My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 476 Let's make sure the brand survives for a century first.
During the restructuring in the 1980s, property rights were an extremely sensitive issue.

Don't touch it.

This is a question of whether it's capitalist or socialist.

There are countless examples of talented and ambitious individuals who dedicated their lives to leading their companies only to be ousted in the end, as well as numerous cases of ruthlessly seizing state-owned assets and enriching themselves.

Wei Dong felt it was a matter of timing. In the early days when property rights were highly valued, most people didn't benefit much. These reform pioneers were often just trying to prove themselves and hadn't yet thought about making big money and becoming capitalists.

Later, commercial housing was built, land was auctioned off, and bankrupt companies and factories became commonplace. Some people started thinking about taking advantage of the chaos to acquire companies at low prices or even seize them for free.

Wei Dong certainly doesn't need to act so blatantly; he has plenty of opportunities to make clean and legitimate money.

Therefore, from Shangzhou to Jiangzhou, from Beijing to Shanghai, he basically avoided getting involved with state-owned enterprise property rights to avoid being targeted and having something to hide.

But he casually took over the sales rights and became independent.

Even the old leaders of Shangzhou felt that commerce was nothing more than a transporter from manufacturers to consumers, and that sales were nothing special.

In the 1980s, when society had just entered the commodity era, people did not realize that sales companies often contained huge profits. They felt that there were no visible means of production involved, so they did not take it seriously and thought that Wei Dong had not embezzled anything.

Correspondingly, "soft" assets such as brand, copyright, and formula will also go unnoticed.

Wei Dongcai managed to seize it without making a sound.

In fact, this part of intangible assets is where the pioneers in the early days of reform and opening up demonstrated their greatest value.

For example, Murong Fu's reforms to the shirt factory's product quality and production process, and Qiao Feng's innovations and improvements to the paper mill's toilet paper and toilet paper rolls, both embody the cleverness of intellectual property rights.

This is the most valuable.

Now Wei Dong was even more certain that Hong Tiancheng was that person: "Sales? Don't you know that my greatest strength is having a nationwide sales system? Otherwise, how could my sanitary napkins and jeans sell so smoothly? Haven't you seen that we advertise all kinds of products on TV every day?"

As expected, the test immediately revealed his true colors. Hong Tiancheng, who had been relatively calm before and could maintain his body language even when surprised, was now exposed.

Speaking of this, he immediately became animated, gesturing wildly: "It was after seeing you advertise sanitary napkins, clothing, computers, and cars on TV that I realized the era of this kind of advertising had arrived. Your advertising can be even better. I subscribe to an advertising magazine, a newly launched one this year, and you exemplify that advanced advertising approach!"

This prompted Wei Dong to stop his probing.

His approach to advertising, and even sales, is based solely on common sense from the media age that will be commonplace in 30 or 40 years.

It fundamentally lacks a profound and systematic strategy and tactics.

I don't have the talent for it either.

Qin Zhiming is the one who is truly talented and has a systematic approach.

But that's not what they're after; they'd rather explore new worlds, so we had to reluctantly use Xiao Qin as a substitute.

This is the biggest reason why Wei Dong was willing to bring Qin Yuye into the group.

For example, the reason why Wei Dong could tolerate Jin Zhuoqun was that the other party had an innate ability to create images that were professionally produced, even though Wei Dong could only describe the advertising scenes in a simple way.

However, Jin Zhuoqun's character determined his potential, but more importantly, his tactical skills were limited to shooting commercials; he was completely clueless about specific sales strategies and tactics.

In this current phase where the overall market is largely untapped, Weidong can certainly overwhelm its competitors by leveraging its generational advantage.

But once professionals appear, especially when competing with international brands, their weaknesses will definitely be exposed.

So he slowly nodded: "This is a skill. You should practice with the cosmetics factory's products first. These are also very important products for us right now. If we can achieve results in this area, we will have a lot of room to maneuver. Let me give you a general overview of my thinking."

Hong Tiancheng immediately focused on listening.

“Shampoo… We can indeed make a beer shampoo. I saw it when I was researching in Japan. Think about it, such a beautiful plastic bottle. No, the blow molding process is still quite complicated. We’ll make plastic bags first, increase the quantity, and then make the beautiful bottle after we solve the blow molding problem.”

Unexpectedly, Hong Tiancheng said, "Our factory has a blow molding machine, which was imported and upgraded by the Daily Chemical Factory two years ago. It can produce thousands of plastic bottles every day when it is running at full capacity. However, this machine can only make cream jars, so we still need to seek assistance from relevant units on the molds. This is also why I have been thinking about making foundation cream before, trying to make the best use of the existing equipment."

Wei Dong suppressed his overjoyed expression: "Okay, I have electromechanical equipment experts and relevant machinery factories to assist me. Tomorrow I will bring people to the factory to formally sign the contract with you. But remember, Jiangzhou Cosmetics Factory is just a contract manufacturer for my joint venture cosmetics factory. All I want is you. This factory is an outsourced production enterprise and does not own the ownership of these products. We are investing money to renovate the factory for better production. Ensuring sufficient production to support and expand the factory is enough, because the next product is the focus."

