1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 375: Wolf in front and tiger in back
As a person who is full of mystery and almost like a demon in the eyes of his little apprentice, Yang Mo actually has a psychological shadow about sanitary napkins in addition to unripe figs.

This probably stems from an experience of social death I had when I was in college in my previous life.

He will never forget the white and red object that fell from the sky when he passed by the girls' dormitory one day.

I also can't forget him and an equally ignorant roommate squatting in front of that cotton object, discussing doubtfully and seriously whether it was an unknown medical trauma first aid item or some new type of warm insole that was stained with blood due to an accident;
Of course, what he could not forget was...

The hysterical screams and calls of "hooligan" by the female classmates passing by.

In short, in the end, he and his unlucky roommate read a 2,000-word self-criticism in the department, and then spent the last two years of college in embarrassment amid the strange and wary looks of their female classmates.

Therefore, when his little apprentice slapped those sanitary napkins in front of him, even though he had been a human being for two lifetimes, that terrible experience still made him feel uncomfortable as if he were being pricked by needles all over.

However, the young disciple obviously didn't know that her master had such an embarrassing experience. At this moment, she was massaging Yang Mo's shoulders while talking about her troubles.

………………

"Master, didn't you ask us to take initiative and promote some C-end projects that can generate a large amount of short-staple cotton and chemical raw materials based on the tertiary industry units in Dongying, based on the creation of new jobs and profitability?"

"I went back and sorted out my thoughts. I felt that sanitary napkins and sanitary napkins were a good direction. After all, these two things are in rigid demand, and their main raw materials are cotton... Especially sanitary napkins. Due to their structure and function, the filling requirements are actually lower than those of sanitary napkins. As long as the water absorption capacity is guaranteed, even cotton fluff made from scraps will do. This makes it easier to obtain raw material indicators and can also increase the consumption of raw cotton in Texas. "

"In addition, foreign sanitary napkin brands have begun to use non-woven fabrics as the outer material... This stuff is made of polyester fiber and polyester fiber. The domestic production capacity is also not high. In addition, there are no chemical plants in Texas that can produce non-woven fabrics on a large scale. If a large amount of demand can be generated locally, the market supply and demand relationship can force the implementation of the Solitary Island No. 2 project in Texas. From the underlying logic, it can be said to be a perfect project."

After briefly explaining his starting point, the little apprentice's face wrinkled: "However, the initial idea may be good, but when it comes to the derivation stage, I find that it is extremely difficult to create enough demand through this seemingly perfect project!"

Yang Mo calmly used a lighter to move the sanitary napkins in front of him a dozen centimeters away, then gently closed his eyes, as if he was enjoying a massage from his little apprentice: "What's the problem?"

Bai Mengmeng noticed his master's little trick and curled his lips, but his tone was normal: "It mainly appeared in the market competition situation of sanitary napkins."

As he spoke, the young apprentice sighed, "Yesterday, I asked my secretary to get some rough data from the statistical system. Then I realized that sanitary napkins are definitely a new thing for people in our country. They only gradually came into everyone's sight after the reform and opening up."

"Although in 1982, our country introduced the first sanitary napkin production line from Ruiguang Co., Ltd. in the island country, and the products produced were the most popular straight sanitary napkins (without wings) in the world at that time, but in the final analysis, the original purpose of introducing this production line was to meet the special needs of foreign women when they traveled to China... Even if it was gradually accepted by the Chinese people, it was only circulated among wealthy women in big cities."

"Think about it, that's right. That was the 7s. A pack of sanitary napkins cost 16 cents, and there were 1 pieces in a pack. Women used to use toilet paper, which only cost 7 cents a pack. Even tampons were only 2 cents a can..."

"Tsk tsk, a pack of sanitary napkins costs 7 cents, which is almost 10 yuan a year... In that era, 20 yuan could support a person, and you have to spend or yuan a year to buy this thing. Who among the ordinary people can afford this!"

"So, the sanitary napkin business that was once so popular in the West was not popular in our country. After those sanitary napkin brands that entered our country in the early 1980s noticed this situation, they also turned their attention to cheaper sanitary napkins and spent a lot of energy on advertising in this area every year... The situation has finally improved."

Yang Mo snorted in dissatisfaction: "Don't waste time on these well-known contents...get to the point!"

Bai Mengmeng looked at his master with some resentment: "Master, please don't be like this. You have to let me finish explaining the cause and effect, so that the logic can be connected... Your disciple is stupid, if you don't finish connecting these things, there will be no way to deduce the following things!"

Yang Mo opened his eyes and turned to look at her speechlessly, then waved his hands tiredly: "I'm afraid of you, okay, just continue talking at your own pace!"

The young apprentice stuck out his tongue guiltily and continued, "Although foreign brands have some intention of changing their ways in view of the low spending power of Chinese people, and have only retained the most basic market share in the sanitary napkin sector...but domestic companies have smelled a business opportunity."

