Seek a balance between short-term economic benefits and long-term brand maintenance during the economic downturn

Justin Lee

During the economic downturn, enterprises temporarily weaken the high-end product brand, and instead launch the low-end product brand to adapt to the sluggish market demand, this strategy seeks a balance between short-term economic interests and long-term brand maintenance, which has multiple important implications.

First, to achieve short-term economic benefits

Meeting market demand: During an economic downturn, consumers have less purchasing power and become more price sensitive. The launch of low-end product brands can quickly respond to changes in market demand and attract consumers with more affordable prices, thereby expanding market share and achieving short-term sales growth.

Ease operating pressure: low-end products usually have the characteristics of lower cost and faster turnover. By launching such products, enterprises can quickly withdraw funds, relieve operating pressure, and provide financial support for the stable operation of enterprises.

Second, maintain the reputation of high-end brands

Avoid excessive consumption of brand image: During the economic downturn, if you forcibly maintain the marketing and sales of high-end product brands, it may lead to inventory backlog, price war and other problems due to insufficient market demand, which will damage the brand image. Temporarily weakening the high-end brand can reduce such risks and protect the brand image from excessive consumption.

Focus on core customers: Although the market promotion of high-end brands is temporarily weakened, enterprises can continue to maintain a good relationship with high-end customers through precision marketing, personalized services and other ways. This helps maintain the reputation of mid-to-high-end brands and lays the foundation for brand revival after the market recovers.

Third, retain the loyalty of high-end customers

Enhance customer stickiness: Mid-to-high-end customers usually have high brand loyalty and purchasing power. By providing high-quality after-sales service and exclusive benefits to members, enterprises can enhance the stickiness with these customers, so that they can still maintain their brand attention and trust during the economic downturn.

Prepare for future market recoveries: Economic downturns are temporary and markets always recover. Retaining the loyalty of middle and high-end customers means that enterprises will have a stable customer base and strong market competitiveness when the market recovers. This will help companies recover quickly and expand market share to achieve long-term sustainable development.

Fourth, comprehensive strategy suggestions

Clear brand positioning: enterprises need to clearly define the positioning and target market of the high-end product brand and the low-end product brand. Ensure that the two in the brand image, product quality, price strategy and other aspects of the formation of an effective distinction to avoid internal competition.

Adjust marketing strategy flexibly: Adjust marketing strategy flexibly according to market changes. For middle and low-end product brands, more direct and effective promotion means can be used to attract consumers; For medium and high-end product brands, more attention is paid to the improvement of quality and service experience to maintain brand image and customer loyalty.

Strengthen customer relationship management: Establish a sound customer relationship management system to strengthen communication and interaction with customers. By collecting customer feedback and providing personalized services, we can enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty and lay a solid foundation for the long-term development of enterprises.

To sum up, enterprises temporarily weaken the high-end product brand, launch the low-end product brand to adapt to the sluggish market demand, this strategy to seek a balance between short-term economic interests and long-term brand maintenance, has multiple important significance. However, companies also need to define brand positioning, flexibly adjust marketing strategies and strengthen customer relationship management to ensure the smooth implementation of strategies and maximize long-term results.

Summary of investment attraction strategies

Justin Lee

Leaders personally attract investment methods.

The ability, level, credibility and charisma of government leaders are important guarantees of foreign investment confidence, and the first element, first image and first attraction of a regional investment environment.

Therefore, in the investment attraction work, especially in the important stage of seeking breakthroughs, government leaders at all levels should be both commanders and soldiers, blow the charge horn and build river bridges, so as to personally meet important merchants, negotiate major projects in person, coordinate major issues in person, and accompany major inspection groups in person, which is to create a The key to the new situation of regional open economy.

[Case] The rapid development of Kunshan City's use of foreign capital has put great pressure on neighboring Wujiang County. However, after the new secretary of the county party committee of Wujiang County took office, they attached great importance to the work of attracting investment. They broke the cauldron and sank the boat, and fought against the water. Important foreign businessmen came. Four groups in the county received high-standard reception, and if there were any problems with the merchants, the main leaders of the county came forward to solve some problems, which deeply moved the foreign businessmen and invested in Wujiang's letter My heart is greatly increased. Now the county's investment attraction is developing rapidly, and it has a high and low momentum compared with Kunshan.

Sincere investment attraction method

The key to attracting investment depends on credibility, and only with credibility can we win the trust of merchants. Attract investment with sincerity",

Integrity is fundamental, and sincerity is the foundation.

Therefore, in the process of attracting investment, both leaders and investment attraction personnel should really stand on the perspective of investors, think differently, think about investors, help investors make profits, help investors succeed, serve investors, and achieve sincerity, sincerity, enthusiasm, perseverance and care, and exchange true feelings for true intentions. Build personality with integrity, establish a good cooperation relationship with investors, and move investors with your own true feelings.

[Case] Taiwan Unification Group was also introduced with "five hearts and true feelings". The group originally planned to take Wuhan as the investment focus of Central China. In order to change its original intention, the leaders of the district party committee and the district government in the suburbs of Nanchang City and the investment personnel spent nearly two years in uninterrupted emotional contact with the senior managers of the unified group.

Once during the Spring Festival, several of the main leaders of the district government braved the heavy snow and endured hunger and cold. They bumped on the road for more than 7 hours and went to Wuhan to pay New Year's greetings to the managers of the Unification Group.

When they arrived at the unified enterprise, the company was already off work, and they did their best to find Taiwanese businessmen to send New Year's greetings and greetings. Taiwanese businessmen were deeply moved by their true feelings and felt sorry for not to invest in Nanchang. Finally, they decided to invest in Nanchang Ying Science and Technology Park to set up a factory.

The investment attraction method of old project extending and expanding

We attach great importance to and give full play to the cluster radiation link effect of "doing a good job to bring a piece" to attract investment, provide sincere, sincere and timely service to the settled investment projects, solve problems, and promote their success.

Establish the real image of "many opportunities and high success rate" and launch the entrepreneurial brand of "low cost, fast return, high efficiency and good reputation".

Comprehensively and timely understand and master the global development strategic planning and strategy of settled investment enterprises, take the initiative to create conditions to attract with advantages, promote the extension, expansion and improvement of their new projects, new products and new technologies in the local area, and accelerate the industrial chainization and baseization of investment projects.

[Case] Successive municipal party committees and municipal governments of Xinyu City attach great importance to cooperation with Shanghai Huayuan Group Company, and have formed working groups to go to Shanghai to negotiate with Huayuan Group many times.

After the investment of the group, the Xinyu Municipal Party Committee and the municipal government have made every way to provide efficient and high-quality services to help enterprises succeed. After the overall acquisition and reorganization of Xinyu Textile Company, the company decided to invest in the operation of the China Carpet Industrial Park project in Xinyu City and strive to become the largest production-scale enterprise in China.

Special focus on investment attraction method

It is necessary not only to hold an investment promotion meeting to establish an image and expand its influence, but also to combine the cultivation and expansion of pillar industries, core technologies and cultivation of advantages, clarify the main targets, and take the initiative to attract investment with specific projects and negotiation plans.

On the basis of mastering the investment psychology of investors, we should make full use of the conditions and advantages, carry forward the "fourty thousand" spirit of mountains and rivers, thousands of words, thousands of hardships and all kinds of ways, and the "four skins" spirit of hard-skinned, cheeky, grinding mouths, and running through heels, and highlight the "four skins that have settled in mainland China Large companies focus on attracting investment.

[Case] In order to form the industrial advantages of the air conditioning production base as soon as possible, Nanchang Economic and Technological Development Zone, on the basis of careful research and in-depth analysis, focuses on well-known domestic air conditioning manufacturing enterprises such as Greencol, Ke⻰, Oaks, etc., formulates feasible projects and negotiation plans, and organizes forces to carry out Business.

After learning that the negotiation of an investment project between Ningbo Samsung Oaks Group and ⻓Sha was temporarily interrupted due to "SARS", Ms. Lu, the deputy director of the district, immediately brought her own transportation and brought her own dry food. At the risk of the "SARS" epidemic, she led the squad to take the initiative to attack, six times between Nanchang and Ningbo.

Her sincerity deeply moved the decision-makers of Oaks Group, and finally pushed the project to settle in Nanchang Economic and Technological Development Zone. Green Cole, Ke⻰ and other air conditioning manufacturers also adopt key investment methods. Now the air conditioning production base of Nanchang Economic and Technological Development Zone has begun to take shape.

Base-based investment attraction law in key areas

According to the characteristics of capital flows, the characteristics of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan capital flows, as well as the characteristics of investment flows in Japan, South Korea, Europe, the United States and Canada, determine the key areas, key areas and major strategies to attract investment, take advantage of the influence of the heavyweight projects that have been settled, make use of influential agents, and use the stationed Small detachment resident investment attraction and other forms, implement base-based and ⻓ phased investment attraction in key areas.

[Case] Yingtan City has sent more than 20 small teams to Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and other places to attract investment. A small team is stationed in an area, focusing on a kind of project, and keeping an eye on several merchants. These small teams have brought in batch after batch of merchants, and have actually introduced more than 50 projects, with an investment of more than 1 billion yuan.

Pairing gradient undertaking investment attraction method

On the basis of mutual benefit, by establishing friendly and cooperative relations with developed regions, establishing a benefit-sharing mechanism, accelerating the docking and interaction with industries in developed regions, and actively striving for industrial gradient transformation.

At present, the investment cost of developed coastal areas is generally more than 20% higher than that of Jiang⻄, and the development space is limited. Some projects are difficult to continue. Therefore, some projects need to find new ways out in order to seek greater development.

[Case] Ganzhou City is close to Guangdong. After the highway is opened, the journey to Shenzhen and Guangzhou is only more than three hours. Taking advantage of the unique location advantage, Ganzhou City took the initiative to pair up and cooperate with Shenzhen and Guangzhou. On the basis of mutual benefit and benefit sharing, it signed an industrial gradient transfer cooperation agreement, which laid a good foundation for the formation of a "front store and a back workshop" in the future, and the project settled in Ganzhou.

The Law on Investment Promotion by Taking a temporary post in the targeted local Gov.

