First, the brand and brand marketing
Brand is one of the most important resources for the sustainable development of enterprises. In the development of China automobile market, the concept of brand has attracted more and more attention. However, for many car operators, the concept of brand is very vague. They often attach great importance to the shaping of corporate image and the promotion of products, while ignoring the value and role of brands. For an enterprise, corporate image is the first level, brand image is the second level, and product image is the third level. A brand must exist in an enterprise and depend on tangible products (services), but it can be independent of the enterprise it represents and the products it relies on. Because enterprises can be merged, combined or reorganized, or go bankrupt, products can be changed or updated, but brand value is eternal and increasing. The same product can be worth a hundred times with another brand, which fully shows the important value of the brand. Whether before or after being acquired by Volkswagen, the core value of Lamborghini sports car brand image has not changed because of mergers and acquisitions between enterprises. Therefore, developing, shaping and managing brands is the basis of corporate image and the embodiment of product value personalization.
For cars with strong personality, brand means market positioning and the value of product quality, performance, technology, equipment and service. It finally embodies the business philosophy of the enterprise. Brand image comes from consumers' recognition of it, and it is a "positive plus positive" value chain rather than a "positive plus negative" flat value chain. This value chain is driven by people's word-of-mouth communication and use effect. If the communication channels between consumers are not established, and the trust of consumers cannot be won, the brand value is equal to zero.
Brand has soul, personality, environmental characteristics and is alive. The core and destination of brand image is customer satisfaction. The biggest direct driving force of user satisfaction comes from the degree of satisfaction with the use effect of products. Judging from the value orientation of products and the resulting sense of value for money, it is these factors that urge enterprises to continuously develop new products, improve the scientific and technological content of technical equipment, and continuously reduce costs, in other words, to continuously make technological progress. Cars are different from ordinary goods. They have the characteristics of high price, repeated use and repeated investment. Therefore, another more important driver of customer satisfaction is the service level and functional diversification of the marketing system. In other words, dealers are the concrete embodiment of brand building. They should not only have the single function of selling products and obtaining benefits, but also have many functions such as market development, spare parts supply, maintenance, vehicle beauty, insurance licensing, financial leasing, installment payment, second-hand car trading, information feedback and so on. Marketing channel is a bridge to establish direct communication between brands and users, and it is an important field to improve user satisfaction.
Traditional marketing system can't improve user satisfaction and shape brand image. Because they are horizontal, pluralistic and non-integrated. For dealers, the result of non-brand or multi-brand sales must be horizontal development, single function and extension to other business fields. The result is high risk, difficult management and no image.
The importance of automobile brand marketing is determined by brand value chain, which guides dealers to develop in depth and create more value and benefits through multifunctional integration and integrated service. For automobile enterprises, brand marketing is conducive to concentrating manpower and energy on market research and development, planning, development and management of marketing network, increasing the service function of dealers, connecting and coordinating the market with product development and production, making forward-looking planning of the market and formulating flexible marketing policies. It can stabilize and develop the market, divide regions, control prices, and make dealers a powerful helper in market competition.
At present, the marketing networks of Buick, Honda and Audi are developing in depth. Their basic characteristics are the exclusive operation of dealers, that is, they specialize in products of specific brands, dealers have independent or relatively independent legal person status, independent financial accounting functions, multi-functional integration, unified image, and the whole network system presents horizontal organization and sells directly to end users.
Second, the automobile circulation system in China-from brand-free operation to brand marketing.
The automobile circulation system in China has roughly experienced four stages of development:
The first stage is the planned economy period (1953- 1979), and the basic feature of this period is the high concentration of automobile market management. The state allocates automobile resources in a centralized and unified way.
The second stage is the dual-track system period (1979- 1985), in which the automobile production and marketing management right is transferred to the management system combining guiding plan with market regulation, and the resource allocation is implemented in the mode of "the state regulates the market and the market guides the enterprise".
The third stage is the marketization period (1985- 1997). Enterprises have gradually become market-oriented producers and operators, the market demand is regional, and the buyer's market has begun to appear. This stage is divided into two periods: the early seller's market and the late buyer's market.
The most essential feature of the above stages is brand-free operation, especially in the market-oriented period, when there are many dealers, the institutions are not independent, the accounts are unclear, the functions are single, the market is chaotic, the market is wholesale at all levels, when the market is strong, it competes for resources, and when the market is weak, it competes at low prices.
The fourth stage is the transition period to brand management (1997 till now). China car market has entered the primary stage of brand management, especially in 1999, marked by the post-marketing system construction of Shanghai GM Buick, Guangzhou Honda Accord and FAW-Volkswagen Audi, China car market has accelerated the development of brand marketing. They have implemented a series of service processes for the dealer network, from appearance to internal layout, from hardware input to software management, and before, during and after sales, there are unified norms, unified logos, unified management and strict training. Brand management can not only standardize market order, strengthen market management, avoid excessive or vicious competition, but also establish brand image.
