its achievements would be much greater.
Bigger.
What Chu Huan has to do is to maintain Nike's diversity, but not let Nike run wildly in diversified fields like a wild horse.
Li Haojun nodded and said, "Yes."
Chu Huan continued, "The company's most important product this year is sports shoes with new waffle-style soles."
The new waffle-style sole is a Nike innovation.
One Sunday morning last year, Bowman, one of the founders of Nike, fiddled with a urethane rubber in a waffle iron mold and used it to make a new type of shoe sole. In this waffle-style sole
Small rubber round spikes are installed on the top, making the soles more elastic than other popular shoes on the market.
This seemingly simple product improvement became the starting point of Knight and Bowman's career, and also gave Nike a qualitative leap in sales for the first time.
Last year, Nike's sales were 5 million US dollars, but this year, Nike's sales will increase directly to 14 million US dollars because of this improvement.
It's just that Nike's Bowman can't see the current situation.
Taylor Smith said, "Chairman, after we acquired Nike, I visited the company's directly-operated stores and some shopping malls, and found that this sneaker is indeed the best-selling one and the most popular among buyers."
"This shows that technological innovation is applicable to any industry!" Chu Huan said with a smile, "So I decided to let Nike set up a research and development department, a research committee, and an advisory committee.
The research and development department needs to hire researchers with various degrees in biomechanics, experimental physiology, engineering technology, industrial design, chemistry, etc., and requires them to develop the most technological and beneficial products based on existing technology.
Sneakers and sportswear come out!
The research and advisory committee hires coaches, athletes, trainers, equipment operators, podiatrists, and plastic surgeons. They meet regularly with the company to review various design plans, materials, and improve the original sports shoes.
And for all this, the company will allocate US$3 million to these three departments every year. What I want is the most advanced sports technology and the most human-oriented research."
Li Haojun and Taylor Smith looked at each other. Adidas' product innovation has topped the entire sports product category, but its annual R&D expenses are only 1 million U.S. dollars. Now Chu Huan actually invests 3 million U.S. dollars in Nike every year.
Although there is a research and advisory committee for R&D, it does not take up much funds. At most, it costs 500,000 US dollars per year.
In other words, Nike’s pure R&D expenses are US$2.5 million per year, which is definitely the most among global sports brands.
This also made the two of them understand Chu Huan's emphasis on technological development.
Not only the two of them discovered it, but also David Maxwell who was sitting on the sofa. It was precisely because of this discovery that Maxwell set his sights on technological products for his future.
investment laid the foundation.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Then Chu Huan brought an even greater shock to David Maxwell, because Chu Huan not only gave the general direction of development, but also gave
A more specific plan was proposed.
"According to research conducted by the research laboratories of Xiangjiang Jiaku and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in North America, polyurethane-encapsulated air chambers can increase the elasticity of insoles. The first project studied by Nike's research and development department is to make this technology successful.
Put it on Nike sneakers.”
In the early development history of Nike, there were two developments that were very important. The first was the new waffle-style sole discovered by Bowman in 1975, and the second was the Shunfeng brand that used polyurethane-coated air chamber insoles.
running shoes.
In another time and space, this research and development was completed in 1979. In the same year, Nike launched the revolutionary Shunfeng brand sports shoes and called them a new generation of sports shoes.
Shunfeng brand was developed by a former aerospace engineer from Rockwell International. The soles are padded with polyurethane-coated air chambers to enhance elasticity.
This research took a full three years, and it was started this year. But in this time and space, when Chu Huan wanted to acquire Nike, he had already thought of this technology, so last year, he
It has been studied by Jiaku and MIT research laboratories.
It is still in the research and development stage. After Nike's research and development department is established, it will be jointly studied with the MIT research laboratory.
In another time and space, after the Shunfeng brand running shoes were developed, Nike advertised heavily with the theme of "air travel".
And during the three-year research and development activities, the company mobilized many people to try the new product, from police officers to podiatrists. The highest selling price of this kind of sports shoes reached $50, becoming the industry's leading brand.
Highest price.
Despite this, the product was still in short supply, so that Nike had to allocate quotas to each dealer.
It was the success of this research and development that made Nike become the most popular sports brand in North America. It was also because of this research and development that Nike surpassed Adidas and became the industry leader of North American sports brands, with a market share of
50, which also allowed Nike to successfully go public. At that time, its market value reached US$47.5 billion. Two years later, Nike’s sales reached US$69.4 billion.
