In the book The World Is Flat, the author Thomas L. Friedman describes the great changes that have taken place in the contemporary world. Due to the rapid progress in science, technology and communication, the development of globalization has brought people around the world closer to each other than ever before.
For domestic enterprises, mobile phone manufacturers are one of the fastest.
In recent years, China's mobile phone manufacturers have collectively gone out to sea, not only because the domestic market growth is close to the ceiling, but also because they need to go overseas to find markets. We can also see that China's mobile phones have moved from OEM to brand, from manufacturing to creation, from running with others to keeping pace with each other, leading in some fields, and gradually catching up with or surpassing international giants such as Apple and Samsung in product development and marketing strategies.
As a result, everyone turned their attention to foreign countries. Compared with domestic fierce competition, foreign competition is undoubtedly smaller, and more importantly, there is much more room for growth abroad. There are many such foreign markets, such as India, Indonesia, Thailand and Russia.
Take India as an example. As the second most populous country, India is the second largest smartphone market in the world after China. More crucially, compared with China, India still has huge room for growth. According to the report released by Pew Research Center on 20 19, as an emerging economy, the penetration rate of smartphones in India is only 24%, and domestic mobile phone manufacturers want to make their own world here.
Vivo is one of them.
Judging from the global smartphone market shipments in the third quarter of this year, vivo won the top five with a market share of 9. 1%. With the overall growth rate of the domestic mobile phone market slowing down, vivo has achieved such good results in the world, and overseas markets have contributed. In the second quarter of this year, vivo ranked first in the Indonesian smartphone market with a market share of 265,438+0.2%; The performance in India is also very bright, with the top three shipments all the year round; In Thailand, vivo mobile phone sales have continued to grow steadily. In the second quarter of this year, the market share reached 19.5%, beating Samsung and becoming the largest mobile phone brand in Thailand. .....
Vivo can achieve good results in overseas mobile phone market, which is inseparable from its localization strategy.
The international smart phone market is often a "card war" of capital, R&D and marketing. If you lack any item or are inferior to other manufacturers, you may fall behind. When any domestic mobile phone manufacturer enters the overseas market, it must face the encirclement and suppression of Apple and Samsung, and handle the problem of language and cultural differences. It is not easy to open up these "virgin lands".
Vivo 2065 438+04 entered India. As the first stop at sea, at that time, vivo executives took excellent domestic agents to Mumbai, India's largest port city, for a field trip. As a result, almost everyone thinks this is an opportunity for vivo. As a result, in just a few months, vivo has completed the layout in more than 200 cities and 28 States in India.
In 20 14, vivo entered the Thai market. In less than a year, vivo has more than 2,000 cooperative customers in Thailand and more than 1000 salespeople, and has built more than 20 specialty stores all over Thailand, forming a network that can provide sales services to customers all over Thailand, and has also built 15 after-sales service centers.
In 20 15, vivo entered Indonesia. At present, vivo has set up more than 100 service centers in various regions of the country. In the same year, the latest ultra-thin flagship X5Max of vivo was listed in Myanmar, marking the official entry of vivo into Myanmar.
Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Hong Kong, Russia, Europe ... Up to now, vivo's mobile phone business has spread all over more than 30 countries and regions around the world.
The market layout is just the beginning, and the work behind it is more important. There is a big difference between overseas markets and China. If an unfamiliar brand wants to take root in a completely unfamiliar market, it is impossible to "go out" without knowing the local market situation and local consumers. At this time, the localization strategy of vivo undoubtedly solved this problem well. Localization means that we can't copy the successful experience of other places, but we should customize products, sales and publicity strategies for local consumers according to local conditions.
When answering how to do localization well, Chen Zhiyong, CEO of vivo Indian National Company, once said that localization refers to a kind of thinking, and language is not that important. In thinking, we must think and think like local people.
Next, we take the localization of vivo in India as an example to explain the internationalization strategy of vivo.
For vivo, the primary requirement of localization is to use local people.
After the layout of vivo in India was completed, the sales volume increased, but the management of local teams, stores, shopping guides and other related personnel could not keep up, resulting in low efficiency. Moreover, the disorder of channels, the serious phenomenon of cross-regional goods smuggling and the inability to unify prices are endless.
Vivo is very painful and adjusted. It gradually returned to normal after three months.
The method adopted by vivo is actually the development slogan of vivo localization in India: "more localization, more globalization". No matter in the office of vivo Gourgand, the factory of vivo Noida, or the shops of vivo all over India, there are few faces of China, and most of them are Indians. This is part of the localization strategy of vivo-local management. Vivo is in India, and local executives are enabled, so that we can have a deeper understanding of the needs and usage habits of Indian users. Vivo has nearly 1 10,000 local employees and more than 70,000 stores in India, which is unique in understanding the needs of local consumers in India.
When vivo first entered India, it was a completely unfamiliar brand for Indians. To establish brand awareness, whether it is product technology, consumer experience or brand building, we need to make great efforts to overcome difficulties.
