AOKANG: Wenzhou Shoe God Made By Fire

The first fire: the dream is almost lost. Wang Zhentao summed up his wealth history as the 9 turning point. However, what is really branded in his mind is still two conflagration in Hangzhou.

In the first scene, almost Wang Zhentao's dream of starting an enterprise was burned.

The second scene has become a classic marketing case in China's business world, making AOKANG's brand a real household name.

Today's Wenzhou is known as "China Shoes Capital", where more than 4000 shoe making enterprises are gathered.

20 years ago, however, some people in Wenzhou who had just been stimulated by the commodity consciousness to become rich were almost too clever to make Wenzhou a "humiliation column".

In 1987, a large number of fake and inferior leather shoes from Wenzhou appeared on the national market. In order to combat this trend, in August 8th of that year, Zhejiang's industrial and commercial departments concentrated on counterfeit and shoddy Wenzhou shoes, which were found throughout the country, and were concentrated on a fire in Hangzhou's Wulin gate.

At that time, Wang Zhentao was on the train back to Wenzhou in Wuhan, ready to enter a batch of leather shoes back to Wuhan to sell.

On the way, he heard about the Wenzhou shoe burning in Hangzhou.

"But Wuhan is so far away from Hangzhou that the fire will never burn there."

The quality of their leather shoes has always been good and should not be affected. "

However, the result of the "shoe burning campaign" by the Zhejiang industrial and commercial bureau is far beyond Wang Zhentao's expectations.

On the second day, he had just entered the house, and his partner in Wuhan called: "something has happened, our shoes have been confiscated."

Hangzhou Wulin gate burning Wenzhou shoes report, overnight, Wenzhou shoes are known as "plague shoes."

Soon, a newspaper in Wuhan published a headline headline entitled "Wuhan consumers' foot 300 thousand pairs of paper shoes".

All leather shoes produced in Wuhan on the market in Wenzhou were confiscated, including Wang Zhentao's about 200000 yuan.

When Wang Zhentao returned to Wuhan overnight, the authorities concerned had confiscated their Wenzhou shoes at a low price of 5 yuan and a pair at the Yangtze River.

Wang Zhentao's grievances were hard to smooth. "If my shoes are fake and inferior, they can be destroyed, but they can be sold openly, indicating that my shoes are all right."

For this reason, Wang Zhentao fought for a long time in Hubei, but only paid 2000 yuan in compensation.

However, the fire also burned Wang Zhentao's determination to create a brand of Wenzhou shoes.

Back home, he borrowed 30 thousand yuan, opened his own shoe factory, and expanded his company during the vacuum period of shoemaking in Wenzhou.

"But in my heart, I will never forget the fire in 1987."

Wang Zhentao has been waiting for the opportunity to name Wenzhou shoes.

Second fire: push the AOKANG brand to a peak. In February 15, 1999, AOKANG group Wang Zhentao and the leaders of Zhejiang and Wenzhou set up second fires in Hangzhou - burning thousands of fake AOKANG shoes collected from all over the country.

More than 300 media reported the news.

"Others burn Wenzhou shoes, until we burn fake Wenzhou shoes.

Never good to good, this is very rare. "

Wang Zhentao said, "some people think Lao Wang is making a show, but AOKANG is making a brand."

Prior to that, most enterprises had experienced the fight against fake products, but most of the counterfeit products they had seized were destroyed. However, the same resources were used by Wang Zhentao. After careful planning, Wenzhou shoes were able to get a sense of shame after 12 years, and AOKANG suddenly became a well-known brand.

"The fire in 1987 was accidental, but it was inevitable to put second fires in 1999."

Since then, Wang Zhentao has used a series of marketing events to push AOKANG's popularity to a peak.

In the second years of the May 1 golden week, AOKANG planned a "5. 1" money to double the activity in Wenzhou. The 100 yuan RMB with the numbered tail as "5" and "1" can be doubled. It has caused a rare rush to buy AOKANG leather shoes. Many places even cause traffic jams.

Jiang Nan Chun, chairman of the board of directors of Focus Media, once evaluated Wang Zhentao in a "very strategic and unstoppable manner" with "homeopathy, fortune and momentum".

And the agility of the manufacturer and the agility of marketing experts seem to have blurred the boundaries of "Wenzhou Shang Shen" Wang Zhentao.