时间：2022-09-06 02:59:21
进入一个成熟饱和市场最简单的方法，便是购买一个已有的成功品牌，直接接管其市场份额，而非从头开始创建。短期看来，这可能花费不菲，但从长远来看却是一项很好的投资
奥地利EFS汽车咨询公司总裁
在今年6月刊的专栏中，我曾着重谈了这样一个问题——外国汽车制造商今年5月份销量同期增长16.19%，成为大赢家，而中国本土汽车制造商却不得不面对同比略有下降的沮丧局面。
一直以来，国内汽车制造商都在面对一个事实，即他们要在产品力上与国际品牌竞争，而这些国际品牌早在几十年前就已经在国际上建立了良好的声誉以及品牌形象，后者带给国际品牌中国市场上的成功，也令本土制造商倍感头痛。与此同时，他们还要在艰难的竞争中与众多其他品牌比拼成本，来实现他们在本国（或其他）市场上的优势地位。
我们姑且先把成本领先问题放在一边。大多数品牌都希望自己能成为强大的品牌，靠着能为用户提供更多增值的价值而被消费者选择，而不仅仅是因为低廉的价格。与其冒风险和花大价钱从无到有地建立自己的品牌形象，倒不如直接去购买一个业已成型、有着良好形象的品牌。这种选择尽管不便宜，但它却有一个难得的优势，即这个品牌多年积淀的文化和传统。
许多国内汽车制造商一直在试图以他们自己的方式打入国际市场，尤其是发达国家的市场。毫无疑问，他们都面临或者经历了新品牌如何在当地已有的成熟品牌之间生存和发展的问题。事实上，在那些地方获得立足之地是件难上加难的事情，首先是因为已有成熟品牌的竞争优势，其次是这些成熟市场往往有比中国更加严格的法律法规。
因此，进入一个成熟饱和市场最简单的方法，便是购买一个已有的成功品牌，直接接管其市场份额，而非从头开始创建。短期看来，这可能花费不菲，但从长远来看却是一项很好的投资。
吉利成功收购沃尔沃就是一个经典案例。通过收购，吉利不仅获得沃尔沃的核心技术以及这家瑞典汽车制造商的全球分销网络，也收获了其积淀已久的良好品牌形象以及忠实客户。一旦吉利要打入国外市场，沃尔沃的品牌优势一定为它加分不少，这是一种常见的也是有道理的策略。
一个成功的品牌，不仅可以在国内汽车制造商进入国际市场时提供帮助，更要支持他们在本国市场的竞争中获得优势地位。
我们不妨看看其他行业的类似例子，或许你可以从中了解到这并非一个新想法。
2005年，美国SBC通信公司收购了AT&T（美国电报电话公司）。尽管当时SBC实力强劲，但它最终却决定把自己更名为AT&T，而放弃了自己的原有品牌名称，其原因正是它所收购的AT&T有着良好的品牌形象和传统。
另一个例子来自日本。日本零售商伊藤洋华堂控股美国南方公司之后，将7-11连锁便利店引入日本，并保留了7-11的品牌，事实证明，伊藤洋华堂从7-11上收获颇丰。
而在之前青年汽车企图收购萨博汽车的事例中，有报道称，青年汽车倘若不能通过收购拥有萨博品牌，它便没有兴趣完成这一交易。众所周知，萨博品牌属于萨博汽车以及斯堪尼亚汽车所有。
在这里提到青年和吉利，并不是想说品牌在收购后应该重新命名，而是为了表明，通常在收购一个品牌时，更多地考虑其品牌价值而非财务方面的问题将更有意义。
现在看来，吉利收购沃尔沃不仅给它的品牌进入国际市场增加一块踏脚石，沃尔沃的技术和品牌也在助吉利一臂之力。
当然，把另外一家公司的品牌形象纳入自己的公司，并非一件容易的事。首先企业文化本身就不同，再加上国家文化差异以及语言不通等障碍，令这一“工程”艰巨又复杂。但如果能够成功走好这一步，企业将会建立一个强有力的国际品牌。
从收购的品牌中盈利，关键是要利用好它的品牌形象，这其中包括质量的保证以及所收购公司或品牌是否被赋予强烈的感彩，特别是当被收购的公司或品牌带有浓烈的民族情感，或对该国家文化来说是一种“美德”的情况下，公众的反应反而可能会损害其品牌形象的本身。试想一下，如果大众汽车将在北美的口号“德国工程力量”中的“德国”两字去掉，它会是个什么形象？
最后，我们需要记住的是，在市场上可售的成熟品牌是有限的，因此买一个品牌并不是所有中国本土制造商都可以去尝试的选择。进一步说，收购一个品牌的决策以及如何利用它，必须仔细掂量。
The emperor??s new clothes
Therefore the easiest way of entering a saturated market is by building on an existing and successful brand image and to simply take over a share of the market， rather than to build it all from scratch
In the June issue I focused on how foreign automobile manufacturers were the winners of the sales increase of 16.19 percent in May， Chinese manufacturers even had to face a slight decrease in sales in the year to year comparison.