FAW Group is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in China. 1997 tried brand marketing with Jetta as a pilot. After tasting the sweetness, Hongqi, Jiefang and Audi also started brand marketing, and achieved good results. Take Jetta as an example. In the five years before the implementation of brand management, the average annual sales volume was always between1-20 thousand. 1997 after the establishment of faw-Volkswagen sales company, it broke through 40,000 vehicles that year, and then increased at the rate of 20,000 vehicles every year, from 1999 to 10. Especially in recent years, the automobile market has been completely transferred to the buyer's market, and it is even more difficult to achieve such results under the increasingly fierce competition, which shows the great role of brand marketing.
Of course, the brand management of FAW Group is still in its infancy, and there are still various historical burdens and many contradictions in the development process. This is a difficulty that must be overcome in the future. For Jetta, the brand marketing of carrier network has just begun, and there is still a long way to go in the future.
Judging from the results of brand management, compared with non-brand management, the marketing quality has been obviously improved. Specific performance in the following aspects:
1. Solved the separation of after-sales service and spare parts supply and marketing in the past, and strengthened other service functions such as licensing, insurance and vehicle beauty. As a result of the separation of the above links, it is difficult to coordinate interests, lack of stable information feedback channels between different departments, and lack of attention to specific brands.
2. Delineating the regional business scope and unifying the price policy are conducive to its further operation and development. In the past, many dealers were scattered in one area, which led to the disorder of prices and services and made it impossible to develop a single brand market.
3. End the multi-link sales of layer-by-layer wholesale and sell it directly to end users, thus reducing the circulation links and transaction costs.
4. The business model of "small facade" and "booth-style" has ended and turned to programmed and high-input operation. This undoubtedly poses a challenge to the tangible automobile trading market.
5. Cash transaction or pledge to avoid risks.
6. After the sale of a single new car, installment payment, 1 day car change and vehicle financing lease began to attract attention.
7. Initially establish a customer management system to track user usage and improve user satisfaction.
China's automobile industry is facing the cross-century challenge, and the automobile market is also constantly dividing and changing. We believe that building a framework system of automobile circulation with brand marketing as the core is the basic model and inevitable choice of automobile marketing in China in the new century. The foundation of brand management is to establish a new relationship between industry and trade, thus forming a moderate division of labor between industry and trade and evolving into a circulation system with brand marketing as the core under the leadership of automobile enterprises. There should be a pair of closely meshed gears between industry and trade. Vehicle enterprises are driving wheels and dealers are driven wheels. It should run smoothly and harmoniously under the driving wheel.
Third, some policy suggestions on brand marketing.
1, about the automobile circulation system. There are many difficulties in implementing brand management in practice, which urgently need the guidance and support of national policies, including:
(1) Vehicle scrapping and updating system-change the limitation of years and mileage into the limitation of vehicle performance, safety, environmental protection and energy consumption. (2) Insurance system-changing negative, equal and high insurance into positive and ladder insurance.
(3) Tax-consumption tax relief; Allow enterprises to deduct or directly reduce the freight and VAT refund to operators.
(4) Catalogue and registration-speed up the introduction of new policies.
2. About the automobile circulation mode.
(1) automobile management right. In the past, the right to operate automobiles was recommended by vehicle manufacturers and approved by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. Because there is no limited brand, it sometimes happens that the dealers recommended by this company sell the products of other companies instead of their own. Some dealers spend money with several products, which seriously damages the interests of vehicle manufacturers and disrupts the market. In addition, the right to operate a car is almost lifelong at present, and dealers who can get in and out cannot clean it up. Therefore, it is suggested that the state should clean up the right to operate cars and turn to brand registration without brand authorization; Change the lifelong system to a limited-year system and reconfirm it according to the recommendation of the enterprise.
(2) Marketing function. Change the business diversification of dealers into functional diversification. Support capable dealers to carry out automobile consumption credit business and financial leasing business, allow capable dealers to carry out old car maintenance and replacement business, and solve problems such as vehicle evaluation, registration and transfer, and insurance.
3. About the circulatory system. It is necessary to speed up the construction of a marketing model with brand marketing as the core. In addition, the premise for enterprises to explore the market is to understand the market and grasp the market information accurately and timely. Although the current information means are more and more modern, some basic information that is crucial to market decision-making cannot be obtained in time, accurately and completely. For example, car ownership, the number of new cars with license plates, models and user structure are all public information abroad, which can be easily obtained and effectively used by enterprises. But it is not in our country. It is impossible for dealers to get these local data, and even if they do, they are scattered and inaccurate. The state should adopt legislation to solve the problem of data as soon as possible. Finally, brands have no national boundaries. Nike sells brands, not just shoes. No matter where it is produced, consumers feel the same, and so do car brands. How to understand the different concepts of automobile brands now is related to how to understand the national automobile industry. The development of China's automobile industry benefits from the introduction of foreign brands. With the economic globalization, especially after China's entry into WTO, the internationalization of China's automobile market is also the general trend, which is also the main reason why foreign automobile companies began to introduce new products and technologies to China. Therefore, imported brands will continue to play a leading role in the future China automobile market. However, when establishing a brand marketing system, we should pay attention to protecting ourselves and prevent multinational companies from using the statelessness of brands to sell other products. This is a big problem that we should pay attention to, and it is very important to protect the automobile industry in China.