Send personnel to selectively go to areas, development zones and industrial parks with a strong trend of industrial gradient transfer and a high effect of attracting foreign investment to learn about the investment information of local enterprises and grasp first-hand information. Under the conditions of tacit understanding, mutual benefit and industrial division of labor between the two sides, they should work together. Strive to realize the project gradient transfer as soon as possible.

[Case] The Nanchang Wahaha project was successfully introduced using this method. In order to introduce the Wahaha project, under the direct promotion of the provincial and municipal leaders, the leaders of Shanhu District sincerely negotiated investment matters with them. On the other hand, they learned about the internal situation of Wahaha enterprises through the leaders of the Donghu District Party Committee who were suspended in Xiacheng District, Hangzhou City, where Wahaha Group was located at that time.

Based on the first-hand information obtained at the first time, the leaders and investment personnel of Shanhu District formulated negotiation plans in a targeted manner and carried out their work in a targeted manner. After a period of sincere exchange and communication, the leaders of the headquarters of Wahaha Group finally agreed to visit Nanchang, and the sincere spirit of the provincial and urban leaders was finally moved. The group leaders finally decided to invest in Nanchang, which changed their decision not to invest in the provincial capital city.

The method of attracting investment by telling the stories of former successful investment attracting

Focus on the appearance of successful investors in the region, and strive to attract more merchants to invest locally.

Hire powerful and influential people at home and abroad as investment consultants and investment agents to implement effective investment.

Hire representatives of large companies and enterprises at home and abroad in China as investment consultants or investment agents to carry out effective investment.

Implement limited authorization for investment consultants and investment agents and entrust them to attract investment. The focus is on providing us with investors' investment project information, investment strategic planning and the main consideration conditions for the selection of investment areas in a timely manner, etc., involving economic contracts, land and other specific economic activities, in order to prevent business risks and other The insurance is not authorized. It is necessary to reasonably solve the normal investment activity expenses of investment consultants and investment agents.

[Case] At the promotion meeting held by Ji'an in Guangdong and Fujian, merchants who have successfully invested in the local area were invited to introduce Ji'an, which received unexpected good results. 78 projects were signed in the two promotion meetings, and the contract attracted 4.6 billion yuan.

Xinyu City hired 21 businessmen as investment consultants, and the effect is also very good. Among them, the most typical are Mr. Qiu and Mr. Li, two investment consultants. They voluntarily invested 400,000 yuan to hold investment promotion meetings for the city in Zhuhai and Macao, and successfully introduced five projects such as Bolder Park and Hong Kong Zhanhui.

The end

Summary of investment attraction cases

Justin Lee

Jiangsu "Kunshan Model"

Basic introduction: Jiangsu Kunshan Economic and Technological Development Zone has created a "Kunshan model" to create an investment environment. Kunshan is a county-level city. There are nearly 3,000 foreign-invested enterprises in the city, which has formed a pocket effect and a basin effect to attract investment.

Kunshan Economic and Technological Development Zone was founded in 1985 and was approved as a national development zone in 1992, with a jurisdictional area of 120 square kilometers. Among the major economic index assessment of 54 national development zones in the country, Kunshan Development Zone ranks first in the comprehensive evaluation.

At present, foreign investors have invested and established more than 1,000 enterprises in Kunshan Development Zone, with a total investment of more than 10 billion US dollars.

Main experience and practice:

[Main experience]: Dare to be the first in the world, build nests and attract phoenixes, characteristic carriers, honest services and prompt officing, etc.; Service concept: pro-business, safe business, rich business;

[Specific practice]: In order to create a good development environment for foreign-funded enterprises, Kunshan Municipal Government and Kunshan Development Zone Management Committee in the city And create 5 brands in the whole region: improve the supporting environment of the industry and create "electronic Kunshan"; optimize the service environment and create "efficient Kunshan"; build an ecological environment and create a "green Kunshan"; create a legal environment and create a "safe Kunshan"; improve the humanistic environment and create a "charming Kunshan".

It has become the world's laptop production base, with an annual output of more than 10 million units, accounting for 1/3 of the world, and all parts are equipped within 70 kilometers. In the future, we will focus on developing three industrial groups: electronic information, precision machinery, and citizen necessities. Five advantages: location advantage (between Shanghai and Suzhou), cost advantage (rich labor), industrial chain. Advantages (low business cost, new competitiveness), service advantages (government services), ecological environment advantages (the fourth-level investment environment in the future).

The successful experience of Suzhou Industrial Park

Basic overview：

In 2020, the park achieved a regional gross domestic product of 290.7 billion yuan, a public budget revenue of 37.73 billion yuan, a total import and export of 94.18 billion US dollars, and the actual use of foreign capital was 1.97 billion US dollars, a record high. It achieved five consecutive championships in the national economic development zone ranking, and in the national high-tech zone ranking. Jumping to the fourth place, it has a strong comparative advantage in open development, industrial ecology, innovative ecology and business environment.

In the process of promoting the implementation of innovation drive and cultivating new momentum for development, the park adheres to the introduction and cultivation, and has accumulated a large number of science and technology enterprises. Up to now, there are more than 1,800 high-tech enterprises, 512 gazelle and gazelle cultivation enterprises at all levels, and 50 listed enterprises at home and abroad, among which, science and technology innovation Board 12 houses.

Successful experience：

1. Strive to build a management system and operation mechanism adapted to the development of the market economy, separate the middle and low-level functions in the government functions, and be undertaken by non-governmental public institutions or intermediaries, so as to effectively reduce the management level.

2. Create a high-quality environment suitable for human habitat and entrepreneurship.

3. Accelerate the improvement of international capital aggregation and regional core competitiveness, mainly developing semiconductor, optoelectronics and mechatronics.

4. Actively build an efficient, transparent, fair and standardized service-oriented government, put forward the concept of "pro-business" and implement "one-stop" service. 5. Adhere to the harmonious development of economy and society, people and nature.

Medical Points of View From PhD Jia

Hello! Everyone：

In general, leaders with such high risk should be aware of medical conditions, especially those at risk or hidden danger of heart disease.

You should live near a location with good medical conditions or convenient first aid, because there are many options in Shanghai, such as the West Suburb Hotel or the Hongqiao Reception Hotel, which is far better than the East Suburb Hotel.

Second, there are better hospitals in Puxi, just like the Zhongshan Hospital mentioned by Maoli just now. My teacher, Mr. Tang, is in Zhongshan Hospital. Zhongshan Hospital has two specialties, namely the liver department and the cardiovascular department, which rank first in China. Where are we going to stay when we become old?,I have always adhered to such a point of view, in the environment of China, it is not in the beautiful mountains and rivers. Therefore, I summarize this point to make a little reminding, just like children going to school, when they are young, their parents usually choose school districts to stay.Because China's medical resources are highly unbalanced, aged people should be living near the hospital with good medical conditions, I think this is very, very important.

I mentioned about the physical examination the day before yesterday, and I already talked about the imaging examination, including the magnetic resonance of the head, the CT of the chest, and the B-ultrasound of the abdomen. Including the thyroid, as well as pelvic cavity, these can be checked with B-ultrasound, then there is another important reminding about the examination is the gastrointestinal tract. This is very important, if you have never seen a doctor for a colonoscopy, then I recommend scheduling a colonoscopy as soon as possible. If it is examined and there is no inflammatory lesion, that is, the inflammation is limited to ordinary inflammation, such as chronic non-atrophic gastritis, or general inflammation of the intestine, then in this case, once every two to three years can be OK.

But in some cases, we will have some positive display, such as chronic atrophic gastritis, or ulcers, or polyps, how to deal with these cases? Special emphasis is on multiple polyps, multiple intestinal polyps or stomach polyps, when such polyps are found, the doctor will remove them under the microscope, and will do pathology, which is generally more benign. There are also malignant, there are many kinds of classification, this does not expand to say, then there are a small number of polyps, it is itself malignant. These conditions may require a colonoscopy followed by surgery to remove a section of the intestine, or a major gastrectomy. However, benign polyps, especially multiple polyps, are likely to become cancerous within two to three years, so we know that gastroenteroscopy is very important, if it is multiple polyps, In this case, the period of gastroenteroscopy will be shortened by one year to one and a half years, if it relapses, after two to three years, the chance of cancer is very large.

Of course, as long as it is found to be early, I said that day for early malignant tumor, one only needs to do a small operation, and then radiotherapy and chemotherapy are not necessary. The prognosis is no different from that of normal people, and the duration of life is not affected.

Inflammation, especially autoimmune inflammation, such as intestinal Crohn's disease, or ulcerative colitis, which is increasingly common in China. In fact, the incidence rate in China has always been not low, just because we have confused this inflammation with other inflammation in the past, and then there is the lack of some basic examinations in terms of examination methods. The treatment of such diseases is generally immune agents or hormone methods to treat, the effect is limited, so this kind of inflammatory disease should be paid attention to early. Because when you happen early, it is controllable, and if it spreads down, it is more troublesome.

This type of disease usually manifests as gastrointestinal discomfort, long-term, chronic, recurring discomfort, such as abdominal soiling, repeated diarrhea. Like blood in the stool. Of course, these are not specific symptoms, because hematochezia may be a tumor, there may be hemorrhoids, there may be acute bleeding of the gastrointestinal tract, etc., this is more complicated, that is, there are some abnormalities to be highly concerned about.

Long-term and repeated inflammation, most of the results are tumors, so we should pay attention to inflammation, so for example, some inflammation in our mouth, and this digestive tract, just mentioned gastrointestinal inflammation, and female genital tract inflammation, and male urethra ah, and birthmark inflammation.

The main way to avoid and reduce inflammation is to avoid contact with or eat things that stimulate inflammation, such as polluting substances, special diets, such as eating too many peppers, too much alcohol, and cigarettes, etc., which are common things that everyone knows, to avoid exposure as much as possible, and radiation, heavy metal intake, and so on.

So if there is inflammation, then the physical examination can detect it and observe the progression of its malignancy, if it has an early invasive change. The lesions can be removed, and in that case, serious adverse consequences can be prevented.

Let me talk about some small effective methods, for example, many people suffer from chronic pharyngitis, which is indeed difficult to treat clinically. However, in my personal experience, I have cured many people with one method, and it is effective in a very short time, so this is recommended to everyone, because the general physique of Chinese people is similar, the use of western drugs and antibiotics, as well as local spray, hormones, these are effective, but no longer effective.