"In 1985, the newly founded Fujian Hengan Industrial Company became the first private enterprise in China to take the lead in this regard. After a year of hardship, its Anle brand sanitary napkins finally overcame the difficulties of lack of foreign exchange to import sanitary napkin raw materials from abroad and the inability to effectively spread into large urban channels. With a desperate effort, it paid a large sum of money to buy advertisements in the hit TV series "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea"; and finally formed a huge demand on the C-end, and revived."

"From the counterattack of Anle sanitary napkins, Master, your idea of ​​using the C-end market as a leverage point to reversely promote the implementation of the Island II project is undoubtedly correct!"

After flattering his master a little, the young apprentice's face wrinkled again: "But the problem is, after several years of development, according to the data provided by the industrial and commercial system, Anle sanitary napkins' market share in the country has approached 40%,... In big cities like Shanghai, its terminal laying rate is as high as more than 70%;"

"In short, Anle sanitary napkins are already the undisputed number one in the industry, and their dominance in the minds of consumers has left other brands far behind. There are even signs that they have become synonymous with sanitary napkins, and they have an absolute advantage in the business ecological niche."

"In addition, according to gossip provided by the Ministry of Commerce, foreign companies such as Procter & Gamble, Kao, Kimberly-Clark, and Unicharm also show signs of entering the Chinese sanitary napkin market again;"

"After all, as of last year, Chinese women consumed 20 billion sanitary napkins throughout the year, and the number of people who actually used sanitary napkins was less than 1200 million... Although this number is pitifully small compared to the number of menstruating women in China, in terms of market penetration, it is definitely in the early stages of market introduction. Even if the price is calculated at 1.2 yuan per pack, the current sanitary napkin market in China is only worth 1.5 million yuan;"

"But the base of 3.8 million potential consumers and the compound annual growth rate of 80% in recent years are really an extremely attractive super cake for foreign brands."

The young apprentice sighed: "Well, although foreign brands have more advantages in technology and innate influence, except for OB, the other brands have not yet officially entered the country, so we can talk about it later and put it aside for the time being;"

"But if we want to make efforts in the sanitary napkin market, we have to face more than just Anle... According to the data that Secretary Xiang asked from the industrial and commercial system, as of April this year, more than 4 domestic companies have entered the sanitary napkin market, including state-owned enterprises... Judging from the current situation of regional barriers in various places, it is almost unrealistic for us to rely on the first-mover advantage of the new market like Anle sanitary napkins did in the past and circumvent these barriers before others pay attention to them."

"Well, most of these companies are in the south. Relying on the influence of Momo Baizha and Momo Baichao, our base is Qilu and the three provinces in the Central Plains. If you look closely, although there are many companies entering the sanitary napkin market, apart from facing the industry leader Anle sanitary napkin, there is actually no need to worry too much;"

"After all, I roughly estimated that, excluding all competitive factors, as long as we invest enough, do a good job of publicity, and focus more on future incremental markets and undeveloped areas, it is not impossible for our market share to exceed 10% before the middle of next year."

"Although a 10% market share is not high, considering the current compound growth rate of the sanitary napkin market, it is still very helpful for the implementation of the Solitary Island II project."

At this point, the young apprentice's tone suddenly became depressed: "But when I made the industry competition segmentation model and classified sanitary napkin companies in various regions by region, I found that... in the field of sanitary napkins, the three provinces in the Central Plains cannot be regarded as our base at all;"

"Let alone the three provinces in the Central Plains, even using the influence of the oil system to cover the entire Qilu region is difficult!" Yang Mo looked at her in surprise: "Why?"

Bai Mengmeng hung his head. "Because Factory Director Ma Shengli has also entered the sanitary napkin market in the past two years... Although their sanitary napkins are mainly filled with pulp, the quality is definitely not as good as those filled with cotton, but their influence is there. Their headquarters is in Changshan, which is only more than 10 kilometers away from Dezhou... This mountain alone is enough to make us suffer. How can we grab 10% of the market share so smoothly... Forget 3%, even % is hard enough!"

Yang Mo suddenly realized...how could he have forgotten about this person?

As mentioned before in Chapter N, Ma Shengli was one of the most famous factory directors in the 20s. He was received by Zhongnanhai four times and was even regarded as a banner figure at one point... Because he took the initiative to contract 100 paper mills in more than provinces, he was nicknamed "Ma Contract".

This leading figure in the domestic papermaking industry at that time has always been famous for his courage to innovate. Therefore, he not only pioneered the printed toilet paper and scented toilet paper that are common in later generations, but was also one of the first people in the country to introduce sanitary napkin production technology.

Of course, the reason why Director Ma introduced sanitary napkin production technology was mainly to absorb the pulp production capacity of those paper mills. Therefore, in terms of comfort and quality, the sanitary napkins he launched were definitely not as good as those filled with all cotton fluff.

