Today's story is about a man who not only led his employees to grow a small factory into one of the world's top five, but also, more admirably, rejected joint venture offers from multiple international giants, choosing to stick to his own brand and determined to revitalize the detergent industry!
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"If you have the guts, kill me. If you can't, I will become stronger." These words were spoken by a hidden Chinese billionaire—Zhuang Qichuan. "Hidden" because even Forbes doesn't know his exact wealth.
Who is Zhuang Qichuan? He is the chairman of Nice Group, the parent company of well-known brands such as Diao Pai and Chaoneng. It is also one of the few Chinese companies that can compete with foreign giants like Procter & Gamble.
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The predecessor of Nice was the Zhejiang Lishui May 7th Chemical Plant, founded during the Cultural Revolution by a group of veteran cadres. Initially, it produced only one product—soap. Under the constraints of the planned economy, the plant struggled to develop and was even listed by superiors as a candidate for "closure, suspension, merger, or conversion."
By the end of 1984, the Lishui Chemical Plant had ceased production, and workers' wages were unpaid, forcing them to sell soap on the streets to make a living. That's when Zhuang Qichuan stepped in.
He joined the chemical plant in 1971, rising from a workshop worker to deputy director of operations. Now, at the age of 33, he was elected by workers through democratic election to become the director of the Lishui May 7th Chemical Plant, leading this small factory, which started with only 60,000 yuan, on a path to rebirth.
In the early years, Zhuang Qichuan worked with his employees to survive, forming alliances with Shanghai Soap Factory and undertaking foreign processing orders, enabling the enterprise to survive in the cracks and turn danger into safety. No matter what, survival meant hope.
In the early 1990s, an opportunity arose. At that time, laundry soap was rough in texture, waxy yellow, bare without packaging, and had an unpleasant smell, earning it the nickname "stinky soap." Moreover, there was no national brand in the laundry soap market. Zhuang Qichuan identified this pain point and was determined to create a brand.
In 1991, Zhuang Qichuan introduced advanced Swiss technology and developed Nice soap, priced at only half the cost of imported soaps, creating the chemical plant's first famous brand.
Following that, they independently developed Diao Pai Super Soap, sparking a soap revolution that swept the country like a blue storm. At the same time, the company successfully completed a shareholding reform and became a rising star in China's soap industry.
With its quality and comprehensive TV advertising ("Soap, I always use Diao Pai") and offline marketing tactics, Diao Pai quickly achieved the number one position in the national soap market.
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But the soap market soon became saturated, so Zhuang Qichuan turned his attention to the emerging laundry powder market. Like many successful companies of that era, he targeted the vast rural areas of China.
At that time, rural areas were not economically developed, consumption levels were low, and more importantly, most rural people had fully inherited the traditional virtue of "diligence and thrift." Therefore, Zhuang Qichuan's Diao Pai laundry powder adopted a low-price strategy, with the lowest price at just 2 yuan per bag.
The advertising slogan for Diao Pai also evolved from the initial "Just a little bit" to "Buy the right one, not the expensive one," which perfectly matched the market demand in rural areas at that time.
It is worth mentioning that in the 1990s, due to state-owned enterprise reforms and corporate restructuring, there was a wave of layoffs. Diao Pai laundry powder timely launched an advertisement that reflected the real life of laid-off workers at that time.
In 1999, the Diao Pai laundry powder advertisement "Understanding" was broadcast on CCTV. In this ad, a little girl, to lighten the burden of her mother who had just been laid off, took the initiative to wash the family's clothes. Finally, the little girl said, "Mom, I can help you with the chores," moving countless Chinese people. This ad is still used as teaching material by many schools and teachers.
With ultra-low prices and emotional advertising, Diao Pai laundry powder achieved the national number one position in just one year. By 2002, sales exceeded one million tons, five times the total sales of all multinational companies in China!
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Tall trees catch the wind. Soon, the rapidly growing Nice encountered a strong wind from Procter & Gamble.
P&G presented a blank contract to Nice, offering capital cooperation with terms left open for Nice to decide. Unexpectedly, Zhuang Qichuan chose to stick to his own brand and determined to revitalize the detergent industry, rejecting P&G's joint venture request.
After the failed "recruitment," P&G began to counterattack, launching a "Shoot the Eagle" campaign nationwide. P&G's counterattack method now seems somewhat naive—it was a price war!
Tide, which had never lowered its prices before, suddenly dropped from 3 yuan per bag to 1.9 yuan, and closely followed Diao Pai's distribution, expanding from supermarkets and hypermarkets to farmers' markets. Wherever Diao Pai was, Tide was there. For a time, it seemed like "dark clouds pressing down, ready to flatten Diao Pai."
In response, Zhuang Qichuan strongly retorted: "If you have the guts, kill me. If you can't, I will become stronger."
To avoid being killed and to become stronger, Zhuang Qichuan began developing natural soap powder and simultaneously reformed the marketing system. After a period, Diao Pai's market share only dropped by 3.8 percentage points, still leading Tide by more than 10 percentage points, ranking first in the industry.
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Zhuang Qichuan is an ambitious entrepreneur. He wants to make Nice an international giant in the daily chemical industry like P&G. So merely achieving the number one position in the domestic market for soap and laundry liquid was far from enough for him.
Zhuang Qichuan knew that shampoo, body wash, and other personal care products were the main profit generators for industry leader P&G. So he continued to venture into personal care products with higher added value.
He set his first breakthrough point on toothpaste. In 2003, Nice launched a toothpaste focusing on "nutrition" benefits. Many people should still remember Nice toothpaste, with its transparent gel and sweet orange flavor.
In 2006, Nice launched the children's toothpaste brand "Yayale" and quickly became the number one brand in children's toothpaste.
Additionally, after 2008, with the rise of laundry liquid, Nice did not fall behind and timely launched Chaoneng laundry liquid, inviting famous actress Sun Li as spokesperson, making it a household name.
Since 2006, Zhuang Qichuan has also initiated several acquisitions, bringing brands like 100 Year Run, Li Zi, and Miao Guan Jia into Nice's brand portfolio.
After years of cultivation, Nice gradually established a foothold in the mid-to-high-end market. By 2015, its high-value-added products accounted for 67% of output value. At the same time, the company's sales exceeded 19 billion yuan, ranking fifth in the global daily chemical industry.
In early 2016, Zhuang Qichuan set a new goal for Nice: "Turn the market around, double sales, and create another Nice," planning to lead Nice, currently ranked among the top five globally, into the world's top three!
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From a small factory that had ceased production to a major group ranked among the global top five in daily chemicals, from a single product "stinky soap" to multiple products with the number one market share, Zhuang Qichuan's contribution is indispensable. But he says, "Employees are the primary capital of the enterprise."
Zhuang Qichuan still remembers a scene he saw at a hospital entrance in the 1980s: a female worker from the factory stood beside a handcart selling soap, with her young daughter sitting on the cart. Suddenly, it began to pour. She held an umbrella, which could cover her daughter but not the soap. In desperation, she threw herself over the pile of soap, shielding it with her body, while she herself got soaked.
He said, "Without such employees, there would be no Nice today, and no Zhuang Qichuan."
Facing the future, Zhuang Qichuan frankly stated, "Only through struggle can you change your life." It is precisely this belief in struggle that drives Zhuang Qichuan to move forward fearlessly, dedicating himself fully to the growth of the enterprise and the development of the industry.
Source: Entrepreneur China (ID: cychina520)
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