The medicine I am talking about is a Chinese patent medicine that can be taken orally, called Gui Fu Di Huang Pill. If you want to read the instructions, it does not write what is effective for inflammation, it is mainly the treatment of kidney deficiency, Yin deficiency, and weak fire.

The other is rhinitis, my experience, the simple and effective method, but needing to insist on a period of time, is to wash nasal cavity with saline water, now there is a special nasal wash, it is easy to buy online, very cheap, and then once or twice a day, it is allergic rhinitis, Or some other infectious rhinitis and so on. My experience is very effective ah, also I recommend to everyone. in fact, some diseases do not have to use drugs method to treat.

There is the physical examination, genetic testing is actually unnecessary, genetic testing is currently the most useful thing actually after the illness, for us. When you get sick, some of its drugs, like targeted drug therapies, need to find the mutant strain of this gene, and then you have to do genetic testing. Other scenarios, such as saying that the high expression of a certain gene means a high risk of certain diseases, this logic exists, he just said that there is this risk, but if you do not happen, to worry about this matter is not necessarily a good thing, so we only need to pay enough attention to routine physical examination and use effective ways and methods to detect. You can detect what should be detected, there is no need to use that sounds lofty and actually does not make much sense to predict. So this genetic testing is a misunderstanding, in addition, is often after the physical examination to do some intervention, in terms of health intervention, the more expensive is mainly stem cells, then this stem cell is also unnecessary, now there are two meaningful points in the work of stem cells, the first is cell storage, if we worry about the future. What's going to happen, which is actually now or before now, is that we're going to store some bone marrow stem cells, or some other healthy cells from certain parts of the body, and then we're going to use them in the future, and what they're going to do, to be honest, is they're going to use them in the future, and that's the first point, and the second point is that individual diseases, It's treatable with stem cells, and it's basically limited to leukemia. This is a blood disease, including MDS and so on, will not expand to say. So, in general, if you need beauty, or life extension, you use stem cells, which are unreliable, and a lot of them are deceptive. What about the physical examination, I think it is about this, but each person, each individual, his physical condition is different, including what has happened, or potential, the future may happen. They are also different, so if you have any personal questions, you can ask me individually, and I will try to answer them. thank you!

What affects a person’s marketing promotion ability?

Justin Lee

Understanding the factors which affect a person's marketing promotion ability is important. These factors may be included as following:

1. Knowledge and Expertise: having a comprehensive understanding of your products, business sector, and industry is vital for effective marketing promotion work. It enables you to communicate your offerings effectively, identify your target audience accurately, differentiate your product, segment your market, and adapt to changing market dynamics, ultimately leading to excellent marketing outcomes.

2. Understanding marketing: A person's understanding of marketing principles, strategies, and tactics plays a significant role in their promotion ability. Having comprehensive knowledge and expertise in various marketing techniques enables them to develop effective promotional campaigns.

3. Creativity and Innovation: The ability to think creatively and come up with innovative promotional ideas can greatly enhance a person's marketing promotion ability. This includes designing attention-grabbing advertisements, crafting unique marketing messages, and exploring new platforms or channels for promotion.

4. Communication and Persuasion Skills: Effective communication skills are essential for conveying marketing messages to target audiences and persuading them to take desired actions. Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to build relationships and influence others, contribute to successful marketing promotion.

5. Analytical and Research Abilities: Marketing promotion involves analyzing market trends, consumer behavior, and competitor strategies. Individuals with strong analytical and research abilities can gather relevant data, interpret it, and make informed decisions to optimize promotional efforts.

6. Adaptability and Flexibility: The marketing landscape is constantly evolving, so individuals with the ability to adapt and embrace change tend to excel in promotion. They can adjust strategies according to emerging trends, technological advancements, and changing consumer preferences.

7. Time Management and Organizational Skills: Effective promotion requires planning, organizing, and executing various tasks within defined timelines. People with strong time management and organizational skills can prioritize activities, meet deadlines, and ensure the smooth implementation of promotional campaigns.

8. Understanding Target Audience: Knowing the target audience's demographics, preferences, and needs is crucial for effective marketing promotion. The ability to understand and connect with the target audience increases the chances of creating impactful promotional strategies and messages.

9. Resources Management: Understanding government organization structure and functions, Efficiently allocating different kinds of resources from Gov., industry organizations and public relations can significantly impact marketing promotion ability. Knowing how to optimize resource utilization and leveraging available resources can enhance the effectiveness of promotional campaigns.

10. Emotional Intelligence: Being emotionally intelligent helps marketers understand and connect with customers on a deeper level. It enables them to empathize, build rapport, and create meaningful connections through marketing promotions.

11. Cultural Awareness and Diversity: Marketing promotions often target diverse audiences across various cultures and regions. Having an awareness and understanding of different cultural norms and values can help marketers tailor their promotions appropriately and avoid potential cultural missteps.

Ultimately, a person's marketing promotion ability is a combination of knowledge, skills, creativity, adaptability, and understanding of the market and target audience.

Negotiating with the government to obtain industrial lands

Justin D. Lee

Negotiating with the government to obtain industrial lands can be a complex process. Here are some steps you can follow to navigate the negotiation process:

1. Research and Preparation: Gather information about the available industrial lands, their locations, sizes, and suitability for your industry. Understand local zoning laws, regulations, and government policies related to land allocation. Assess your own needs in terms of land size, infrastructure requirements, and future expansion plans.

2. Build Relationships: Establish connections and relationships with relevant government officials, such as local authorities, economic development agencies, or land management departments. Attend public meetings, industry conferences, and networking events to engage with officials and demonstrate your interest in the local area.

3. Clearly Define Requirements: Clearly articulate your specific requirements for industrial lands. Prepare a detailed plan that outlines the purpose of the land, expected investment, job creation potential, and the positive impact your project can bring to the local economy.

4. Identify Potential Obstacles: Anticipate potential obstacles or challenges that may arise during the negotiation process. These could include competing interests for the same land, environmental concerns, infrastructure limitations, or legal issues. Develop strategies to address these challenges and find solutions that meet both your needs and government requirements.

5. Present a Compelling Proposal: Prepare a comprehensive proposal that showcases the benefits of your project. Highlight its potential for job creation, economic growth, and positive community impact. Emphasize your commitment to environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

6. Negotiation Strategies: During negotiations, remain flexible while advocating for your interests. Be prepared to offer incentives, such as job training programs, infrastructure development, or partnerships with local businesses. Seek win-win solutions that align your goals with the government's objectives, such as regional economic growth or industrial development plans.

7. Legal and Financial Considerations: Ensure your negotiation strategy takes into account legal and financial aspects. Consult with legal professionals to review contracts, agreements, and compliance requirements. Prepare a comprehensive financial plan that covers land acquisition costs, construction expenses, ongoing operational costs, and potential incentives or tax benefits.

8. Patience and Persistence: Negotiating with the government may take time and involve multiple levels of approvals and bureaucratic processes. Be patient, persistent, and willing to engage in continued discussions and revisions to your proposal. Maintain open lines of communication with the government officials involved.

9. Seek Expert Assistance: If needed, engage the services of experienced consultants, lawyers, or real estate professionals with expertise in land negotiation processes. Their knowledge and connections can help streamline the negotiation process and increase the likelihood of a successful outcome.

Remember, negotiation is a collaborative process, and building trust and understanding with the government officials is vital to reaching a mutually beneficial agreement.

6-month consequences of COVID-19 in patients discharged from hospital: a cohort study

Lancet

Introduction

As of Jan 4, 2021, the global pandemic of COVID-19—an emerging infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2—has resulted in more than 83 million confirmed cases with more than 1·8 million deaths. The epidemiological and clinical characteristics, pathogenesis, and complications of patients with COVID-19 at acute phase have been explicitly described,but the long-term consequences of the illness remain largely unclear.

Long-term follow-up studies on persistent symptoms, and lung function, physical, and psychological problems of discharged patients are urgently required.

Only a few studies with small sample sizes have been published, with the longest follow-up duration being 3 months following discharge from hospital.

Some persisting symptoms such as fatigue and dyspnoea,impaired pulmonary function and chest image abnormalities were reported in patients following hospital discharge, but the full spectrum of post-discharge characteristics is still unknown. Furthermore, no studies have yet reported the extra-pulmonary organ manifestations that could persist after damage in acute stage or are newly onset after discharge.

We aimed to describe the long-term consequences of COVID-19 in patients after hospital discharge and identify the potential risk factors, including disease severity, associated with these consequences.

Background

The long-term health consequences of COVID-19 remain largely unclear. The aim of this study was to describe the long-term health consequences of patients with COVID-19 who have been discharged from hospital and investigate the associated risk factors, in particular disease severity.

Findings

At 6 months after acute infection, COVID-19 survivors were mainly troubled with fatigue or muscle weakness, sleep difficulties, and anxiety or depression. Patients who were more severely ill during their hospital stay had more severe impaired pulmonary diffusion capacities and abnormal chest imaging manifestations, and are the main target population for intervention of long-term recovery.

How ChatGPT Helps Medical Treatment?

Justin D. Lee

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence technology that uses natural language processing to analyze and understand human conversation. ChatGPT can be useful in the field of medical treatment in various ways, such as improving patient experiences, enhancing medical consultation, and supporting the diagnosis and treatment process. Here are some of the ways ChatGPT helps medical treatment:

1. Improving Patient Experiences: ChatGPT can be utilized in medical centers and healthcare settings as a virtual assistant to improve patient experiences. Patients can converse with ChatGPT and obtain quick, personalized responses to their questions, which can help them feel more in control of their treatment and less overwhelmed by the medical process.

2. Enhancing Medical Consultation: ChatGPT can aid doctors and other medical professionals in their work by assisting in medical consultations. ChatGPT can be used to answer patient questions, provide relevant medical information, and suggest follow-up tests. This can help healthcare providers to be more efficient and effective in their work and allow them to focus on more complex cases.

3. Supporting the Diagnosis and Treatment Process: ChatGPT can be used to analyze data and generate insights that support the diagnosis and treatment process. By processing data from sources such as medical records, clinical databases, and medical literature, ChatGPT can help to identify patterns and trends that are critical to diagnosis and treatment. This can save valuable time in finding a diagnosis.