This is a very confident person!
David Maxwell admired in his heart.
From what Chu Huan said just now, David Maxwell could understand that this research was definitely being done before Qingjin Clothing completed the acquisition of Nike.
There is only one reason for Chu Huan to do this. He is sure that he can successfully acquire Nike!
Li Haojun said, "I will immediately arrange for people from the company to contact the research laboratory at MIT!"
Chu Huan took a list from Xu Yi's hand and placed it in front of Li Haojun and Taylor Smith.
"Also, the two of you told me before that you have cleared out some of the company's inactive senior management, so why don't you explain to me what happened to these people?"
Seeing Chu Huan's serious expression, the two of them carefully picked up the list and read it.
When they saw the names on the list, they instantly understood why Chu Huan was angry.
Taylor Smith said with some helplessness, "Chairman, these people are all problems left over from the Phil Knight and Bill Bowman eras of Nike. After all, Nike is a new brand. In terms of attracting spokespersons, it is different from Adidas, Puma, Converse, etc."
Compared with big companies, it is still a bit inferior after all.
So the two of them came up with a way, which is not only to pay the endorsement fees of these athletes, but also to recruit many retired sports athletes to become the company's management and serve as heads of various departments."
This has become a tradition for Nike. Even if Chu Huan had not appeared, in 1983, Knight would have handed over the position of general manager of Nike to a high jump champion named Robert Woodell. 15 months later
, Knight took back this power.
This is almost unimaginable for a modern enterprise, and naturally it is not acceptable to Chu Huan.
But this incident also revealed some helplessness. After all, Nike is a new brand, and it is inevitable to make some strange moves when cultivating this brand.
But now Chu Huan doesn't need such a strange move. There is no need for such a strange move, but he cannot fire all these people at once, otherwise it will create an image for those athletes that Nike is trying to kill the donkey.
"Establish an independent department in the company that does not involve any operations of the company."
Having said this, Chu Huan suddenly stopped his thoughts and fell into silence.
Seeing Chu Huan like this, Li Haojun and Taylor Smith wanted to speak out, but Xu Yi stopped them with his eyes.
After a while, Chu Huan said, "Just set up a new external relations department at Nike, let all these athletes who retired and join Nike join this department, pay them the same salary, and tell them to contact various sports projects."
As long as new athletes can pass the company's review and become the company's spokesperson, the company will also pay them a certain amount of fees."
If someone can complete these tasks outstandingly, Chu Huan will not dislike them because of their background, and will also assign important positions to them, but the premise of all is that this person must be capable.
When the other people in the office heard Chu Huan's statement, their eyes lit up. No one thought that Chu Huan would have the idea of reusing resources.
These people come from the sports circle, and their connections are naturally beyond the reach of outsiders.
And according to what Chu Huan meant, the spokespersons they found needed to be reviewed by the company. This also prevented these people from finding a bunch of ignorant young people to join the company for commissions to the greatest extent.
Tyler Smith said, "What does the chairman mean by letting these people do sports agent work?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The earliest record of the profession of sports agent in North America was in 1925, when North American Charles Parley worked for the baseball player Granger and the Chicago Bears.
The boss signed a labor contract of US$100,000.
In the following 40 years, although sports agents began to appear in professional boxing, rugby, basketball and other sports, and the number continued to increase, their brokerage activities promoted the development and commercialization of these projects, but the sports of collective sports
Agents did not develop greatly in North America due to the existence of the "reservation clause". Until the late 1960s and early 1970s, most athletes in collective sports still did not have sports agents.
The reservation clause stipulates that the original club has the priority to renew the contract with the player. The player can only transfer to the team after the club gives the consent to leave the team. Players who do not get the consent to leave the team but do not get the contract extension are equivalent to the termination of their career.
Of course, another reason why there are no sports agents is because today's sports athletes are not as profitable as later generations.
Now, the sports agent industry in North America has begun to flourish, and the entire late 1970s is also known as the period of rapid development of the North American sports agent industry.
First of all, it was because in the 1970s, the "reservation clause" was abolished and the new free transfer system gave professional players the right to free transfer and independent negotiation, which provided an institutional guarantee for sports agents to significantly intervene in the field of professional sports.