Hong Tiancheng must have had that expression that said, "I don't quite understand, but I'm deeply shocked."

Is this how enterprise restructuring can be done? Actually, it's because at this point, most people wouldn't think of starting their own company or factory, and they'd do it all from the very beginning.

Moreover, blow molding machines require an investment of hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan. Where would an individual start a factory with that much money? These days, even people with ten thousand yuan are rare.

Banks should ideally lend to these types of people, but the failure rate is far higher than the survival rate, so banks are hesitant to treat them as non-performing loans.

Therefore, it's still necessary to let someone like Weidong, who has already accumulated some initial capital, use a cosmetics factory as an OEM manufacturer, just for convenience and to help solve employment issues along the way.

What he really wanted was Hong Tiancheng.

Of course, obtaining all the necessary qualifications from a cosmetics factory does save you a lot of trouble.

It's produced by a professional manufacturer commissioned by the joint venture cosmetics factory.

This easily avoids future disputes.

"What's next? I've already invested tens of millions, and I'll invest hundreds of millions more in bioengineering products in the future. Superoxide dismutase, or SOD for short, is basically a powdered additive. Pingjing DB's SOD Honey is this kind of product, and it's great for the skin... You might not have noticed, but that little girl from the plateau who was holding the baby had amazing facial repair results!"

Hong Tiancheng's expression changed from shock to ecstasy!

"I get it, I get it, that's great! I've been racking my brains trying to think of any other way to make our product stand out. This is amazing! Is it added to shampoo? Can it repair hair? Oh my god, this is fantastic! It's incredible!"

Just by knowing that a product needs to have unique features, and actively and desperately trying to come up with a distinctive selling point, he has already set himself apart from the crowd.

This was 1985. Even he said that advertising journals had just been launched and brand awareness was just beginning to emerge. The key point was that there were no professional schools teaching this kind of thing, let alone online courses that are readily available everywhere like in later generations.

These days, people with this kind of thinking are all wild, they all have a magical talent from birth.

That's why Wei Dong's "magical ideas and creativity" are so valuable.

Now he nodded in satisfaction: "Shampoo can be made this way. Originally, we planned to make a repair cream. After all, it seems to better showcase the skin's antioxidant, immune-boosting, anti-radiation, anti-aging, skin-moisturizing, and age spot-removing properties. The key point is that we want to sell this kind of special product overseas to earn foreign exchange for the country."

Upon hearing about such a profound plan, the government officials nodded solemnly and earnestly, as if they had been entrusted with some kind of mission.

Wei Dong pointed to the bus stop ahead: "Trust me, we can make a name for ourselves here. You're now a cadre assigned to the factory by the organization, and I won't overlook your personal abilities in this restructuring. That's why I've reserved a portion for you in the Hong Kong joint venture. But we won't discuss it at this stage, or we'll decide who in your family will take the shares, to avoid accusations that you, the factory director, are betraying the factory and harming its interests. In fact, all these changes may stem from the leader's reforms. Go for it, and strive to drive your own private car or get a factory-provided car next year."

Hong Tiancheng must be wishing he could die for his country right now.

He truly fell in love with the advertising magazine the moment he saw it by chance, and even took the initiative to work for this small, low-profit factory, hoping to realize some of his ambitions.

He didn't even have any ambitions yet.

Yet, after just a few words, Wei Dong placed such great hopes on him!
You trust me that much?
So even after squeezing onto the last bus, Hung Tin-shing kept looking back, as if to confirm that tonight's meeting was not a dream.

Wei Dong stood there and smiled and waved at him from afar.

After the bus drove away, I whistled as I returned to the restaurant entrance. I was sure I wouldn't be driving anymore, and no one was bothering me with parking on the side of the road.

Besides, it's right across from the White Building; the receptionist can just tell the security guard.

It wasn't until I got to the car that I realized, oh dear, my sister-in-law was there!

I forgot in my excitement.

Dong Xueqing held the baby steadily in the back. She only opened the door and got out of the car when she saw him arrive. She handed the baby over, took his arm, and snuggled with him as they went home: "How did the talk go? You seem very satisfied with him?"

Wei Dong was indeed happy. He was a little excited after drinking. While reminding himself not to make mistakes after drinking and to control himself, he explained, "That's right, you deserve the credit for this. You brought the cosmetics factory here. The key is actually him. He has a very keen sense of advertising and product features. He will be a great help to us."

Dong Xueqing was the real helper. She paced back and forth, thinking seriously: "Shampoo... it's like the kind we stay in hotels when we go to Hong Kong on business trips. Yes, it's a product that doesn't exist in mainland China yet. People either use soap or shampoo. We can get shampoo into the supply and marketing system. If we have more products in the supply and marketing system, the cost of supplying products to the supply and marketing system across the country will be reduced."

If a company sells products worth two or three hundred million a year, and saves a little bit at each stage, the boss can buy a Rolls-Royce.

For example, in this situation, the driver should be the one to drive the boss, his sister-in-law, and the heiress home.

Why does it sound weird.

(End of this chapter)