The first is product technology. Indian consumers attach great importance to selfies and social networks. They like to take photos and send them to social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Indian users want their mobile phones to be brighter and whiter. After understanding the needs of Indian consumers, vivo immediately began to classify and develop AI beauty functions for Indians with different skin colors.
In addition to product technology customization, vivo also attaches great importance to product innovation in India and strives to bring better mobile phones to Indian consumers. For example, vivo was the first to introduce the screen fingerprint phone vivo X2 1 to India, and the first to introduce the lift camera phone vivo V 17 Pro to India. Product technology is customized according to local needs, and constantly meets the needs of local consumers for trendy technologies and fresh functions. Vivo has gained the trust and recognition of a large number of consumers in the Indian market.
In terms of consumer experience, for the Indian people, it is important to buy a mobile phone that is easy to use, easy to use, and takes a long time. If there is a problem with the mobile phone, it can be repaired in time. Moreover, compared with online communication, offline communication is the main way of communication for Indians. Therefore, vivo does not hesitate to spend huge manpower and material resources to provide consumers with a series of services from sales to after-sales through more than 70,000 offline dealerships all over India, which undoubtedly brings trust and word-of-mouth communication to vivo in India.
In terms of brand building, because vivo is a completely unfamiliar brand in India, the first task for vivo is to start brand recognition and let the Indian people know what vivo does. Vivo's mobile phone symbols do not meet their needs.
Cricket may be strange to China people, but it is an IP of Indian culture and a belief-like existence in Indian hearts. India hosts the Cricket Super League (LPL) every year. In the seven-week competition season, there are 2-3 hours every night. Just like the Spring Festival in our country, the whole country is immersed in the carnival of the festival. After learning about the great influence of the cricket super league in Indian culture, vivo won the naming right of LPL for five years in 20 15. Since then, vivo has entered the vision of the Indian people.
In addition to the tennis league, vivo also invited Aamir Hussain Khan as the image spokesperson of 2065 438+08 vivo in India, in order to fully integrate into India and gain brand recognition. In order to get Aamir Hussain Khan to endorse vivo, local executives of vivo personally told him about the culture and company vision of vivo, and introduced in detail the development concept of vivo in India, which Aamir Hussain Khan deeply agreed with. Immediately, as an Indian "national treasure" figure and Bollywood "all-around" actor, Aamir Hussain Khan's image and the brand concept of vivo hit it off. The joining of Aamir Hussain Khan, the national male god, undoubtedly adds a lot to the brand recognition of vivo in India, where vivo has become a household name.
The whole playing style of Vivo in India can be used for reference in other countries, but different countries will adjust and improve it according to the local actual situation (such as religious belief, consumption ability, consumption habits and aesthetic preferences, etc.). ). For example, in Indonesia, in addition to opening more than 100 after-sales service centers, vivo also provides solutions such as "one-hour quick maintenance". However, everything will remain the same, whether it is inviting Minions to speak in Thailand or becoming the official global partner of the European Cup in order to get close to Europe; Whether at home or abroad, vivo adheres to the values of consumer orientation and "duty".
Vivo's "duty" values have also been brought overseas. In the vivo factory in Noida Industrial Zone, India, the pinyin "BENFEN" is printed on the elevator. When the blue elevator door is closed, the white English font "BENFEN" will be displayed in the center of the elevator door. Vivo didn't translate "duty" into English or Hindi, but directly used the pinyin of duty, so that employees in China and India could say "duty" with the same pronunciation. This practice has also been brought to other countries.
For vivo, cultural values should be in the same strain. In the face of different cultural differences, we should first respect and then uphold the same values, so as to better cross cultural differences, integrate vivo into the local area and better organize and manage local teams. It is with such a belief-like code of conduct that vivo makes the corporate culture consistent with local customs, and strives to do the right thing and do things correctly.
For vivo, making a good product is doing the right thing, and making a good brand is doing the right thing. Both are the "duty" of vivo.
Since 20 14 officially started its internationalization journey, vivo's products and services have covered more than 30 countries and regions around the world, with more than 350 million users and more than 370,000 offline sales and after-sales outlets. "Localization" strategy and "responsibility" values played a key role in it. Grasping the needs of overseas consumers and implementing the values of "duty" have laid a solid foundation for vivo to successfully take root locally.
Of course, R&D and technological innovation are core competitiveness. In terms of technology, vivo is not only forward-looking, but also dare to invest. R&D centers have been built in Shenzhen, Dongguan, Nanjing, Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo, Japan, and San Diego, USA. Five global intelligent manufacturing centers have been built, and 6G technologies have been deployed 10 year in advance. These measures make vivo not only realize the globalization of market and users, but also realize the globalization of R&D and manufacturing.
The excellent performance of vivo in the global market shows that under the powerful technology and first-class service of vivo, vivo is building a completely international brand image.
During the five or six years of deep cultivation in the global market, the internationalization of vivo has changed from a simple product to a business model, management methods and even corporate cultural values. This mobile phone brand from Dongguan, China, with simple values, is striding forward on the road of internationalization.