Secondly, from the 1960s to the 1980s, a number of competitive professional sports leagues emerged in North America. The new leagues competed with the established professional sports leagues. They used high salaries to attract players to join, which to a certain extent promoted the sports industry.
The development of brokers.
Secondly, also from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, the athlete unions of many professional sports leagues gradually transformed from informal and weak organizations into increasingly powerful labor organizations that represented the collective interests of athletes and had labor negotiation capabilities.
.
The athletes' union gives agents the right to negotiate wages, further enhancing the agent's status.
Secondly, the income of professional players and coaches in North America has begun to increase significantly, and there is a need to find professionals to arrange tax and financial management. The professional knowledge and services of sports agents cater to this demand.
Finally, with the expansion and commercialization of professional sports television broadcasts and the improvement of entertainment value, various business opportunities are also coming one after another. Professional leagues and athletes have sources of off-field income, which makes sports organizations, athletes and coaches must
Hire a broker to develop and represent business activities to maximize your own value.
But at this stage, competitive athletes are still a not very popular industry in the sports world. These athletes do not want to share part of the money they earned with their youth with this person.
Chu Huan nodded slightly and said, "Absolutely, but they only have the right to contact the middlemen and have no agency. They are also told not to ask for benefits from those athletes, otherwise, the company will not be able to keep them!"
If you want to be a sports agent, you need to get certification. Chu Huan doesn't think that those at Nike have sports agent certificates, so they can't do many things, otherwise they will be targeted by the agents association, and there will be no advantage at all.
If you take possession of it, you will be in trouble!
Li Haojun and Taylor Smith nodded.
“In addition, it’s all about brand promotion!”
After clarifying the affairs of the company's management, Chu Huan talked about another important issue in wanting to develop Nike beyond another time and space.
publicity!
At this stage, what is the hottest national movement in North America?
Not basketball, nor traditional North American sports such as baseball, ice hockey, and football, but running.
The Olympic Games held in Munich in 1972 should be the starting point of this exercise craze.
At that time, millions of television viewers watched Votel defeat Soviet athletes Aganov and Frank Schott to win the 800-meter race.
At that time, the foundation work for the running craze had already been completed.
Before that, Kenyon: Dr. Cooper's enlightenment book "Hygiene" first attracted public attention to health.
The book scientifically demonstrates the health benefits of running or walking and has sold millions of copies.
Then James Fix wrote a seminal book, The Complete Book of Running, which sold millions of copies and was a best-seller within a few months.
So throughout the 1970s, the number of people in North America who insisted on walking increased day by day.
In the late 1970s, about 100,000 North Americans insisted on walking, and 10 million people wore sneakers at home or on the street.
Then came the mushrooming of various sports brands and sports shoe stores, which also spawned the emergence of many magazines of this type in North America.
Magazines such as "Runner's World", "Runner" and "Running Times" provide runners with relevant information.
It is precisely because of the current sports environment in North America that Chu Huan next ordered Li Haojun and Taylor Smith to strive to sign contracts with this type of sports athletes.
The most important ones are those who can compete in the Olympic Games in the future.
After discussing the issue of publicity, the remaining issue is the issue of sales.
“The company now not only needs to have its own direct-operated stores, but also needs to open its own flagship stores in major cities in North America, as well as have its own franchise stores in major shopping malls!”
Since the rebirth of this era, Chu Huan has attached great importance to sales channels no matter what industry he is in, and the acquisition of Nike is no exception.
As new sports shoes with waffle-style soles begin to sell out, Nike's sales and influence in North America are increasing day by day, so it is urgent to open its own flagship store and franchise store.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Li Haojun said, "On this point, I have already had a meeting with Taylor and the company's senior management. Here is the plan we have made. Please ask the chairman
Take a look!"
After finishing speaking, Li Haojun took out a document from his briefcase and prepared to hand it to Chu Huan.
As someone who came from Jiaku, Li Haojun was very aware of Chu Huan's habits, so after coming to North America, Li Haojun had already started to expand Nike's sales channels.
Wu Shuhan took the document from Li Haojun's hand, printed another copy, first handed one copy to Chu Huan, and then handed one copy to David Maxwell.
Chu Huan looked at the document in his hand and showed an expression of approval. He was obviously very satisfied with Li Haojun's plan.