4. Providing Early Warning Signs: ChatGPT can track a patient's data over time and provide early warnings on any potential health risks to the patient or any changes in their health conditions. Such lead-up time can enable medical practitioners to provide early intervention and prevent extreme health issues.

Overall, ChatGPT has the potential to positively impact medical treatment by improving patient experiences, enhancing medical consultation, supporting the diagnosis and treatment process, and detecting potential early warning signs. However, it is important to acknowledge that AI technologies like ChatGPT are still developing and require extensive verification, validation, and training to be used in the healthcare industry.

The latest updates in unmanned driving

Justin D. Lee

Unmanned driving, commonly referred to as autonomous driving, has been a topic of great interest in recent times due to its potential to transform the automotive industry and the way we travel. Self-driving cars, trucks, and other vehicles are attracting huge sums of investment from governments and corporations alike, with the promise of making travel more efficient, safe, and comfortable.

Unmanned driving technology has made significant progress in recent years, leading to many promising developments in the field. Here are some of the most exciting updates in unmanned driving:

1. Increased Investment: The market for autonomous driving technologies has been growing rapidly, with huge investments being poured into the development of new technologies. According to a recent report by Allied Market Research, the global autonomous vehicle market is expected to reach $556.67 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 39.47% from 2019 to 2026.

2. Advancements in Machine Learning and AI: Machine learning and AI are essential to unmanned driving technology, and advancements in these fields have accelerated the development of autonomous vehicles. These technologies have enabled self-driving cars to learn from their surroundings and make decisions in real-time.

3. Regulations and Standards: Many countries are now introducing regulations and standards for autonomous driving, which has helped to establish safety protocols and promote the development of new technologies. Some of the most notable regulatory bodies include the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the US, the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

4. Commercial Applications: Autonomous vehicles are increasingly being used for commercial purposes, including delivery services and public transportation. For example, in 2019, Waymo launched a self-driving taxi service in Phoenix, Arizona, which has transported tens of thousands of passengers to date.

5. Technological Partnerships: Many tech companies and auto manufacturers are partnering to work on autonomous driving technologies. For instance, Aurora, a startup focused on developing self-driving vehicle technology, has partnered with companies such as Fiat Chrysler, Hyundai, and Uber.

Unmanned driving is an exciting and rapidly evolving field that holds much promise for the future of transportation. The latest updates in unmanned driving, including increased investment, advancements in machine learning and AI, regulatory standards, commercial applications, and technological partnerships, all point towards a more autonomous driving future. As we continue to make progress in these areas, the benefits of unmanned driving, such as improved safety and efficiency, will become more and more apparent.

Industrial Estate Trends in 2023

Justin D. Lee

Industrial estates areas typically consist of numerous buildings or Infrastructures, with companies renting or buy space to conduct their business operations. Industrial estates play a significant role in the growth and development of an economy, as they provide employment opportunities, attract foreign investment and promote innovation. Let’s explore the emerging trends and changes likely to be experienced in industrial estates in 2023.

Increasing Sustainability

One of the emerging trends in industrial estates is the increasing emphasis on sustainability. With a growing awareness of environmental issues, companies are seeking to reduce their environmental footprint and are creating more sustainable workplaces. In 2023, it is expected that more industrial estates will adopt green technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote environmentally friendly practices. This can be seen through the implementation of solar panels, LED lighting, rainwater harvesting systems, and other energy-efficient technologies.

Intelligent Infrastructures

Another trend is that of intelligent manufacturing Infrastructures. As technology continues to advance, manufacturers are investing in digital innovations to streamline their production processes. In 2023, industrial estates will likely see an increase in the number of intelligent manufacturing Infrastructures,like smart warehousing. These Infrastructures connect all aspects of the production process, from supply chain management to production lines, to improve efficiency and reduce downtime. Intelligent manufacturing Infrastructures rely on technologies such as AI and the Internet of Things (IoT) to deliver real-time information that enables quick decision making, reduces errors, and increases productivity.

Flexible Working Spaces

As the nature of work continues to change, industrial estates are adopting flexible working arrangements. In 2023, it is expected that there will be an increase in demand for flexible working spaces, such as co-working spaces, shared offices, and renting model space. This trend is driven by the increasing number of freelancers, entrepreneurs, and startups seeking these types of working conditions. Industrial estates that offer shared spaces will have access to a broader range of tenants, which can create a more dynamic and adaptable ecosystem within the estate.

Shift to E-commerce Logistics

Finally, the shift to e-commerce is also seen as a significant trend in industrial estates. As more people are shopping online, more emphasis is being placed on efficient logistics and warehousing. In 2023, industrial estates will likely see an increasing number of logistics companies choosing to locate within them to take advantage of their proximity to manufacturing facilities, transport links, and consumer markets.

In conclusion, industrial estates in 2023 will experience several emerging trends that will shape the future of these areas. The increased emphasis on sustainability, intelligent manufacturing Infrastructures and flexible working spaces, and the shift to e-commerce logistics offer opportunities for industrial estate developers, tenants, and stakeholders. Understanding these emerging trends is essential to remain competitive within the industrial estate market in the future.

The New Brand Paradigm: Your Employees Are Your Positioning Platform

Dina Baker

Who is the most important brand ambassador at your company?

Is it you, the CEO, whose job it is to motivate, inspire, and exude confidence in your company, its products, and its services? How about your business development team, whose sole purpose is to funnel new client lifeblood into your veins and arteries? Or is it the marketers, who toil to define and develop your brand and make it ready for prime time?

What if I told you the answer is none of the above?

In fact, in today’s world of digital sharing, transparent authenticity, and empowered consumers, your front-line workforce may be the only credible brand authority that truly matters to a finicky and enlightened public.

Recent data from DSNM8 underscores this shocking reality: Audiences increase by a whopping 561 percent when a brand message is shared by employees versus shared via a corporate channel alone.

This means the elevator pitch has given way to the quality conversation – and if each of your employees isn’t indoctrinated into the stewardship of your messaging, your values, and your brand promise, you risk losing significant ground to competitors who are already doing this.

So, what has led to this change?

You need look no further than the device in your pocket to understand why the fundamentals of contemporary communication have shifted in this manner. Easy access to digital channels has flipped the concept of corporate dialogue on its head. Your brand – like it or not – is being defined, and refined, by the second, by consumers who are more than willing to share their experiences in graphic and unvarnished detail. They are skeptical, at best, of your polished prose and glossy ads, and pull no punches when your attempts to engage them “where they live” seem inauthentic.

But employees – considered several steps removed from the monolith and who enjoy a more human-like alter ego among friends and family – are best positioned to break through the digital static and deliver a clear message.

One recent study concluded that “the role of employees in the brand-building processes is increasingly crucial in the era of social media and digital conversations. Companies should focus on this relevant issue and foster these brand-building behaviors among employees.”  

To many of you, this may be considered quite a departure from the days where speaking on behalf of the company was expressly limited to senior leadership and other designees. And, in some respects, opening up the complexities of your brand message to a broad and varied group does carry some risks.

But, when managed correctly, you can develop a messaging architecture that will play anywhere and allow for individuality and authenticity – creating a foundation upon which your employees can build stories and bring your messages to life.

Let’s start with the general structure of this messaging architecture. Again, we want to avoid imposing strict standards or creating letter-for-letter speeches that will seem inauthentic. Instead, favor a set of guidelines that follow these general rules:

• This should not be positioned as an elevator speech, but a conversation

• The foundation of this is a non-linear mind map built around an overarching central message that serves as the “common ground”

• Categories for this messaging should be around markets, product offerings, benefits, and the like

• Messages should vary from qualitative to quantitative, and people can use them and order them in their comfort zone, appropriate for their voice, a specific setting, the audience, and the purpose of their communication.

With the fundamentals of your messaging architecture in place, now comes the real challenge – instilling this ethos in a way that will resonate with impact, with a group of people that represents the broadest variety of the business spectrum.

Here are some steps I’ve seen used to introduce this type of messaging to the general workplace population:

1. Introduce the messaging to employees in mixed-function groups. The goal is to offer the employees the opportunity to learn from each other, so there is authenticity in discovering the impact of the architecture when they use it to talk about each associate’s work in relation to the brand.
   
   

2. Engage in role plays, where they have scenarios in which to use the messages. If it is said that practice makes perfect, then you’ll achieve the most success by providing a platform for rehearsing these messages. Be sure to eschew any sense of bias based on the individual employee’s function – these role-plays need to be realistic and authentic.
   
   

3. Rehearse a variety of role plays based on real-world acceptance of your product, service, or brand reputation. Role plays should range from the softball to the challenging. Remember, when you deputize each associate as a company ambassador, they likely will get a variety of feedback about your company – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
   
   

4. Teach the art of storytelling. One final key aspect is to help employees understand and get comfortable with an easy approach to storytelling for business. This is a skill that can help not only with leveraging the messaging architecture for ambassadorship, but also for spreading strategy, knowledge, and engagement internally (which further builds the engagement of your employee brand ambassadors).

Whatever your approach, be sure to commit to this employee-forward posture as soon as possible. Like it or not, the dialogue has forever shifted -- and the conversations are ongoing. If I can be of assistance to you as you develop and roll out a messaging architecture, please reach out.

Establishing Grades for Pharmaceutical RFID Tag Performance

RAIN Alliance

If you follow market trends, there is serious momentum towards the implementation of RAIN RFID (UHF RFID) in healthcare and pharmaceutical applications. Current applications of RAIN RFID in healthcare include asset tracking (beds, IV pumps, etc.), inventory management, and dispensing of medical devices, medication, and surgical supplies. In the case of pharmaceutical items, the tagging has been accomplished at the hospital facility, as opposed to being tagged at the source of manufacture. However, last year, a global pharmaceutical manufacturer began tagging anesthesia medication at the source of manufacture, starting a trend that will revolutionize the medication supply chain.

As more pharmaceutical companies begin tagging their medications, we must establish a tagged item performance grading system, to ensure that RAIN RFID tagged medications are accurately identified across all applications in this complex supply chain. During the adoption and growth of RFID tagging in the apparel industry end-users sought tagged item performance grades they could follow to help de-risk investments in RAIN technology.

