There is no doubt that most small and medium-sized enterprises in the real economy are currently in a difficult situation with bleak prospects. It is not that I had any foresight; it was purely out of a sense of inadequacy that I left my consulting work with SMEs, which I had been engaged in for nearly 20 years, five years ago. The reason I gave was quite "harsh": they had fulfilled their historical mission, and the vast majority should have "passed away naturally." Faced with China's explosive consumption growth, the "manufacturing" of SMEs, with its "double low" (low quality, low price), matched the market demand in China for over 20 years. Although after 2010, their manufacturing level made considerable progress, the normalized market demand no longer needed them. That is to say, when they reached their highest level in history, they instead became excess capacity. Because they lack innovative capabilities and only imitate, they have created nothing; because they have not formed a decent added value, they have not completed capital accumulation; because they overly rely on past experience, believing that they can weather the storm this time as well, they end up deeply in debt. This is the fact: the capabilities of the SMEs that have survived to this day are imitated, not independently formed. When the space for imitation disappears, the only way out for these enterprises is to close down. In fact, SMEs survive by imitation. Their life cycle rises during the growth period of an industry cycle, thrives during the maturity period, and dies out during the decline period. Only those SMEs that establish innovative capabilities through imitation can avoid the risk of extinction. Unfortunately, Chinese SMEs have been busy picking up "loose change" for a long time, unwilling or unable to focus on "capacity building." As an "enterprise ecosystem," most SMEs depend on leading enterprises for survival. When leading enterprises have strong innovative capabilities and continuously push the industry from one cycle to another, SMEs will always be in spring; otherwise, they will enter a harsh winter. Unfortunately, most of China's leading enterprises are only scale-leading, not pioneering or leading in the true sense. When the industry enters a decline period, they also encounter a harsh winter. The difference between their fate and that of SMEs is only that they are survivors covered in wounds. So, the Mas and others despise them from the bottom of their hearts. Although I have published many books and written many articles, I have never been accepted in the Chinese marketing circle. When everyone talks about brands, I use a lot of words to try to prove that what matters is not the brand, but the excellent product. Thus, I developed the concepts of "product reputation" and "reputation product," proposed the propositions of "products conquer the world," "price determines everything," and "use product sales price," and made the assumption that "what makes people awe-inspiring is not the brand, but the product." Currently, the hottest topic is "new marketing." I personally insist that there are only new environments, new problems, and new mainstreams, but no new marketing. In other words, as long as the purpose, mission, and tasks of marketing have not changed, there will be no new marketing; what is "new" is the methods, approaches, or marketing techniques, not the logic or inherent laws of marketing. I believe that when marketing faces major tests, the first thing to think about is not how to innovate, but to clarify the most basic and fundamental things. Only in this way can we avoid futile efforts in the name of innovation. I stubbornly believe that current marketing has been hijacked by so-called new marketing. The direct result is that methods outweigh direction, and reality hijacks trends, which even causes the giants of the traditional economy to lose their strategic focus. When I placed Steven Cheung's "Economic Explanation," Robinson's "An Essay on Marxian Economics," and several of Drucker's monographs on my desk, preparing to interpret marketing with my own thinking, I read Mr. Bao Zheng's "The Essence of Marketing." Regardless of the value of this book itself, the fact that Mr. Bao Zheng spent years in seclusion writing it is quite thought-provoking. In the Chinese marketing theory circle, Mr. Bao Zheng is one of the few scholars who is both serious and profoundly accomplished, as well as an effective and socially responsible practitioner. His efforts undoubtedly meet the practical and theoretical needs of Chinese marketing. We have reason to look forward to the spring of Chinese marketing. Because there are innovations by the Mas, persistence by the Dongs, and thinking by the Baos. Innovation is necessary. But if Chinese marketing still cannot return to value creation based on understanding customer needs and customer value, and merely spins around marketing techniques, then what we are engaged in will never be a marketing cause, and what we take pride in will not be marketing theory either. This article was published in the November 2015 issue of "Sales and Marketing" magazine, management edition. ●●●******** -END- Content Selection Click on the title below to read directly: [Line Sales Representative Practical Operation Guide (with full PPT download attached)