Source: Lishi Business Review Author: Tian Shanshan Riding the wave and reversing the trend, supporting the unstable building. In the chip industry dominated by male leaders, a Chinese female leader took command at a critical moment and led one of the most outstanding corporate transformations in Silicon Valley history. In 2014, Su Zifeng became the CEO of AMD. At this time, she had only been with the company for two years and had never been a CEO of any company before. AMD was in serious business crisis, with revenue down nearly 40%, CPU market share down more than two-thirds, and stock prices down 90% from their high point. Prior to her, AMD had changed CEOs four times in a row, but none had been able to change the loss situation. The CEO of its 50-year-old competitor Intel also said, "AMD will never come back again". Su Zifeng brought AMD back to life in just six years, and its stock price has grown more than 60-fold in the past decade, from $2 per share to around $160 today, reaching as high as $220 at its peak, and its market cap has surpassed that of its competitor Intel. As a result, Su Zifeng has been named Forbes' highest-earning female CEO for four consecutive years, named Fortune magazine's "Entrepreneur of the Year" in 2021, and named Barron's"Best CEO" in the world. In addition, AMD is a formidable opponent to Nvidia. In early January 2019, AMD released the world's first 7nm graphics card ahead of Nvidia. In the CPU and GPU fields, although AMD's market share is in second place in the industry, it is the only manufacturer in the world that makes both CPU and GPU, and can make CPU and GPU on one chip. Su Zifeng is also known as the "Chip Queen". Ironically, she is a distant relative of Huang Renxun, the founder of Nvidia. Huang Renxun's mother is Su Zifeng's mother's aunt. Therefore, some people jokingly refer to the competition between these two companies as the "battle between cousin-in-law and niece-in-law". Why can Su Zifeng bring AMD back to life? Perhaps some answers can be found from her two remarks and her growth experience.
Author: Jin Mei. Having experienced the ups and downs of the Japanese economy, Meiji successfully practiced survival of the fittest in adversity. As Japan's largest dairy enterprise, Meiji was established in 1916 and has a history of more than 100 years. It has been through the rise and fall of Japan, from depression in World War I to explosive growth after World War II, leading the Japanese food industry from the handmade age to the industrial revolution, from a small "shanzhai" food factory to a conglomerate with snacks, chocolate, milk, pharmaceuticals, and other branches in full bloom, from the product-oriented to the marketing and channel revolution after the 1970s, from rising as a strong player in the market to continuing to move forward in the cold winter as a survivor. The history of Meiji is also a microcosm of the exciting evolution of Japanese consumerism.

Please use your Futubull account to access the feature.$Meiji Holdings (2269.JP)$It has been through the rise and fall of Japan, from depression in World War I to explosive growth after World War II.

Meiji's history is also a microcosm of the exciting evolution of Japanese consumerism. From depression in World War I to explosive growth after World War II, it has led the Japanese food industry from the handmade age to the industrial revolution, and from a small "shanzhai" food factory to a conglomerate with snacks, chocolate, milk, pharmaceuticals, and other branches.

The history of Meiji is also a microcosm of the exciting evolution of Japanese consumerism.

01 Explosive growth.

During the Meiji period (1868-1912), Japan transitioned from a feudal society to a modern country, with western snacks and snack-making techniques arriving in Japan along with western political, military, economic, and cultural ideas.

In the mid-Meiji period, Morinaga Taiichiro pioneered the large-scale production and sale of Japanese candy, and in 1899, established Morinaga Seika. Inspired by Morinaga, Soma Hanji founded Tokyo Kashi Co., Ltd. (Meiji's predecessor, hereinafter referred to as Meiji) in 1916.

At that time, Japan was in a shortage of materials due to World War I, and Western-style candy was a rare commodity in Japan. Meiji's candies were an instant hit and became in high demand, followed by the rapid appearance of Meiji's biscuit products.

