A proper path for e-cigarette development: ultimate stability, premium value, and facing regulation

From October 17 to 19, 2016, CECMOL Beijing International Electronic Cigarette Industry Exhibition held an electronic cigarette feast in Beijing Old National Exhibition. The author was fortunate enough to go to the exhibition for on-site interviews, observations and experiences. Walking into the exhibition hall, there are unique booths in the smoke-filled aroma, highlighting fashion and trends. The display cabinets placed on a variety of electronic cigarette products, but also novel, fashionable, dazzling. Young people in newly-dressed clothes walked among them, stopping in front of the booth from time to time to consult or experience e-cigarette products. Wisps of fragrant gas were sprayed out of their nostrils, adding a bit of magic. Yes, this is e-cigarettes. Ordinary people may not be familiar with them, but it is an electronic product or a cigarette substitute product that fills the traditional tobacco industry with a sense of crisis.

The number of manufacturers participating in this exhibition reached more than 500, and many first-line e-cigarette brands from around the world gathered here. 16 companies including Geirui and OVALE jointly held a new product launch conference to show the audience the latest mechanical rods, atomizers, cigarette oil and other products. Many new products on site are global debuts, launching suitable products for players at different stages.

At booth BT01, we saw the leading company in the domestic e-cigarette industry: KIMREE Technology. Different from other fancy and fashionable exhibitions, Geirui's booth is very simple and generous, focusing on product displays. At the same time, staff dressed in cowboys will present product demonstrations and answers to the consulting audience from time to time. Behind these cowboys, we saw a large poster with the main image of two galloping cowboys. The poster read: Firearms, no fire is better than fire. This is the latest product launched by Geary at this exhibition: firearms. The unfinished poster screen is coupled with a domineering product name, giving people unlimited imagination.

Don't be impetuous and fancy, and achieve the ultimate stability

As soon as I met Mr. Liu Qiuming, Chairman and General Manager of KIMREE Technology, I asked him about the meaning of fire without fire. Liu Qiuming said that as we all know, e-cigarettes do not need to be burned. Firearms, as an e-cigarette product, certainly follow this principle, but just because they do not burn does not mean that there is no smoke and excellent taste. ldquo; Firearms are equipped with ST chips and a new KIS system, which can achieve 0.1S rapid atomization. The energy is strong, and the full and rich smoke comes in at once, giving you a strong taste experience. There is no ignition during this process, but it is more than the pumping experience brought by ignition is even stronger.

Chairman Jirui introduced new e-cigarette products to visitors

Jirui staff promotes products to the audience

In addition, Liu Qiuming also introduced another highlight of firearms, which is the design of oil filling at the top, which makes up for the defect of leaking oil from e-cigarettes. Among them, the force feedback wheel knob used to switch modes will make a clicking sound when it is rotated, giving people the texture of mechanical operation. In addition, this product also features four-fold safety protection settings, including short circuit, dry burn, low voltage and timeout protection, ensuring safety.

In addition to the significant improvement in functional design, the appearance of the firearm is also very unique. The shell design of cowhide and denim is full of western cowboy style, which is both tough and tender, and the wild wind exudes from the inside out. When talking about why jeans are used as product image, Liu Qiuming introduced to us that the image of jeans is full of international flavor, and different forms of interpretation have achieved a high degree of unity of the cultural meaning of this image. Although e-cigarettes were produced in China, they were first popular in the West. Domestic development is still in its infancy and lack strong brand export. Then, as a product that is moving westward and eastward, with the help of a more Western-style brand image, it will be able to gain recognition in China faster.# p#pagination title #e#

For any product, product quality is the core foundation of its development, and products without quality assurance will not be able to go far. Geirui also understands this common truth and has its own unique product view. Just as the many e-cigarette products I saw at the exhibition, many of them have cool shapes and even subvert people's perceptions of product designs. In contrast, Geary's products, although they are not low-quality, in comparison, they seem to be a bit dull. In this regard, Liu Qiuming said very firmly that they are putting the mature process to the limit to achieve the ultimate stability of product quality. This stability includes the stability of the manufacturer, the stability of technology and the stability of product operation. In more popular terms, it means trust in the brand, simplicity and ease of use, and not easy to break. These seemingly simple and ordinary positive efforts that require perseverance are not just expressed by those cool appearances.

Influence high-end people to convey product value

If the entire consumer market is regarded as a pyramid, the mass market at the bottom of the tower may seem very large, but consumption is mainly concentrated on some necessities and fast-moving consumer goods. Such products often have formed a relatively stable market structure and marketing barriers. New entrants lack opportunities. The consumer demand of the middle and high-end people in the upper half of the pyramid will continue to shift, which will give companies that enter this market later the opportunity to meet and awaken the unique new needs of this group of consumers at the top of the pyramid, thereby realizing the rise of the brand.

For the domestic e-cigarette industry, although this is an industry that is receiving increasing attention and its development is booming, this prosperity appears more as a group and has not formed an influential leading brand. This may also be related to the current main audience of e-cigarettes. Walking at the exhibition, most of the people you see are young people dressed casually. They are very proficient in smoking e-cigarettes and are very interested in various novel e-cigarette products. Therefore, you can understand that e-cigarette products are mainly young consumers at present. Young people have a strong ability to accept new things, but at the same time they are too attracted by the novelty of products. They will buy any product that is personalized enough and lack brand loyalty. At the same time, the economic level and social status of young people determine that the products they support can only spread among the same group of people. It cannot affect people with better economic levels and higher social status.