RAIN retail apparel applications, based on standards outlined by the ARC RFID Lab at Auburn University and GS1, are primarily free space inventory solutions involving textile materials. Solutions for pharmaceutical items, however, involve a complex spectrum of form factors, materials, ingredients, and configurations, which are stored in enclosures ranging from small drawers to large refrigerators. Therefore, any tagged medication grading system must include a correlation of the grades to specific applications. For this reason, the Axia Institute is recommending the use of the GS1 Tagged-Item Performance Protocol (TIPP) methodology.

The Tagged-Item Performance Protocol (TIPP) methodology was developed by GS1, a neutral, not-for-profit organization that develops and maintains the standards for the most widely used supply chain systems in the world. The main benefit of the GS1 TIPP standard is that the testing is performed on the actual product and in real-world applications. Testing tagged items is essential because the medications, packaging (syringes, vials, IV bags, etc.), and product orientation can affect overall RF performance.

The GS1 TIPP framework allows for the submission of new grades and is led by a global standards organization of which most pharmaceutical manufacturers are already members. Third-party testing companies and RAIN RFID labs can closely collaborate with tag manufactures, medication automation system providers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers to define the specific requirements of their products for specific applications within the hospitals. The proposed pharmaceutical family grades will open an advanced globally accessible avenue for all the active nodes of the supply chain to implement and validate RFID tags for target pharmaceutical applications. This will facilitate the adoption of pharmaceutical RFID tagging around the globe, leading to the implementation of RAIN solutions that deter counterfeiting and diversion, while increasing patient safety and improving patient care.

The ARC RFID Lab has developed the ARC “Specification S” that could partially mimic pharmaceutical industry requirements. Although the test is robust, it relies substantially on testing the RF performance of a tag while the tag is on paper or cardstock and includes some minimal on-product testing. This testing does not fully account for the orientation of the product, the unique dielectrics of glass vials/syringes, nor the actual medications. Specification S is a single tag test, and it does not address the impact of multiple samples adjacent to each other in a small environment, something that occurs in smart cabinets at the hospitals. Moreover, this test was designed for the apparel industry with the flexibility of using large inlays with long read distances. Overall, Spec S could not reflect the actual requirement of a custom size inlay designed for a narrow 1mL syringe which should be readable at different orientations in a short read range shelf surrounded by multiple tagged items. Not addressing these essential factors in RF testing could lead to failure of RAIN solutions to provide accurate data critical to patient care and safety.

The RAIN Alliance Healthcare Workgroup is proposing an open and interoperable tagged medication grading system, administered by GS1, in which entities can propose grades, participate in the creation of grades, and benchmark against established grades, as opposed to relying on one entity to manage the entire process.

Population ageing in China: crisis or opportunity?

The Lancet

Filial piety—respect for one's parents, elders, and ancestors—is a deep-rooted virtue in China. But rapid economic development, along with rising individualism and shrinking family sizes, has eroded the social status of older adults in China. This change is coinciding with a huge increase in the number of older people. Many countries face an increasingly ageing population, but China is now home to the largest population of older people in the world. In 2019, 254 million people in China were aged 60 years or older. By 2040, this number is expected to increase to 402 million, making up around 28% of the population. These changes have profound consequences for health in China, with a rising risk and burden of non-communicable diseases and a soaring demand on health and social care systems. How can China adapt?

The traditional care model of the younger generation caring for older people will not provide the solution. China's fertility rate has fallen continuously in the past four decades, despite the introduction of pro-natalist two-child and three-child policies. India will soon overtake China as the world's most populous country, and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation predicts that China's population will fall by 48% from 2017 to 2100. Instead, as a new Commission published this week in The Lancetargues, embracing and enabling healthy ageing is key.

The Peking University–Lancet Commission on the path to healthy ageing in China takes an optimistic perspective, outlining how healthy ageing represents a huge opportunity for China. Led by one of the leading think tanks in China—the National School of Development of Peking University—in collaboration with international experts from a range of disciplines, it lays out a series of policies aimed at not simply addressing the country's population crisis, but rather unleashing the intellectual and vocational capacities of the older population and the whole of Chinese society.

To do so will require changes in how and where care is delivered. The health of the current older generation in China is often complex, and can involve a high prevalence of comorbidity and multimorbidity, with consistent health disparities between rural and urban areas, and between men and women. Hoping to address these challenges by simply expanding the number of geriatricians and nurses in large hospitals is both unrealistic and unfeasible. Instead, the authors call for a move from disease-centred care to person-centred care; care for older people should be primarily community and family based, rather than hospital based. Such a recalibration will entail a huge culture shift: many people in China go directly to hospitals when in need of health services, bypassing primary care.

The huge gap in long-term care services must also be filled. In an analysis published in The Lancet Public Health, Jinquan Gong and colleagues forecast that an extra 14·02 million older Chinese people will need long-term care by 2030. Therefore, the commissioners say, promoting the development of interdisciplinary primary health-care teams, integrated into the community, for older people is imperative, including the establishment of mobile health and online health services to improve access.

The need for change goes beyond the health system. The commissioners acknowledge that social and economic inequities are pervasive and dictate the health of older people in China. To ensure financial security for all, China should subsidise medical care and education for the poorest people, adopting a life-course approach to the social determinants of health, and narrow socioeconomic gaps (eg, between those living in urban and rural areas). For example, working class women retire 10 years earlier than men in China, resulting in substantially lower pensions and large gender inequalities. Raising the retirement age of women to that of men would help to reduce this disparity.

This is an ambitious set of recommendations, which apply across many sectors of Chinese society. They will not be fulfilled without strong political will. The importance of population ageing was recognised in the last month's National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, where President Xi Jinping spoke of the construction of a healthy China, and the prioritisation of health. He vowed to actively respond to population ageing, develop the elderly care system, and ensure all older people in China can enjoy essential care and support. These are sensible priorities, given China's demographic trajectories. The Peking University–Lancet Commission brings together the best evidence and provides the clearest path to making them a reality. The result would be good not only for older people, but for the health of China as a whole.

How to Locate the Sites of Industrial Park Projects

The site selection of industrial park projects needs to be considered from multiple perspectives and multiple dimensions. It not only involves the requirements on the economic strength of industrial park investors, the professional and technical background of operation team, project financing means and ability, but also involves the influence of many external factors such as the underlying logic of the industry, social environment, natural conditions, government support and market supply.

At the same time, it must be clearly recognized that the site selection of industrial park project is the first key decision for the success of the park, and whether the site selection is successful determines the future development potential of the project and even the life and death of the project. The operator of Gewu Evolution industry believes that the site selection and positioning of industrial park projects can be divided into three steps: the first step is to select urban agglomeration according to the economic strength of the city; The second step, according to the regional characteristics to establish the project site selection evaluation model; The third step, precise industrial positioning, a blueprint to the end.

The first step is to classify cities according to their economic strength and make pre-selection of urban agglomeration

1. First-tier cities in the mature stage, typical representative cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, have a GDP of more than 2 trillion yuan, with tertiary industries accounting for more than 60% of the total. This kind of city has developed into a large scale and strong economic strength, and the four places in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have become the advantageous areas for industrial park site selection. However, at the same time, the supply of urban land is constantly shrinking, land has become a scarce resource, and the acquisition of project land is extremely difficult, and it is easy not to enter the city without sufficient grasp.

2. Fast growing new first-tier cities, typical representative cities: Chengdu, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Wuhan, Suzhou, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, Changsha, Qingdao, Ningbo, Dongguan, Wuxi, Xi 'an, etc., with a GDP scale of 1-2 trillion yuan, and the proportion of the three industries is 40%-60%. With the rapid economic development momentum of new first-tier cities and the new direction of national strategic development, these regions have become the first choice to undertake the industrial transfer of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. In addition, due to the increasingly fierce recruitment war in the new first-tier cities, these cities have become potential cities for talent gathering in the future. If there is an opportunity, we must not miss it, even if the cost is a little higher.

3. Second-tier cities in the early stage of development, typical representative cities: Kunming, Dalian, Xiamen, Hefei, Foshan, Fuzhou, Wenzhou, Nanchang, Jinan, Shenyang and about 30 other cities, the GDP scale of 500 to 1 trillion yuan, the proportion of the three industries is less than 40%. The development of second-tier cities is relatively stable, so whether there are major national strategic opportunities, favorable preferential policies, and obvious regional advantages should be considered comprehensively when the city is judged.

4. Third, fourth and fifth tier cities in the embryonic stage, typical representative cities: Zhuhai, Zhenjiang, Haikou, Yangzhou, Linyi, Luoyang, Tangshan, Shantou, Langfang, Taizhou, Huzhou and other cities, the GDP scale is less than 500 billion, and the proportion of three industries is less than 40%. Due to restrictions on location, policies and other factors, the economic development of these areas is relatively slow. Therefore, it is necessary to be cautious when deciding whether to enter a city, and do not seek temporary cheap prices. The unique resource endowment when entering this kind of city is the key to the site selection of industrial park projects.

The second step is to establish a 3-12plus evaluation model for project site selection according to regional characteristics

Using the 3-12Plus pre-selected city evaluation model of Gewu Evolution Industry operating organization, the target city is screened and evaluated in the next step. The next step can be made to judge the target city from three big dimensions, which are: regional market accessibility, regional acceptability analysis of industrial park; Customer development feasibility, regional park development feasibility analysis; The threat of competitors and the challenges to new entrants in the regional parks. Each evaluation dimension can be evaluated from four small indicators. The weighted weight is not considered for the time being, and only the indicators are quantified for the reference of the final decision. See the table below:

The above only represent part of the views of the operating institutions of the evolution industry.

The third step is precise positioning of the industry, a blueprint to the end

Due to the lack of unified scientific planning and accurate positioning at the beginning of the development of most industrial parks, the phenomenon of headache and pain appeared in the process of the development of the park. The usual problems include: excessive industry types and disorderly layout in the industrial park; Industrial correlation degree is small, set but not gather; Serious homogeneity, excessive competition; One-sided pursuit of high-tech industries.

The precise positioning of the industry is an important foundation for the park to attract investment in the early stage, which is conducive to helping the industrial park get rid of the traditional extensive development mode. The understanding of industrial selection and the location of the park is the premise of positioning, and the sorting of the industrial chain and the trend research are the key to positioning. Therefore, industrial positioning can be fully considered and measured from three aspects, which are the situation of target city, industrial development status and industrial development trend.

