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Ding Mingyi, former vice president of blooming sports operations who was responsible for the Hessian European Cup project, said that world-class top events can save sponsor brands 5-8 years of persuading overseas consumers. It is reported that Hisense sponsored the 2016 European Cup. , The popularity of 11 countries has increased by 6%, and Q2 sales have also improved by more than half.
Less than two weeks after the World Cup in Russia in 2018, the home appliance industry has already caused a resurgence in marketing. Following the publication of a full-page advertisement in the media by Vantage, and promising that the 'France team will win the championship and Vantage's full refund', Wan He also publicly expressed support for the Argentine team. And put forward 'emergency promotion, 50% off Golden Boots, and a free single '.
Affected by real estate regulation, raw material prices, and weather, the household appliance market is expected to be 'difficult' this year, and in this case, major companies have taken on the sports marketing express train and have started the 'World Cup Mode'.
According to AVC's total omni-channel push data for 29 home appliances including color TVs, refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, air conditioners, range hoods, gas stoves, etc., from January to April this year, the total retail sales in the Chinese home appliance market The scale was 249.5 billion yuan, an increase of 3.9% over the same period of last year. However, in January, retail sales in February and April all declined year-on-year, ranging from 0.2% to 2.5%.
'This year's overall market for the home appliance market is not as good as last year. The worse the market is, the more efforts companies make to promote sales and promote their products. ' Home appliance industry analyst Liang Zhenpeng said in an interview with the 21st Century Business Herald that compared with previous years, home appliance companies This year's investment in the World Cup and innovation in marketing methods are all more effort.
'Before it was price wars, advertising wars, channel wars, these relatively low-level competitions. Now with the consumption upgrade in the home appliance market, many home appliance companies have gone abroad to go international. To carry out the World Cup marketing can raise awareness of the brand in the international market. Can also attract the attention of many domestic fans. ' Liang Zhenpeng said.
Competition for the World Cup
In fact, this marketing drama began to brewing from last year. In April last year, Hisense Group announced a high profile investment of nearly 100 million U.S. dollars, becoming the official sponsor of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, hoping to double the world’s popularity. Gree and Midea’s This old couple's family began to fight a war of words from the middle of last year, and it is still secretly competing.
The reporter noted that shortly after Gree announced that it had won the bid to host the World Cup Moldova Arena in Russia and became the only water brand in the venue, Midea also announced that its central air-conditioning has won 7 of the 12 venues, which is the Russian World Cup. The biggest winners. In addition, many companies such as TCL, Changhong, Meiling, and Wanhe have reached cooperation with different national teams or stars. They want to further open their brand reputation through title sponsorship.
Meiling proposed that as long as the Belgian football team enters the quarterfinger, the purchase of Meiling M Fresh Life Refrigerator 645/639/660 can be discounted by 20%; Belgium will reach the finals with 50% off; Belgium wins the title and all consumers who purchase the above model products will be exempted. Buying other models 'M fresh and raw' products returned 1,000 yuan. Wen Jianping, president of Ovid Cloud Network believes that this is a bold innovation and breakthrough of Meiling's marketing channels and marketing methods.
On May 31st, Vantage published in the media the full-page advertisement of 'The French team won the championship, Vantage returned the full amount' and attached the autograph of the chairman and the company’s seal. Vantage stated that if the French team wins the title, the company will be in June. 1st to 30th purchase of Vantage's "crown package" for a full refund of consumers.
Afterwards, Wanhe also joined the marketing war, but replaced the 'bet' with the Argentina team. At the same time, it divided the discount into three levels: 'returning to cash back', 'playing a 50% discount for football boots.' 'And the 'Argentina won a million and free single'. The company's relevant person in charge revealed to reporters, Wanhe will also launch Argentina fans custom water heater, on the 8th to accept online booking. Million and expect, during the event online and offline year-on-year Growth will exceed 30%.
In recent years, sports marketing has become a new path for the internationalization of Chinese brands. It is also a short cut. Ding Mingwei, former vice president of blooming sports operations who was responsible for docking the Hisense Euro Cup project, said that world-class top events can save sponsor brands -8 years to persuade overseas consumers. It is reported that after Hisense sponsored the 2016 European Cup, its visibility in 11 countries increased by 6%, and sales in the second quarter of the year also rose by more than half.
Risk rises
However, if the amount of investment is too high, there will be risks, especially for home appliance companies whose profits have already been meager. This cannot be taken lightly.
'In general, home appliance companies will treat the World Cup marketing as a promotional activity, as a cost of publicity and promotion.' Liang Zhenpeng believes that Hisense spent nearly 100 million US dollars to sponsor the World Cup, not so easy to recover the cost 'There is not much net profit for the entire Hisense Group for a year, so this cost is relatively high for Hisense, and the risk is naturally high.' Liang Zhenpeng said.
Zhu Yuanyuan, deputy general manager of Auwei Cloud Network Black Power Division, told reporters that the average profit margin of major companies in China's color TV industry was only 1.3% last year. Compared with other home appliance categories, they are operating at low profits. In fact, this year, home appliance companies are rushing to the World Cup marketing. The heat is higher than in previous years, mainly due to the home appliance market, and even the fast-growing kitchen power in recent years has also grown at a slower pace.
According to AVC data, in the first quarter of this year, the sales volume of China Kitchen Appliances Home Appliances reached 12.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 6.1%. During the same period, the total retail sales of air conditioners was 33.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.9%. Retail volume 915 Million units, up 9.5% year-on-year, but the retail sales growth in the first quarter of 2017 fell 17% year-on-year.
Liang Zhenpeng told reporters that the real estate market has a greater impact on the appliance market. 'Because of the real estate environment, China's color TV market is flat this year, or slightly increased, compared to 2017. The growth prospects are not optimistic. The overall home appliance market is more than the total capacity of last year. May also fall. '
For Meiling, Vantage, Wanhe, etc., for gambling marketing, Liang Zhenpeng thinks the risk is limited. 'First of all, this kind of championship package is actually two or three models. And if consumers do not choose to win the championship package or say no agreement, they will give up. This activity, so for the enterprise, it is purely a promotion method of marketing strategy. 'But Zhenpeng Peng reminded that companies should fully communicate with the channels in advance to simplify the operation process so as to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding and leave consumers with no Make a good impression, turn good things into bad things.