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Many distributors, after expanding their distribution business, have the intention of creating their own brands. They believe that with their own channels, becoming a manufacturer should be no problem at all. After all, manufacturers' products are easily sold through their channels, so why can't they earn that profit? With confidence in their sales channels, many agents take on brand buyout work. Brand buyout is a comprehensive operation, and not every distributor is qualified for it. Having been accustomed to being a distributor, there will inevitably be a gap between them and professional brand management. So, what aspects need adjustment and improvement when transitioning from a product agent to a brand buyout operator?
The following points are key areas that distributors can explore and pay attention to in practice.
- From "Selling Crutches" to "Thousand-Hand Guanyin" Zhao Benshan's sketch "Selling Crutches" illustrates the "clever tricks" of many businesspeople. Although they succeed, they secretly feel a sense of guilt. Many Chinese distributors are like this, trying to "sell crutches" every day, operating in uncertainty with their products. From EMKT.com.cn
But as a brand buyout operator, when crutches start being mass-produced, can you still be uncertain and "fool" people one sale at a time? Many distributors may not have encountered downstream clients or terminals as sharp as "Fan Wei" who can counterattack and research, so they continue their "fooling" actions: trying hard to get distributors or secondary wholesalers to stock up, then ignoring them; skimming promotional items and expenses provided by manufacturers; making distributors and secondary wholesalers absorb product quality issues, with no way for them to claim costs! Suddenly remembering or hearing about a good activity, they act without analysis, resulting in overstocked promotional products, then changing production batch numbers and dates, and selling them at the original price...
The success of "Thousand-Hand Guanyin" is completely different and serves as a model for brand buyout operators. Although the performers have disabilities and becoming professional dancers is extremely difficult, similar to the foundation of distributors becoming brand buyout operators—lacking innate conditions for branding—through standardized and systematic cooperation, steady progress, following the basic routines of brand product operation, finding a suitable stage, and finding step-by-step operational procedures, they can ultimately achieve great success!
From "Selling Crutches" to "Thousand-Hand Guanyin," this is the first hurdle: standardized operation yields results.
- From "Guerrilla Warfare" to "Seven Swords" During "guerrilla warfare," there were no weapons, just as brand buyout lacks certain marketing tools; no food, just as there is no manufacturer resource investment or professional brand operation experience; no base, just as there is no strategic regional market or model market; no organization, just as there is no strong professional marketing team... Although it succeeded in the early revolutionary period, modern warfare can be resolved with a single nuclear missile.
The "nuclear bomb" for brand buyout operators is the coordinated operation of all aspects, ultimately gathering into a "Seven Swords Combined" force: long and short swords represent long-term strategy and short-term tactics; the powerful type is for direct confrontation, like a price spearhead, while the flexible type is for disrupting the opponent's morale, like effective promotional activities; single sword moves are entirely about coordinating with other swords; there are swords within swords, moves within moves, mutually applied, each getting its use, and together achieving their purpose.
Many distributors starting brand buyout still use the old methods, and they only have this one method: secondary wholesaler purchase rewards—buy X get Y free (buyout terminal costs are too high, so they are afraid to use them; even if they do, they use them improperly, wasting resources). If secondary wholesalers don't stock up, they add more freebies. If that doesn't work, they are at a loss. In fact, marketing and brand product operation is a process that is not complicated but relies on coordination. The "one-trick pony" of brand buyout operators cannot bear the heavy responsibility of brand product operation!
From "Guerrilla Warfare" to "Seven Swords," this is the second hurdle: marketing mix and coordinated operation.
- From "Drunken Fist" to "Kung Fu" Drunken Fist is the favorite of distributors. They are complacent about winning without knowing what moves they made. In hindsight, they think it was a brilliant move, but they don't know why it was brilliant. Acting on impulse, they close a good deal, and only in rare cases do they have high sensitivity—this is the common portrait of our distributors. But the market requires us to be cautious and vigilant at all times, ready to strike at any moment, and able to defeat competitors at any time. Drunken Fist-style operation in brand buyout marketing lacks the ability to turn the tide like real Drunken Fist, and modern marketing rarely offers such opportunities for miraculous recovery; more often, it's about steady, step-by-step success.
Kung Fu, on the other hand, is different: it allows you to fight anytime, anywhere, and show strength anytime. You can calmly respond to any market situation: for price wars, you have product combinations ready to counterattack; for promotional wars, you are more innovative and faster; for channel and terminal competition, you use customer cards and terminal services; for distribution and warehousing, you have dedicated management systems; for payment collection, you have early warnings and strict controls... Every move is composed, unflustered, and handled with ease.
Transitioning from Drunken Fist to true Kung Fu may be a long process, requiring brand buyout operators to learn more, absorb more, and accumulate more. From EMKT.com.cn
In other words, from "Drunken Fist" to "Kung Fu," this is the third hurdle: gaining true skill through extraordinary continuous learning and accumulation!
- From "Qin Shi Huang" to "Journey to the West" Many distributors practice "Qin Shi Huang"-style management: one person in charge, making decisions on a whim, an autocratic management style. After brand buyout, they still make decisions this way; they also don't value building and training a marketing team, let alone hiring experienced professional managers. In short, brand buyout operation is a system that should be driven by market analysis and ideally fully operated by experienced market professionals; it should be a system that incorporates wisdom, thought, experience, and knowledge. But most brand buyout operators haven't even considered such an approach.
Why did "Journey to the West" succeed in obtaining the scriptures? It was because Tang Seng built and utilized the team well. "A hero needs three helpers; a fence needs three stakes." For a distributor to become a hero in brand buyout, it's best to leverage the synergy of talent and the power of collective wisdom to support the brand—that's the best strategy!
From "Qin Shi Huang" to "Journey to the West," this is the fourth hurdle: talent strategy and application.
In summary, for ordinary distributors to engage in brand buyout, it is a full grafting and utilization of corporate brand resources. In today's world where marketing tools are increasingly losing their advantage, brand buyout is a new attempt and a new cooperative method worth exploring. As long as brand buyout operators fully recognize their strengths and weaknesses, find opportunity points, and fully develop and improve, they can achieve success!
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