"I have no objection. We can proceed according to your plan. In the end, it is a matter of production. The current production volume of Nike's only Nike shoe factories in New Hampshire and Maine is not enough at all. We need to find more factories for OEMs, and they are
Globally.”
Once the sales problem is solved, the remaining problem is naturally the production problem.
At this stage, Nike only has its own manufacturers in the two states just mentioned. This kind of production scale is definitely not enough for Nike's future scale.
So it is certain to find a foundry.
Chu Huan’s requirement for the foundry at this time is to have it in all parts of the world, so that it can better meet Nike’s global development strategy.
Of course, by the 1980s, Chu Huan would definitely put the largest foundry in his hometown.
Such a huge employment opportunity is a good opportunity for Chu Huan to establish his presence in the country.
In fact, in another time and space, Nike could successfully surpass Adidas and become the largest sports brand in North America not only for the reasons mentioned before.
There is another reason, that is, Adidas' sports brand miscalculated the market growth of sports shoes and sportswear, which led to their insufficient supply of goods for a long period of time.
Although this also happened to Nike, at that time Nike was already producing Nike products in 20 different countries and regions around the world, and these places undertook the production scale of Nike 85.
Now that he knows these problems, Chu Huan naturally wants to avoid them now.
This conversation lasted a day.
When Li Haojun and Taylor Smith left Chu Huan's office, it was already dark.
"David, how do you feel at the end of the day?"
Chu Huan sat across from David Maxwell, while Wu Shuhan went to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of Coke for Chu Huan.
David Maxwell nodded with a smile and said, "You can feel that the company's management is a team full of vigor and enterprising spirit. I am personally very honored to join this company!"
Chu Huan nodded with satisfaction and said, "Your partner will come to New York tomorrow, and I will arrange for you two to meet then!"
David Maxwell had already learned from Chu Huan that although he was the general manager in North American Jiaku, there was a deputy general manager under him, and this deputy general manager came from Xiangjiang Jiaku.
David Maxwell certainly knows what this means.
However, he was not dissatisfied with Chu Huan's arrangement, because David Maxwell understood that trust takes time to develop.
And David Maxwell also believes that it won't take long for him to completely gain Chu Huan's trust.
"OK!"
The next day, the person who took over as the deputy general manager of North America Jiaku came to New York. It was Jiang Zishan, the former leader of the second team of the operations department of Xiangjiang Jiaku!
After Jiang Zishan arrived in New York, he went directly to Chu Huan's residence.
"Chairman, madam!"
After seeing Chu Huan and Cao Yunshang, Jiang Zishan called them respectfully.
Seeing the dusty appearance of Jiangzi Mountain, Chu Huan smiled and said, "How is it? Have you explained everything about Xiangjiang clearly?"
Jiang Zishan nodded and said, "It has been explained clearly!"
"Very good!" Chu Huan nodded with satisfaction, pointed to the documents on the table and said, "Here are some information about North American Jiaku, Black and White Media, Fantasy Comics Club, Qingjin Clothing, and Wolf Smoke Games in North America. You
Get familiar with it as soon as possible!”
Jiang Zishan said, "Chairman, please rest assured that I will definitely get familiar with the business in North America as soon as possible."
Chu Huan smiled and said, "Since you have been asked to come to North America to jointly take charge of the North American Jiaku with David Maxwell, I naturally believe you. You and Wu Xiaoshi both came from Xiangjiang Jiaku, and I will not favor one over the other.
There is a property downstairs where I live, which is your residence in New York.
After you get used to life here, you can bring your family over. Although it's not as big as the one upstairs, it's more than enough to accommodate your family of four!"
Jiang Zishan is married and has two lovely children.
"Thank you, Chairman!" Jiang Zishan said gratefully.
Facing Jiang Zishan's thanks, Chu Huan just nodded, and then said, "You should know that when I transferred you to serve as the deputy general manager of North American Jiaku, I didn't just ask you to do Jiaku's affairs, right?"
Jiang Zishan looked serious and said, "Chairman, don't worry, I'm in North America. Companies in North America can't cause chaos, and we won't allow anyone to do something bad to the company!"
Chu Huan smiled and said, "The people in the North American Jiaku Investigation Department will cooperate with you, but you must always understand your responsibilities in the company!"