One of the reasons for the success of foreign brands and the troubles of local manufacturers lies in the fact that local manufacturers have to compete for product leadership with brands that have established an international reputation with established brand images over the years. At the same time local manufacturers have to compete with numerous manufacturers for cost leadership. This makes it a hard and costly endeavor to achieve a strong market position within the （or any） market.
Cost leadership set aside， most brands would want to become a strong brand that offers added value to the customer and becomes her choice， not just because of price， but because of value. Rather than building an image from ground up， and taking the risks and costs associated with this step. Local brands also have the possibility to simply buy themselves an established brand. This option - whilst not coming cheap - gives an advantage that can hardly be bought otherwise： It also allows gaining the yearlong tradition of a brand.
Many local manufacturers have been trying to make their way into foreign markets， especially those of developed countries and no doubt have experienced the problems a new brand is facing against well-established brands. In those markets it is even harder to get a foothold， because of the status of established brands， plus legal requirements that are more strict than those in China （as previously pointed out by myself）.
Therefore the easiest way of entering a saturated market is by building on an existing and successful brand image and to simply take over a share of the market， rather than to build it all from scratch. This might not be the cheapest option available in the short run， but has a higher chance to pay out in the long run.
Geely’s has managed to get itself in this favorable position with the acquisition of Volvo Cars in 2010. With this grand coup Geely does not only gain access to Volvo’s technological know-how and the distribution network of the Swedish maker， but it can also built on the excellent image of the Swedes and their base of loyal customers. Especially when going abroad this use of an established brand name is a common strategy and undoubtedly makes sense.
But the use of a successful brand name does not only give advantages to enter or gain ground in foreign markets. A well-established brand name can be perfectly used for the domestic market as well.
Looking at other industries we can see that this is not a new idea. The most prominent example would be AT&T， which was taken over by SBC Communications in 2005. Even though financially stronger SBC decided to built on the tradition of AT&T’s name and renamed itself to AT&T rather than keep its own name. Another example would be the Japanese retailer Ito-Yokado who decided to name the new parent brand of its retailing business Seven & I， to incorporate the name and the logo of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain into its name and profit from the image of the brand it had acquired before. In both examples the brands might not have been the most successful on a purely economic level， but the image of the brand was worth more than that of the new owner.
Another - less successful - example would be the attempt of Youngman Automobile to take over SAAB Automobile. Youngman reportedly had no interest in acquiring SAAB Automobile if it could not acquire the brand name， which is owned by Saab AB and Scania AB.
Giving the Youngman and Geely example is not to say that the brand should rename itself， but to show that it generally makes sense to consider the value of a brand name over the financial aspects.
Geely’s move does not only give the brand a stepping stone as access to foreign markets， but also on the national level Geely can combine its strength with that of Volvo and gain from the technical expertise and brand recognition of the Swedish brand.
Of course incorporating the image of another company into one’s own company is not an easy task. Often the corporate cultures themselves are different， and cultural as well as language barriers can be a most challenging task to overcome， but successfully doing so creates a strong international brand.
In order to profit from an acquired brand image it is of course vital to prevail the image of the company. This reaches from aspects of quality assurance， to prejudices towards the acquiring company. Especially in the case of companies with strong national affiliation， the public reaction to a foreign buyout might be damaging to the image of the brand itself - especially if the brand was seen as to have had some of the “virtues” attributed to the country or culture. What would Volkswagen be if it suddenly lost the “German” of “The Power of German Engineering” as in the maker’s slogan in North America？
Eventually the availability of established brands is of course a limited good， therefore simply buying a brand is not an option for all local manufacturers. Further the decision on acquiring a brand and how to make use of it must be carefully weight.