But everyone on earth knows that the quality of a product has never been a decisive factor in the market. Those who think that they can conquer the world with a good product will have the grass three feet high on their graves.

Therefore, with such a Director Ma in charge of Changshan, it is really extremely difficult for the young apprentice to make achievements in the sanitary napkin business.

However, he knew his apprentice very well. If this project really couldn't work, she wouldn't come to him for help. He could just kill the project. Anyway, there were a lot of directions and projects planned to promote the implementation of Isolated Island No. 2, so she didn't need to stick to this one.

He touched his chin and said, "Director Ma... I almost forgot about this. This is indeed a huge challenge. With the golden light protecting us, if there is a conflict in business, we will be the ones to suffer."

As he spoke, Yang Mo looked at his little apprentice with interest: "So, what is your countermeasure?"

Bai Mengmeng was shocked when he heard this: "Master, didn't you always teach me to learn how to tap into potential demand and how to segment the market based on my own resource advantages?"

"So I thought, if I were to stupidly go ahead and make regular sanitary napkins, there would be a roadblock in front of me with Anle sanitary napkins, which has a market share of up to 40%, and there would be sanitary napkins produced by Director Ma and his team blocking the way at the terminal... So I might as well not make regular sanitary napkins!"

"Let's just bypass them in terms of mental space and usage scenarios...let's make functional sanitary napkins!"

Functional sanitary napkins?

Yang Mo hesitated for a moment, then responded: "Are you planning to make medicinal sanitary napkins?"

The young disciple chuckled and said, "Master is really amazing. He saw through my plan at a glance!"

"That's right. The plan I came up with was to make medicated sanitary napkins... To be more precise, sanitary napkins with Chinese medicinal ingredients and scented sanitary napkins."

As he spoke, Bai Mengmeng pulled a bench and sat down impatiently, and couldn't wait to explain his ideas to his master: "Master, I have carefully analyzed where our real advantages are;"

"In the eyes of outsiders, we are a central enterprise in the oil system, so our advantages are naturally in this area... For example, we can obtain better quality petrochemical raw materials at a lower cost, and even obtain sufficient quantities of some raw materials that are currently in short supply."

"But we all know that the oil system is huge. Qilu is not the only country in the country that has oil fields. Qilu is the only country with a supporting chemical industry. Only the headquarters can allocate the raw material production capacity of subordinate chemical units... What Qilu Oilfield can do, other local oil systems can also do, and even many local competent authorities can coordinate;"

"Since the local competent authorities can coordinate, it naturally means that those local key enterprises can also enjoy relevant preferential treatment and convenience."

"So, our real advantage, on the one hand, lies in the good mass base that you, Master, have laid in the three provinces of the Central Plains and some grassroots rural areas of Qi and Lu in the early stage; on the other hand, it is that we have one of the few and largest GAP authentic medicinal materials planting bases in the country!"

"Therefore, I believe that if we want to break through, we must leverage our advantages in authentic medicinal materials!"

"Master Zuoyou, you are also thinking of expanding the use scenarios of authentic medicinal materials, thereby influencing the positive cycle of the GAP planting base, and further expanding the planting area of ​​authentic medicinal materials... My idea of ​​​​the medicinal sanitary napkin coincides with yours."

At this point, the young apprentice hesitated for a moment, smacked his lips with some difficulty, and said, "Master, you are a man, so you may not understand much about women's affairs;"

"Let me tell you this, the female body structure is very special. Due to long-standing hygiene habits and living habits, in fact, whether in rural or urban areas, most women's private parts are more or less inflamed, and some even have odor;"

"As far as I know, this situation is divided into 28 to 30 years old. The older you are, the more serious it is. Younger girls are slightly better... But no matter what, as long as you have a partner, get married, and especially have children, the proportion of this kind of situation will rise sharply."

"Well, women, whether they are young or older, are all very vain and pay a lot of attention to their personal image... My dad said that the most important thing for a man is face, but I think that we girls value face much more than you men in some aspects."

"Think about it, menstruation is already very uncomfortable, and then coupled with the uncontrollable itching, it would be even more painful; if there is also a strange smell and others smell it, how can you live!"

"So, based on these two needs that don't seem to be rigid needs, but are more rigid needs than rigid needs for most women, I have come up with sanitary napkin products with anti-inflammatory effects as the main function, and scented sanitary napkins with the main functions of anti-inflammatory and odor covering..."

Before she finished speaking, Yang Mo raised his hand to interrupt her: "When you were looking for medical staff to verify the technology, you found that these two products had disadvantages in terms of cost and function. But you couldn't make a choice, and you didn't know if there was any way to make up for it, so you came here to ask for my opinion?"

Bai Mengmeng looked at him in surprise when he heard this: "Huh? Master, you already knew about this?"

Yang Mo smiled: "Of course I know..."

(End of this chapter)