At that time, the Japanese market was barren, and what Meiji had to do was very simple: select the best-selling products in the western market and copy them. With the successful experience, Meiji has expanded into new fields - dairy products and further expand its business.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, in the wave of industrialization, milk in Western countries began to be produced and commercialized on a large scale, becoming an important food and source of nutrition and calcium for urban residents and rural areas. After the Meiji Restoration, the wind of Western breeding and agricultural modernization blew into Japan, and Japan's dairy products began to build modern supply chains through mergers and acquisitions, and Meiji's milk products were born with it.

In 1921, Meiji's Meri condensed milk was launched. At that time, Japan was in a state of extreme shortage of food, so condensed milk became a consumer product for the upper class, not something everyone can afford. So, Meiji changed its mindset and promoted it as a baby and patient formula food to find precise social demand.

In 1922, Meiji established a scientific research institute to develop new products. At that time, chocolate began to become popular in Japan. Facing the waiting market in Japan, sufficient ammunition was needed to beat the competition. Meiji imported top chocolate-making equipment from Germany and invited German chocolate manufacturers to provide production technology guidance.

As soon as Meiji's modern equipment was introduced, other chocolate manufacturers in the market were instantly turned into antiques. Meiji chocolates were all over the place and even made Meiji the synonym for chocolate in Japan.

In 1928, Japan stipulated the use of the pasteurization method to sterilize milk. Meiji Group obtained the regulatory approval to produce milk and built a pasteurization processing plant. In 1932, the Meiji Group became the first company to have the right to sell Japanese-produced recipe milk powder - Patrogen.

Meiji gradually transformed from a snack manufacturer to an enterprise with the goal of creating better lives for people and communities with good nutrition. This also laid the foundation for Meiji's production of penicillin and the pharmaceutical business in the 1940s, as well as the development of health food in the 1970s.

In 1945, Meiji's factory was bombed, and production was once stalled. The next year, they rebuilt the production line and launched "Pino" chewing gum. This product, which had been popular in Europe and the United States for more than ten years, quickly conquered the taste buds of the Japanese people. This small piece of gum marked the true era of mass consumption for Meiji.

After World War II, with the assistance of the United States, Japan quickly transitioned from the industrialization stage to the mass-consumption stage in less than 20 years. Japanese people's income increased several times, and 90% of Japanese people considered themselves middle class. Formerly high-end consumer products began to spread throughout society, and Meiji's products also flew into households everywhere.

In 1950, with the successful development of continuous fermentation equipment for fermented milk, Meiji achieved mass production of dairy products at a lower cost and brought pioneer products of mass yogurt to Japan. Low cost and gradually mature sales channels become Meiji's profound moat.

In 1957, with the increase of people's income, Meiji made a luxury version of yogurt with high solid content of milk by raising the content of milk solids in milk -- Meiji GOLD Milk, which was then called the \"King of Milk\" in Japan.

Along with Japan's economic take-off, Meiji's milk business experienced explosive growth with the Japanese economy. By 1970, market competition intensified, and the explosive growth of products gradually came to an end. The market of demand and supply changes when users have more choices, and consumers began to purchase products for the gimmicks and added value, turning business competition from product competition into a channel and marketing war.

In 1970, taking advantage of the Osaka Expo, Meiji's Bulgarian yogurt came to market. In addition to the gimmick of exotic flavors that the Chinese had never tasted before, Bulgarian yogurt, like China's Yueni Senlin today, became a new hot channel in Japan's convenience store and vending machine channels in the 1970s-1990s, along with Kirin beer and other products, and became Japan's \"national yogurt.\"

After Japan lifted trade restrictions on candy and food in 1971, Meiji began to look for markets outside by partnering with confectionery manufacturers in Asia and Europe.

Meiji's market competition entered a new era.

02 Traffic players.

Meiji continuously expanded its product lineup in every era and brought products into more and more markets, blossoming everywhere.

Through food and dairy business, Meiji accumulated professional knowledge in lactose production. Since lactose can produce penicillin, in the 1940s, the group began to study penicillin production. In 1958, Meiji kanamycin became Japan's first domestically produced antibiotic and began to be exported. In the field of high demand, it is inevitable for the product to flourish. By 1966, Meiji kanamycin had become Japan's largest export drug.

But what is even more exciting is that Meiji not only blossomed everywhere, but when its branches were spreading continuously, its roots under the loess became more and more complex and robust.