Liu Qiuming and the Geirui company he led also keenly noticed this. Liu Qiuming said: Only when the brand becomes popular among middle and high-end people can it achieve longer-term development.“ rdquo; This statement may not be suitable for all brands, but in an environment where e-cigarettes are still new and traditional cigarette smoking traditions are still deep, such brand development ideas are indeed forward-looking.

Of course, we mentioned earlier that e-cigarettes are currently more popular among young people and lack the motivation to transmit to high-end people. Another important reason is that the current e-cigarette innovation focuses more on functional innovation and lacks it. Refining and disseminating its intrinsic value. The product power of products for middle and high-end people is not limited to the material and functional levels of the product, but also includes the spiritual and brand levels. For example, the product power of many luxury goods and cosmetics comes more from unique geographical, historical, brand and other factors. Therefore, the sources of excellent genes that e-cigarette brands can aggregate are very wide.

In this regard, Geirui has been working hard to practice. At the Shenzhen Electronic Cigarette Exhibition in April this year, the Imperial Tobacco Products Home (JAI) launched by Geary as the general agent in China conveyed to people the concept of caring for the health of their families. For mid-to-high-end people who pay great attention to the quality of life, such a brand concept may be a key to leverage. Returning to the new firearms released at this exhibition, they are following the nostalgic western cowboy pride route. This product character is for a group of successful people who already have career achievements and have the ability to pursue their own yearning with more spiritual values. It can be said to be very suitable.

Regulation is the guarantee for long-term development of the e-cigarette industry

Although the e-cigarette industry is booming and prosperous, uncertainty about the future still hangs over these e-cigarette companies. When the author threw this concern to Liu Qiuming, he responded very calmly: If this industry wants to develop in the long run, it needs supervision.# p#pagination title #e#

In China, the identity of e-cigarettes is not clear, there is no clear regulatory unit, and there is no clear industry ownership. Perhaps it is precisely because of the lack of regulatory restrictions that the innovation power of this industry has been released as never before. But in Liu Qiuming's view, in addition to the release of innovative capabilities, the lack of supervision has also caused some e-cigarette products whose quality is not guaranteed to flow into the market. Liu Qiuming said frankly that if the e-cigarette industry wants to achieve long-term development, it must be supervised. This kind of supervision can ensure the healthy development of the industry. But he also hopes that the current industrial state of blooming flowers will continue for some time, so that the innovation capabilities of e-cigarettes can be released to the greatest extent.

On May 5 this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued long-awaited e-cigarette regulations, extending its management authority to the field of e-cigarettes and banning the sale of e-cigarettes to people under the age of 18. The new regulations will officially take effect in three months. In many aspects such as policy formulation and product trends, the U.S. e-cigarette market has always been the vane of the global e-cigarette market. The U.S. government's attitude, policies and regulations towards e-cigarettes will not only affect the future direction of the U.S. e-cigarette market, but also have a huge impact on the entire global e-cigarette market.

Liu Qiuming also expressed his attitude towards the FDA's new regulations. He believed that blind resistance was meaningless. When the new regulations were released in May, Geary quickly translated the full 500 pages of regulations with more than 13,000 chapters one by one, and conducted in-depth interpretation and research. While many e-cigarette companies are still dissatisfied with the regulations and appealing, Liu Qiuming and his Geirui company have realized from a higher level that the new regulations are formulated from a higher perspective on consumer safety and health. Based on this, Geirui actively cooperated with the FDA's new regulations and immediately began to register various products, recording them one by one from customs to end customers, so that they could easily respond to the official entry into force of the FDA's new regulations on August 8.

Liu Qiuming said that as a mature company, you must change what you can change and accept the fact that you cannot change. Now that laws and regulations on e-cigarettes in various countries have been put on the agenda, and China's regulatory regulations on e-cigarettes are also being formulated. Therefore, if e-cigarette companies want to develop in the long run, they must not be afraid of regulations, but must impose stricter requirements on themselves. This is also a manifestation of being responsible to the company itself and to its users.

conclusion

According to incomplete statistics, in 2015, there were more than 800 e-cigarette manufacturers in China, but this year the number has dropped sharply to 300. The promulgation of the new FDA regulations has blocked the development path of many e-cigarette companies abroad, and the e-cigarette industry has begun to reshuffle production companies. Although China has not yet clearly issued relevant regulatory regulations, it is inevitable that the domestic e-cigarette industry will return to the scope of supervision in the future. I believe that by that time, e-cigarette companies will face greater challenges. For companies like Geirui, which have forward-looking thinking and a big picture, the practice they have been working hard to stand at the height of the entire industry will undoubtedly play a good role in demonstrating and leading domestic e-cigarette companies. In the future, if more e-cigarette companies like Geirui can emerge, the development path of China's e-cigarette industry will be much less troublesome to cross the river by feeling the stones, because they have already done a lot!