1. See the table below for details of target cities

2. Industrial development status of target cities

Take integrated circuit as an example to understand the distribution of each link of the industrial chain, and determine the feasibility analysis of industrial positioning of industrial parks according to the regional industrial distribution.

3. Industrial development trends of target cities are shown in the table below

On this basis, we should follow seven principles in the actual site selection operation: strategy-oriented principle, planning-oriented principle, land saving principle, convenient transportation principle, relying on existing infrastructure principle, green ecological principle and talent gathering principle. The following factors should be taken into consideration when evaluating the specific entry of industrial park projects: Does the positioning of the project conform to the development vision of the local government? Is there local land available for development? Is there local pressure for tax increases? How urgent is the local industry upgrading and adjusting? Is there a desire to improve the city's image? Can the revenue of the local government support the development plan?

In summary, the site selection and industrial positioning of industrial park projects have a set of systematic methodology and tools. A good site selection strategy and accurate industrial positioning will lay a good foundation for the development of industrial park, and also the beginning of success.

‘Quiet hiring’ will dominate the U.S. in 2023, says HR expert—and you need to prepare for it

Natasha Piñon

A new year is here, and with it, a new workplace phenomenon that bosses and employees should prepare for: quiet hiring. 

Quiet hiring is when an organization acquires new skills without actually hiring new full-time employees, says Emily Rose McRae, who has led Gartner's future of work research team since its 2019 inception, focusing on HR practices.

Sometimes, it means hiring short-termcontractors. Other times, it means encouraging current employees to temporarily move into new roles within the organization, McRae says.

"The reality for the next year is — whether or not we go into a recession — everyone's a little nervous," she says. "In a lot of cases, organizations are not necessarily doing a hiring freeze, or layoffs, but maybe slowing down a little bit on their hiring." 

But every employer still has financial goals to meet — often, ambitious ones.

"The talent shortage that we talked about throughout 2022 hasn't gone away," McRae says. "So, you're in a situation where it's harder to get head count, and you have a desperate need for talent."

Why quiet hiring is on the horizon

Hiring usually falls into one of three categories: backfilling old roles, creating new ones to help the company grow or addressing an acute, immediate need.

Quiet hiring is all about that third category, even if it doesn't technically involve any new hiring at all. The idea is to prioritize the most crucial business functions at a given time, which could mean temporarily mixing up the roles of current employees.

McRae refers to that as "internal quiet hiring." She cites a recent example: Australian airline Qantas, which asked executives to address a labor shortage last year, in part, by rotating in as baggage handlers. 

"The executives are doing it in part because it's the right thing to do to keep the company going, but it's also just a rotation that makes sense for a lot of people," McRae says, noting that they also gained a deeper understanding of how their operations work.

There's some inherent tension here: If you're temporarily reassigned to a different part of your company, you might interpret that as being told that your regular job isn't particularly important. After all, nobody's getting hired to backfill your old responsibilities.

Bosses can help address that by clearly articulating why the specific project or business division is so crucial to the company's success. It'll help the employee feel valued, and less likely to see the move as a sign that they need to start looking for jobs elsewhere.

Alternatively, companies with few movable employees can hire short-term contractors to help keep things afloat throughout the year. McRae calls that "external quiet hiring."

"We have to deploy our employees against the priorities that matter the most," she says.

How to take advantage of quiet hiring

No one wants to get thrown into an entirely new role if they already like their job. Nobody wants to work for a crumbling business, either — and McRae says plenty of companies could crumble without quiet hiring this year.

With that in mind, an effective quiet hiring process rests in how it's framed to employees. "If you're asking a bunch of people to make this move, you should be able to articulate: What does this mean for them?" McRae says.

If your boss suggests a new set of tasks for you, they'll have more luck motivating you if they can express how much it'll help move your career forward — whether you're more interested in climbing the corporate ladder or improving your work-life balance.

"If you're just saying, 'OK, this is where we need people.' Great, but that's not enough of a reason for people to want to move," McRae says. 

Plus, if your company makes an announcement about needing employees to pivot roles, and you're interested, you can use it as an opportunity to discuss your long-term goals. You might even wrangle a promotion for yourself, McRae adds.

"This is a really good chance for employees to sit down and say to their managers, their HR people and to the company as a whole, 'Yeah, I'm willing to do this. Let's talk about what this means for my career,'" she says.

THRIVING IN THE AGE OF ACCELERATION

10 To Do's for CEOs to Reinvent Insurance in 2023

By Michael Moloney, Gaurav D. Garg, Paul Ricard, and Stephen Kerr

We are continuing to face a very uncertain environment — war in Europe, higher inflation, the lingering effects of the pandemic, increased likelihood of recession, questions on the right direction and speed of movement on climate/ESG, evolving market pricing cycles, and moderating rates. We suggest 10 ways CEOs should be positioning their organizations in 2023 to make the most of the Age of Acceleration.

Download the Original Article

01

Build macro resilience

Proactively build organizational capacity to withstand the coming shocks

The interplay between inflation, geopolitical conflicts, supply chain shocks, uncertain pricing cycles, climate change, and turbulent markets means that we are facing uncertain and volatile conditions in 2023. Many organizations are initiating cost programs as a response. Traditional programs, however, are blunt instruments, cutting resourcing and management bandwidth dedicated to future capabilities and jeopardizing future growth prospects and competitive positioning.

Macro Resilience programs, on the other hand, map costs at a capability level, allowing CEOs to focus cost and capacity allocation decisions — where to double-down, where to exit or pause, and how much to then re-allocate to future-looking differentiating capabilities. CEOs that build Macro Resilience will ensure that their organizations have the strategic headroom to weather whatever 2023 brings, while preserving important long-term investments.

Create “Risk Fluidity”

Massively accelerate the rate at which risk and capital can be shifted based on emerging conditions

02

There are an amazingly rich and rapidly evolving set of protection needs evident today — climate, financial stability, decentralized finance, cyber, AI, supply chain fragilities, macroeconomic instability, and future pandemic risks, to name a few. Through one lens, this suggests that we should be looking at the ‘best of times’ for the industry — evidenced by rapid innovation in products, new distribution channels, flourishing customer engagement and significant, profitable growth in revenue volumes from new areas. It seems, however, that the industry is still struggling with how to ignite transformative growth against these opportunities with price-earnings multiples, for example, trading in single digit territory for many incumbents (brokers excepted) and a continuing mode of returning significant capital to shareholders rather than reinvesting at scale to pursue growth.

What the industry needs is “Risk Fluidity” — an ability to rapidly and frequently adjust how risk and capital flows within an organization across products, channels, business lines, and geographies. Achieving Risk Fluidity requires an operating model designed explicitly for rapid assimilation of market signals and speed of execution transforming organizational clock speed from months to days.

03

Modularize for Growth

Build a platform-based, modular ecosystem

An increasingly fluid market environment demands a more fluid ecosystem — inflation is forcing insurers to optimize costs, MGAs are gaining scale and traction, and plug-and-play infrastructure providers are commoditizing data and technology. These trends provide a transformative opportunity for insurers to modularize their organizations for growth.

CEOs need to focus capital and resources on their firm’s “crown jewel” capabilities and build an ecosystem of partners around these core activities. Successful modularization requires an unbiased appraisal of where one’s unique advantage lies and what it takes to maximize the value from “owning” certain value chain components, while assembling a powerful ecosystem around it. Select platform-based insurance models have emerged, including in the Web3 space, which may provide a preview of where the market may be headed… fast.

Be the Smart Climate Player

Capitalize on the retreat of capacity from Energy and other sectors to enable an orderly green Energy transition

04

Insurers have a crucial role to play in accelerating and de-risking the net-zero transition. In some cases, however, the industry is bluntly reducing its exposure to carbon intensive sectors, such as Energy, Transportation, Heavy Industry and Construction Materials. With many countries still dependent on energy from fossil fuels, along with operations from other high-emitting sectors, the swift retreat of insurance capacity is itself a risk to net-zero transition.

CEOs can ensure that their organizations set foundations for a sustainable energy strategy by dynamically providing capacity to ensure an orderly transition.

05

Triple Down on Escaping Legacy

Drive through legacy technology to enable cost and experience leadership

An inability to escape legacy technology has been a perennial issue for most insurers. This challenge is often quoted as the biggest reason behind the industry’s slow speed to market and difficulty in scaling disruptive technology. Modularization, Risk Fluidity, and Macro Resilience all require modern technology infrastructures. As such, CEOs must triple down on sunsetting legacy through use of rapid transition solutions, which are now available.

Predict and Prevent

Move beyond risk transfer to prevention to maximize customer lifetime value

06

Moving into profitable ancillary services across risk prediction, prevention, and response is a natural evolution for the P&C industry with several insurers embracing it as the new normal. Some incumbents, for example, are introducing digital assistants with an integrated front-end combining insurance and services offerings for home, health, and travel. Digital-native players offer sensors and home maintenance services to their customers to drive customer stickiness and lower claim costs. These services can be highly profitable, have lighter balance sheet requirements than traditional insurance products, and are highly complementary to existing offerings. Given the range of competing models, the winners will be those who effectively tie a ‘Predict and Prevent’ strategy to their customers’ key underserved needs

07

Integrate Backwards

Insulate against inflation by capturing more loss expense

The P&C ecosystem is a complex web of goods and service providers, with P&C carriers leveraging a network of external partners to replace or repair damage instead of servicing customers themselves. For every dollar of premium, approximately 44 cents of that dollar goes directly to external partners, most of which is focused on claims management including medical facilities, auto body shops or manufacturers, and data providers. Many of these businesses earn greater margins than most insurers, with ROEs in highly fragmented markets such as auto repair and physical therapy as high as 25% to 30%.

Insurers can capture more value from each dollar of claims spend by increasing control of downstream activities within the claims’ lifecycle.

When well-executed, this approach can both improve profitability and lead to better customer experience and satisfaction through delivery of a proactive, end-to-end claims experience.