To bloom the largest flowers, the most nutritious soil must be absorbed as quickly as possible, and success or failure is only a hair's breadth away in the fierce market competition. All of Japan's chocolates used to be sold to children. Morinaga Koshin for the sake of expanding sales designed a chocolate priced at 70 yen for adult customers. Faced with the opponent's clever attack, Meiji, being lag behind, had to find a strategy to \"seize the position\" quickly.

Since the opponent has changed from one branch to two branches, Meiji might as well produce more branches. It promoted its chocolates priced at 40 yen to junior high school students aged 12-13; Chocolates priced at 60 yen were promoted to high school students aged 17-18; Two combined, priced at exactly 100 yen, for the adult gift-giving market.

This production was free of stress, could be adjusted at any time, and avoided the waste of resources caused by too many roots. With Meiji's advertising targeting different ages, Meiji successfully overcame the competitor's first-move advantage, and seized the admiral position, establishing an absolute leading position in the Japanese chocolate market.

To bloom unprecedented large flowers, more robust roots are needed.

With fresh milk delivered every day, Meiji successfully extended its tentacles to Japanese people's daily food table. It aimed to occupy more space on the dining table, and daily-baked cakes became Meiji's new target. It gave up expensive and inefficient newspaper ads and, instead of using its own sales network, brought cake product pre-order cards and milk to users' homes.

While recovering bottles, Meiji took away the cards and delivered fresh cakes and milk to users' tables the next day. Users only need to choose three or two products from dozens of low-priced, quality-guaranteed categories every day and can eat different breakfast every day within a month.

The channel was open. Meiji's cakes needed a marketing gimmick.

Soon, an apology statement from Meiji appeared on various pages of the newspaper: due to operational negligence, Meiji recently produced a batch of cakes with excessive calcium carbonate content, and the company will unify the retrieval and processing. Buyers are requested to return the goods to the sales point, and special apologies are expressed.

Calcium carbonate is soda, and excessive content does not harm customers. The overwhelming recall has caused a small number of customers to return the goods, but it has skyrocketed the enterprise's credibility in the user's mind. Since then, Meiji has not only had breakfast cakes but also birthday cakes, Christmas cakes, various candies, almost becoming a child nutrition solution for many households in Japan. During the Christmas season, its cake reservations can reach as many as 6 million boxes.

Meiji, who is good at capturing traffic, can play new tricks even with a small biscuit.

In order to meet the increasingly diverse preferences of consumers, Meiji began to constantly upgrade the taste of food and design more interesting packaging. For example, Meiji launched a "Xinxin cup" of chocolate dipping sauce biscuit sticks. Although this product is novel, it is not enough to cause a market sensation, so Meiji produced two flavors of mushroom and bamboo shoots, initiating an endless war in the Japanese snack industry.

"Mushroom pie" and "Bamboo Shoots Pie" have been arguing about who tastes better, and they even give scientific data to debate. After this long-lasting debate, there is only one winner - Meiji, the flow player.

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After experiencing brutal growth and thrilling experiences, Meiji has become stronger. However, as a dairy enterprise that exceeds a century, what makes Meiji extraordinary is its ability to be an "adaptable survivor" in the ups and downs of Japan's economy.

In the animal world, tigers are strong, but they have decreased in chronic hunger due to human development. Mice are weak, but they are still everywhere as environmental "adaptable survivors" by avoiding mouse poisons and sticks. Dinosaurs were strong, but they became extinct during the environmental upheavals, while cockroaches, their counterparts from the same period, have survived to this day because of their amazing environmental adaptability.

Those who can adapt to the laws created by nature can survive, otherwise they will perish. Becoming the strong is not easy, but it is even more important to always be an adaptable survivor.

First of all, as an adaptable survivor, one must maintain a high degree of insight and sensitivity to the environment. Meiji has always endeavored to instill in its employees the need to "listen to housewives' voices," guessing at possible problems, ideas, and needs that consumers may encounter at any time. Meiji pays attention to the users; they use methods such as tasting, tasting, taste surveys, observation, etc. to collect users' taste preferences, and continuously innovate products according to their needs, thereby affecting the final sales situation.

