At the Plant Doctor Diamond Annual Meeting in early 2018, Plant Doctor announced that he would enter the Japanese market. After six months, plant doctor dendrobium products appeared in Tokyo, Japan, and landed in the bustling business districts of Shibuya, Harajuku, and Akihabara.

On July 2, Jie Yong, the chairman of Plant Doctor, said in an interview with a reporter from 21st Century Business Herald that it is a natural matter for plant doctors to enter overseas markets. "After doing a good job in the Chinese basic market, we will continue to look for opportunities to expand overseas markets. Only on the truly international stage, competing with internationally competitive players and brands on the same stage, can we continue to optimize in turn. Enhance competitiveness."

 In fact, China's local cosmetics market, especially high-end brands, has been dominated by multinational brands for many years. The brand image is deeply rooted in public perception. It is not easy for local cosmetics companies to go abroad. When they entered the US market, the products made by plant doctors in China were questioned, but after they were manufactured in Japan with the same formula and technology, the relevant data was recognized.

In the view of Wang Zhuo, founding partner of Pandi Capital, it is a good thing to test the internationalization of local brands, but it is not low to choose Japan, especially the details and quality is a challenge, and there is a long way to go. "The process of plant doctors entering the US market has specific practical and cognitive problems. At present, the precision manufacturing level and brand building capabilities of most Chinese companies still need to be improved."

 Prudent Pathfinder Internationalization

This time in Japan, the plant doctor brought the star product Dendrobium series jointly developed with the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Kunming Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences). The raw material is Dendrobium from the high mountains of Yunnan, China, which is called " The first of the Nine Immortal Grasses in China".

The Kunzhi Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences has a 30-year history of research on dendrobium. After repeated scientific verification, it has been found that the DPPH antioxidant rate of Dendrobium in the mountains of Yunnan, China is as high as 74.6%. It is a rare natural raw material for cosmetics and has anti-aging effects.

It is understood that phytologists and the Kunzhi Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences established the "Plant Doctor R&D Center". Using modern gene technology and combining more than 60 ancient books, they discovered the accumulation of Erianin Bibenzyl in Dendrobium. After 913 days of continuous research and development, 268 times After formula adjustment and real evaluation by tens of thousands of consumers, after 259 experiments, the plant doctor Dendrobium fresh muscle coagulation series was finally developed. It was launched globally in 2017 and was the first skin care brand to launch the Dendrobium series.

According to statistics, the plant doctor's fresh muscle coagulation series has been on the market for less than a year, and the product repurchase rate has exceeded 50%. After completing the domestic basic market, plant doctors began to target the United States, Japan and other markets.

For the overseas market, Xie Yong emphasized many times that this is a natural process in an interview with a reporter from 21st Century Business Herald.

"For example, in our brand stores in Yunnan, there will be Burmese people to consume; in our stores in Northeast, there are many Russians and North Koreans to consume, and the stores in Inner Mongolia have many people from the Republic of Mongolia to consume. Then the brand When it reaches a certain level, it will naturally expand outwards, but what we have to do is to set up commercial outlets in places with high commercial potential, such as the United States and Japan. I think this is the real expansion of overseas markets."

Jie Yong believes that this requires strength and strategy. For example, entering the Japanese market is because it is close to China and has small cultural differences. "We are still relatively cautious in overseas markets. We will first continue to focus on the market with our most popular Dendrobium products, and we will not consider other series for the time being."

 Strengthen brand building and build confidence in domestic production

However, it is not easy to enter the overseas market, especially the US market. The US Food and Drug Administration is extremely strict in terms of access to the cosmetics industry, and requires high data. At the same time, it is very cautious about Chinese products and has different opinions on Chinese pigment additions. . It is understood that plant doctors have also made corresponding adjustments in this regard, using some raw materials that meet the standards of the US Food and Drug Administration.

"We started to test-market Dendrobium products in the United States at the end of last year. During this process, we discovered a problem. The Americans have a lot of distrust of products made in China, and the inspection of related ingredients far exceeds our imagination. "Xie Yong said. However, he found that Americans actually trust "made in Japan" things very much. It happens that plant doctors have R&D centers in Japan. Later, they discovered that the preparations for production in Japan are basically the same as those for production in China. .

"So I thought about having a formal promotion in Japan in the middle of the year after finishing it in the United States. The overall situation went smoothly. After all, the skin types of Japanese and Chinese are similar, and their skin needs are similar. The key is also One point is that Japanese consumers are very interested in Chinese Kampo, and our alpine plants and the research and development of the Chinese Academy of Sciences are also an important reason that can impress Japanese consumers and Japanese channels." Xie Yong said excitedly.

Regarding the process of entering the United States, Xie Yong is still quite moved by the weakness of Chinese cosmetics brands. It is the same plant doctor brand, and the research and development is also done in China. It is only produced in Japan, but its acceptance in the United States is different.

An indisputable fact is that domestic local brands have long been devalued. Wang Zhuo also admitted that it is a huge challenge to test the internationalization of local brands, and there is still a long way to go. "At present, the precision manufacturing level and brand building capabilities of most Chinese enterprises still need to be improved."

At the end of June, Deng Min, a veteran in the daily chemical industry and chairman of Pinguan Technology (Wuhan) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Pinguan"), pointed out in an interview with a reporter from 21st Century Business Herald that compared with international big names, local enterprises Construction and research and development are still insufficient, and there is basically no success at the level of high-end cosmetics. "But this does not mean that local companies have no possibility of overtaking in corners. Grasping Chinese characteristics is also one of the paths for local cosmetics to break through."

In recent years, plant doctors have also made breakthroughs in raw materials and research and development, including cooperation with the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the establishment of a research and development center in Japan. It is precisely the determination of plant doctors to become a strong national brand that has moved a group of scientists to help their research and development.

Professor Pei Shengji, a botanist, founder of ethnobotany, and chief scientist of plant doctors, introduced to the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that Yunnan has high altitude, large temperature difference, less pollution, more active substances, and the cell viability screening rate is 92.3%. The screening rate of DPPH free radical scavenging activity reached 69.2%, the screening rate of tyrosinase inhibitory activity was 30.8%, and the screening rate of collagen secretion promoting activity was 15.4%. They are rare natural raw materials for cosmetics.

Many foreign companies "covet" these natural raw materials, but Pei Shengji declined. He revealed: "Many foreign cosmetics companies, including South Korea, have approached the Kunming Institute of Botany for cooperation, but I declined. I hope that local Chinese brands will be able to explore, and that local brands will have the opportunity to counterattack foreign brands. "

 Xie Yong expressed full confidence in the counterattack of Chinese brands against foreign brands, but he also said that Chinese local cosmetics companies must not blindly follow the trend when entering overseas markets. The risks and hopes of entering overseas markets must be treated rationally.