Become an Asset-Management-Led Insurer

Shift paradigm to compete head-on with PE-backed players

08

Over the last decade, private equity has profoundly changed the landscape of the life insurance industry. Traditional insurers view liability origination as their primary business with general account asset management seen as a supporting capability. Private equity insurers, on the other hand, see asset origination and structuring as their primary business with insurance liability origination as an attractive source of long-term funding. This is a profound difference in business model.

Traditional insurers competing in effected areas need to consider if they too must adopt this PE mindset, or how they can preserve a more traditional model, perhaps through strategic partnerships. Irrespective of the route chosen, a different operating model, organization, and culture, may be a necessity.

09

Run towards the gaps

Be the specialist capacity provider for the growth gaps

The insurance industry has suffered from constrained capacity as demand for emerging risk types, such as cyber and climate, has exploded. For these emerging risks, a lack of historical data has led to insurers falling back on first-principles expertise and heuristics leading to excessive caution and, ultimately, limited capacity.

This limited capacity represents a prime opportunity for those willing and able to seize it. By managing exposure through emerging solutions (e.g., parametric reinsurance) and providing services beyond risk transfer, insurers can service these growth gaps without upending their own risk appetite. In turn, they’ll gain better data on these emerging risks and will underwrite them more effectively going forward.

Digitize Customer-First

Reduce digitization costs by focusing on what matters most to customers and distributors

10

Many insurers have often made a mistake when digitizing their operations – they have worked back from the technology and not the customer. Despite substantial investments to modernize and compete with insurtechs, too many organizations default to building an app or new system without a clear, proven link to the customer or organizational benefit. These investments are often a massive cost drain with minimal ROI when they support low-value products or operations.

When investing in digitization, insurers should focus on the customer’s desired experience in a specific circumstance (or the “job-to-be-done”), shifting from an Operator’s mindset to an Innovator’s mindset.

In starting with problems, not products, and thinking critically about servicing customers’ functional, social, and emotional needs, businesses can strategically invest in technology that enhances their value-proposition while avoiding unnecessary costs and maximizing long-term profitability.

5 Facts of Conscious Communication

AMA

In all aspects of life but especially in the workplace, effective communication is about much more than choosing your words. Along with what you say, how you say it—your tone of voice, inflection, volume and rate of speech—and how you look when you’re saying it routinely affect whether your message gets heard in the way that you intended. To avoid misunderstandings and to build better working relationships, every manager needs to be a conscious communicator. 

Becoming a conscious communicator starts with self-awareness. Do you tend to speak at a pace that people generally find comfortable and easily to understand, or do you talk so fast that they struggle to keep up? Do you regularly pause to reflect and gauge your listener’s attention and receptiveness? Do you talk with your hands and, if so, do your gestures complement and reinforce your words, or are they excessive and distracting? What about your posture and your facial expressions? Being aware of your communication style and its impact encompasses all of these factors and more. A conscious communicator also identifies any potential stumbling blocks and accepts personal and professional responsibility for communicating well—clearly and respectfully. Finally, a conscious communicator analyzes their interactions with others and takes appropriate actions to maintain relationships while achieving goals and business results.
          
To help you excel as a communicator with your team members, your colleagues, and key decision makers and stakeholders, the experts at American Management Association (AMA) highlight five axioms of conscious communication. As you work to improve your effectiveness, both in formal presentations and casual conversations, keep these crucial facts of communication in mind:    

Axiom #1: When two (or more) people are together, communication naturally happens—it’s impossible not to communicate. Each person will read and interpret some behavior of the other person—whether it’s eye contact, arm motions, an offhand remark or even the positive energy someone gives off—regardless of whether they engage in an actual conversation. 

Axiom #2: Each message contains both some content and some statement about the relationship between the two people. Even when it’s not explicitly spoken, communication typically conveys whether the communicators know one another or are strangers, and feel comfortable with each other or have some sort of tension between them.   

Axiom #3: While content messages are usually delivered through words, relationship messages are most often nonverbal.Consequently, communicators have to consider both the content and relational aspects of a message, and both what’s said and what’s conveyed through body language, to achieve a full, clear and accurate understanding of its meaning. 

Axiom #4: In an ongoing relationship, the messaging from one interaction can affect how the next interaction is perceived and processed. Among co-workers who frequently communicate, “relationship residue” can occur. Impressions from previous interactions carry over, impacting the meaning attached to the message. For instance, if a person tends to be critical and dismissive in early encounters, their messages might be seen and heard in a negative light going forward—even when what they mean to convey is encouraging and positive.     

Axiom #5: The real or perceived power of the communicators impacts how meaning is assigned to messages. In any workplace relationship, the role and authority of people with whom we communicate affects how we respond to what they say. Even if the message is similar in content, your response is likely to be different to that message if it’s delivered by your boss than if it comes from your assistant.    
 
Being aware of these aspects of conscious communication will help you improve your skills as a communicator with your team members and throughout the organization.  

Why Marketing Goals Must Be Tethered To Strategic Planning Objectives

BY JASON BREWER

“You can be successful in the short term and still end up at the wrong destination.”

I’ve advised many business leaders over the last 17 years, and while growth can be achieved with a mix of good marketing strategy and sound technical execution, there is a major risk in focusing your sights too near-term or isolating your marketing efforts. Many organizations think of their marketing as a separate entity, an island, detached from the core of their business. They think that the marketing department is not connected to the heart of the organization… ops, finance, and sales drive the company. This is a mistake. Only when a leadership team clearly communicates the long-term vision and strategic objectives of the business, can it empower the marketing department to march in the right direction and grow the business in a deliberate, and sustainable, way.

“Find us more leads” is not a motivating call to arms. Marketing should have a seat at the leadership table, but of course the seat must be earned through active participation in the strategic planning process and a desire to be more than just a tool for social posts, email blasts, and print mailers.

Agencies must earn their stripes as well. While agencies throw around the term “partner” often, rarely do they act the part. Under the pressure to fall in line, agencies frequently slink back into the role of executor, comfortable being technicians and implementers with sometimes the most minuscule of tasks and decisions being dictated by distant leaders with no background in marketing.

Marketers and Marketing Teams: You must be growth strategists, in tune with business challenges, industry trends, pricing strategy, and obstacles in the sales process. You must ask hard questions and challenge leaders to communicate their unabridged vision and objectives.

Leaders: To ensure that your organization is doing the right things now, and at the same time putting you on a path for the future you want, you have to avoid getting pulled back into the day-to-day tactics and think long-term: clearly communicate your vision and develop your marketing goals to meet long-term strategic objectives. It starts with bringing all stakeholders into the strategic planning process.

“Understanding a company’s 5-year vision is the only responsible way to start a conversation about marketing.”

Why is understanding a company’s vision so important? Because that is the purpose of marketing — it’s a vehicle to lead you to that future state. Defining a company vision is one of the main tenets of strategic planning, which is fundamental to any good marketing roadmap.

What is strategic planning?

Gino Wickman, creator of the Entrepreneur Operator System (EOS), starts his work with a clear set of requirements to proceed with his process: you must be open-minded, growth-oriented and vulnerable. Gino’s first component is “vision.” A company must have a strong vision to succeed, but even more critical, an organization’s leaders must be able to communicate that vision to their team. Gino goes on to say that often great vision goes unrealized. It’s where many great visionary CEOs go wrong — they don’t have a plan to communicate and implement their vision, and they are biased in their belief that because they see it clearly, their team should naturally visualize it as well. This is not the case.

There are many great resources to help leaders with strategic planning, and more specifically, to help with that first step of coming up with a company vision statement. EOS has a process for it, and another helpful exercise we take clients through in our initial strategy workshops is the hedgehog exercise from the book Good To Great by Jim Collins. The hedgehog exercise helps companies hone in on their best self — a sort of Venn diagram approach to seeing 1) what you are best in the world at, 2) your financial North Star, and 3) your passion/purpose. At the intersection of all three is your hedgehog state — or what you can call your vision.

Defining Your Company Vision

Once you have come up with a vision for your company, the next step should be coming up with a long-term target. That could be 3, 5, 10 years, or more. This gives your team something to buy into and strive for, to help them stay grounded through the day-to-day, and give them a bigger purpose to work towards.

Once you have a long-term target established, you will break that down into smaller steps. If your 5-year goal is $10 million in revenue and 15% net profit, what will you need to reach in year 4? Then back your way into year 3, 2, 1 and so on, until you have granular, achievable goals tied to your vision.

How do I develop measurable marketing goals to meet strategic objectives?

Once you have used your 5-year goal to back your way into your 1-year target, you’re now ready to establish quarterly marketing benchmarks or KPIs. These benchmarks tell you if you are on track to meet your year 1 goals. Some goals may feel intangible, but discipline yourself to make every goal SMART. A SMART goal is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. In other words, it should be quantitative, and easy to determine whether you hit your mark or not. If there are differing opinions amongst stakeholders, that means you did something wrong. If your Q1 goal is onboarding 10 new customers, you either accomplished your goal or you didn’t — there is no in-between with a SMART goal.

With a long-term vision, yearly goals, and quarterly marketing benchmarks that are measurable, you will ensure your complete organization is heading in the same direction. Sales and marketing will be aligned and marketing will no longer be an island unto itself, flailing in every direction to reach some vague definition of success.

Marketing can be a formless money pit or a well-oiled machine. The difference certainly comes down to the quality of execution, but before there can be sound execution, there must be a shared sense of purpose and vision for the future that runs through the entire organization.

It’s time to prioritize humane, thriving work environments even if it means slightly less productivity, Stanford scholar says

BY MELISSA DE WITTE

The global pandemic is an opportunity to make fundamental changes to how society approaches work by creating working environments centered around creativity, problem-solving and equity, says Adina Sterling.

Adina Sterling(Image credit: Nancy Rothstein)

When it comes to pandemic-related job losses, the National Women’s Law Center found a dramatic difference between the numbers of men and women returning to the labor market, with women trailing behind men by about 1.1 million jobs. What can be done to bring women back into the labor market?

As a society, we need to use the pandemic as a way to pause and reconfigure our priorities. This means companies need to treat women and men and gender non-binary people, as whole human beings, with lives and loved ones outside of work. What the pandemic has surfaced is what was there all along: Too many people are living and have been living on a tightrope, trying to balance multiple and competing demands. We should stop pushing productivity in the workplace at all costs, and begin to push humane, thriving environments. We need to stop allowing shareholders to have the loudest voices. These voices have led to high levels of efficiency increases in the U.S. workforce over the last four decades to the tune of almost 70 percent, and yet almost none of that has gone to the bottom 80 percent of the income distribution. This is not a new statistic.