In order to understand the true product usage of consumers, Meiji has also created a scale and scene of the kitchens of ordinary users in the office, and all product testing is fully integrated into the consumer's living space, in order to understand the various links that they encounter during interaction with the products and improve customer satisfaction. A yogurt in Japan which does not require licking the yogurt lid has made many Chinese consumers amazed.

"Predicting everything that could happen" is the evaluation of Meiji by the Japanese people. They invented a straw to prevent trembling old people from choking, easily-open bottle caps that anyone can twist open, and a formula spoon that doesn't contaminate formula.

Secondly, competitors are also the ecology of "adaptable survivors," and companies must always know thyself and know the other. In the Meiji company, there is a real showcase that displays the products of the company and all other companies at any time, so that they can visually see the market environment in which their own products are located, and not stay in the previous achievements.

When other companies introduce new products, Meiji stands in the position of consumers, tries and tastes them, and tries to think about the motives of other companies for developing new products, as a major basis for improving the quality of their own products and sales channels.

Thirdly, to become an adaptable survivor, one must ensure that one does not make mistakes and maintain constant self-iteration. Meiji has established a high standard quality assurance system, including quality assurance benchmarks, quality assurance procedures, quality assurance policies, and quality charters. In production, the HACCP system is used, and in management, the MES system is used. This dual protection can ensure the hygiene and safety of the production process, eliminate human errors, and achieve the highest product quality.

Meiji Dairy established a research headquarters in Odawara, Japan, including food development research institute, food functional science exploration institute and technology development research institute, which is specifically responsible for new product development, nutrition and health function research, and commodity technology promotion, to continuously iterate the enterprise.

In 1987, Meiji was the first in the world to complete the development of DHA in breast milk, and has conducted the largest-scale breast milk survey in Japan (4243 people), totaling 0.17 million person-times. The formulated milk powder it developed was praised as the "milk powder closest to breast milk."

Such an ability is nothing more than a bonus during the prosperity of the market, but it becomes a relief in the downturn of the market.

After 1990, Japan entered a period of "lost 20 years," during which economic growth stagnated and long-term economic depression occurred, and consumption also declined. Rational consumer brands such as MUJI and Uniqlo rose, and Meiji also adjusted its product strategy accordingly.

On the one hand, like the Meiji dairy product sales strategy during the First World War, it pays for users by enhancing product effectiveness. With its professional knowledge in medicine and in the texture and flavor of food, Meiji has launched functional products such as the Meiji yogurt LB81 series, which promotes intestinal health regulation; the Meiji yogurt R-1 series, which activates the immune system and prevents colds; and the Meiji yogurt PA-3 series, which suppresses uric acid levels and purine metabolism.

On the other hand, in response to consumption downgrading, prices are going down and the company continues to harvest the market. For example, Meiji uses vegetable fats instead of animal fats to lower the cost of products without losing flavor. The Meiji Essel super cup, with a selling point of low price, rich milk flavor, and 200ml large capacity, has broken the industry norm of ice cream cups with small servings sold for only 100 yen. The ice cream spoon that can be used to scoop out every last bit and the gold plastic texture make the product have both a sense of quality and cost-effectiveness, becoming the adaptable survivor in the market.

China's Beijing Tongrentang Pharmacy has been operating for more than 300 years, France's Remy Martin Distillery Company for about 300 years, Germany's Steinway & Sons Piano Company for more than 160 years, Coca-Cola Company for more than 130 years, and Meiji for more than 100 years... These hundred-year-old companies are often both market leaders and survivors.

As a survivor of the Japanese environment, Meiji has not been doing well in China. In recent years, local and international brands have been competing in the Chinese market, and Meiji has obviously been unable to replicate its success in Japan in China. Since Meiji withdrew its milk powder from the Chinese market in 2013, safety and quality issues have arisen frequently, prices have remained high, and Meiji's focus on first and second-tier cities is not deep-rooted or solid. In the fiercely competitive Chinese market, it is naturally impossible to replicate the Meiji miracle.

Editor/Somer