We need to redesign companies to center problem-solving, equity, collaboration and creativity so that people can live balanced work lives. We need to move away from an efficiency and the bottom-line model, give workers more power and design better jobs. People are really tired, whether they are retail workers that have to do shift work for 50 to 60 hours a week or executives that are dealing with the 24/7 workweek. If we saw the problem as similar across these groups that are rarely in the same room together, we would make progress.

But we can’t expect companies to shift from centering productivity to prioritizing creativity, problem-solving and equity within the employment relationship on their own. Broad collaborations across multiple stakeholders, including governments, corporations and academic institutions, are needed.

I want to talk also about the role of social networks and careers – one of your areas of study. With the pandemic disrupting the workplace and co-workers no longer networking with colleagues like they used to, how are networks changing? What risks do these changes pose for women in particular?

The thing to remember about networks and careers is that networks cut both ways with respect to inequality. Some studies show the pandemic has likely truncated networks or led us all to have smaller networks because we have fewer opportunities to connect, including serendipitously, like we have been able to in the past. I would also expect it has led to greater entrenchment or the deepening of our relationships with our close contacts, and we are therefore getting less “new” information or ideas that we might get from weaker connections that we now see less often than previously. This can all be bad from a social network standpoint.

On the flip side, though, it means that perhaps companies have had to figure out other means for doing a lot of what they do – i.e., they have had to have more formal processes in lieu of informal, network-based ones.

Take hiring for instance. Over the 2020-2021 recruitment cycle, it was impossible for companies to send their employees to travel to college campuses to recruit early-stage workers. As a result, it’s possible that instead of social networks – e.g., alumni networks – surfacing as a main way companies staffed positions, they had to go through formal means, like advertising their job openings to evaluate candidates even though they might not have come through social networks. Generally speaking, this can be a good thing – whenever companies move beyond using old-style networks to recruit, it tends to open up doors, including for women. So, as long as we can get what I call substitution effects – the replacement of networks for more formal, transparent and open processes to hire and promote workers, for instance, we are likely making some progress. I am finding some early evidence that this is what occurred in my research on the pandemic’s effects on hiring over the last year.

You have also examined the social inequality of networks. Is there anything in what you’ve just described that might exacerbate existing inequalities or biases towards women in the workplace? 

It is likely that after the last few years, because we have all had our networks shrink somewhat, they have become more homophilous than what they were previously. Homophily is the idea that “birds of a feather stick together,” so to speak, or that people are more likely to interact when they are of similar backgrounds. As we come out of the pandemic, we all should take a look at ways to diversify our networks. Institutions are a big part of that. They play a role in bringing people together, around projects, initiatives and goals. When people have shared responsibilities and are working across differences, it turns out that this is a really good way to help networks grow. It allows people to have “roles,” which is a great way to get people to interact and develop their networks.

Eyeing the Acquisition of a Direct-to-Consumer Business? Here’s What You Need to Know

LEK

Corporates are stepping up acquisitions of DTC businesses, whose sales are forecast to grow a healthy 16%-18% p.a. for the next several years. The trend reflects corporates’ ambitions to expand their product offerings and cross-market to a new customer base. It also marks a shift in how consumer businesses are adapting to changing consumer preferences by blurring the lines between online and in-person experiences in order to meet consumers where they like to shop.

Corporates have always invested in small brands to further their growth. But DTC businesses are especially attractive because the absence of a middleman often means higher margins. They also tend to have a strong customer orientation, including a deep set of consumer data and a well-developed, wholly owned digital commerce experience — attributes that corporates often struggle to acquire organically.

At the same time, the acquisition trend has yielded several high-profile deals that fell short of expectations. It turns out that many DTC businesses have hidden pitfalls that can trip up even the most experienced of corporates.

In this Executive Insights, we’ll look at where deal activity for DTC businesses has been going and what the attractions are for both buyer and seller. Then we’ll outline some concrete steps you can take to know what you’re buying and increase the odds of a successful transaction.

A robust environment for acquisitions

A growing number of DTC businesses have been hitting the M&A market in recent years. Most have been snapped up by corporates (see Figure 1).

Figure 1

DTC M&A transactions by acquirer type (2018-2021)*

In 2021, about 85% of these corporate DTC acquisitions were consumer businesses. Food and beverage was the most popular category, but meaningful deal activity took place across the consumer spectrum (see Figure 2).

Figure 2

Corporate Consumer DTC M&A transactions by category (2018-2021)*

DTC businesses are an attractive takeover target because they can help corporates achieve their strategic intentions. These include:

Expand consumer reach. The consumer populations of DTC businesses are often younger and quicker to adopt emerging trends. Access to that group was a key driver of Movado Group’s 2017 acquisition of upstart brand MVMT, which sells affordable watches and accessories with help from a significant presence on social media. Serta Simmons followed a similar pattern when it purchased DTC mattress company Tuft & Needle in 2018. The tie-up offered the chance for Serta Simmons to expand beyond its traditional brick-and-mortar channels to reach generally younger bed-in-a-box consumers.

Deepen customer relationships. DTC businesses have direct customer interactions that let them gather consumer data in ways that traditional wholesale brands can’t. With Lululemon’s 2020 acquisition of Mirror, a subscription-based home fitness startup, the company gained more data on consumer fitness preferences that it could use to expand its offerings and consumer touchpoints across fitness occasions. In 2021, women’s beauty and health startup FemTec Health acquired Birchbox, Mira Beauty and Liquid Grid — all data-rich businesses — in an apparent bid to further its artificial intelligence-driven personalized health offerings. This deeper understanding of the consumer allows for more targeted product development and marketing, ultimately improving the consumer experience and deepening customer relationships.

Acquire capabilities. DTC businesses come with digital capabilities that the acquirer can plug into its own business. In this respect, sometimes the brand or product is of less interest than the people and know-how. MVMT came with an experienced management team that could advance Movado’s Digital Center of Excellence initiative. At Serta Simmons, Tuft & Needle’s co-founders have been helping to shake up product lines, ramp up direct channels and change the company’s approach to marketing.

On the other side of the transaction, acquisitions often appeal to DTC brands as a way to tap into the well-developed logistics, marketing and human resources operations of an acquiring company. In addition, a corporate owner can likely help with wider brand marketing and provide access to new channels, which drives brand awareness and creates avenues for reaching a new set of consumers. Since its 2018 sale to Kroger, Home Chef has brought its meal kits into the supermarket company’s stores even as it maintains its ecommerce business. Meanwhile, Tuft & Needle mattresses are now available at Lowe’s and Crate & Barrel along with brick-and-mortar locations under its own brand. Serta Simmons’ capital and expertise fueled much of this expansion.

Best practices for DTC due diligence

But DTC businesses face growing headwinds. Digital marketing costs are rapidly on the rise. Privacy changes are impacting effective consumer targeting and acquisition attribution. Supply chain snarls are taking a toll. For many, profitable customer acquisition has stalled.

Challenges like these can create a cash black hole and become a painful distraction from the business of the acquiring company. After its 2016 acquisition of Dollar Shave Club, Unilever struggled to expand the brand and overcome its high customer acquisition costs. And even the customers that DTC brands already have aren’t guaranteed to stay. ModCloth was supposed to bring younger demographics to Walmart, but the deal turned off customers who liked ModCloth’s unique, independent positioning. Walmart sold the company in 2019, just two years after purchasing it.

So, if you’re in the market for a high-growth DTC business, how can you improve your chances of picking a winner? Here are six considerations for your due diligence:

Align your investment criteria to your goals. Before doing too much work, align on what the strategic goals are for the potential acquisition, whether it’s to reach a new consumer base, access data, jump-start your digital capabilities or something else. With this in mind, be clear on what you’re willing to accept from a profitability perspective (current and future) and how much you’re willing to pay to achieve your aims. Depending on your goals, consider how a DTC acquisition compares with an organic pathway and other alternatives, like acquiring a pure-play technology company that has the capabilities you’re looking for.

Evaluate the target company’s profitability and the quality of its customer base. By analyzing the expansive data set a DTC business has on its customers, you can find out where its margins are headed. Many DTC businesses aren’t in the black yet, and that may be OK. But customer acquisition costs, retention and order volumes are critical to profitability in the long term. Any negative trends in these metrics could signal an issue with the business proposition and long-term sustainability.

Understand brand value. Does the brand have authenticity? Is the product a good one that consumers want to buy? Does it stand out from similar DTC and established brands? Are there any reputational risks? You’ll want a brand that stands the test of time while avoiding any consumer backlash associated with a corporate acquisition.

Model synergies into your offer. Synergies between businesses will likely be your advantage over financial investors competing for the same deal. Many synergies will be revenue based, using the new customer audience (and the data you have on them) to cross-sell and expand share of wallet. This may be especially true when you’re looking to deepen customer relationships with your existing customers through an acquisition or acquiring a new customer base. There may be some cost synergies too, especially for DTC brands relying on contract manufacturers for small-run orders. And shared services could help any acquired DTC reduce its costs. Take these into account to develop a competitive offer but be sure to risk-weight synergies, as they aren’t guaranteed.

Assess how operating models align. DTCs are often more nimble, willing to take risks, innovative and focused on growth versus the bottom line. These cultural dynamics will influence the people they hire, the processes they have and how they structure their organization. Understanding which elements of this are key to success for the target company should play into your acquisition decision, including whether to fully integrate them or let them operate independently.

Consider team retention lock-ins. Certain people may be critical for the continued growth and culture of the DTC business. If that turns out to be the case — or if you’re buying the business for its talent — find out what their intentions are and what it would take to keep them on board once the deal has closed.

Set your dealmaking up for success

M&A transactions involving DTC companies and brands with material online sales hit a four-year high in 2021. Corporates are leading the way, having recognized the value of these businesses as a way to evolve alongside changing consumer behavior.

But success isn’t guaranteed, and DTC businesses have a particular set of challenges that can make it hard for them to become or remain profitable. By making sure you are clear-eyed on the goals of the acquisition and carefully considering the pitfalls, you can increase your chances of a value-creating acquisition.