爱华网沉沦的英雄-英雄金笔厂悲剧之因A Falling Hero邓长峰2013.01.17.第17期
【焦点】 英雄金笔厂 市场定位 灾后反思【Focus】 Shanghai Hero (Group) Co., Ltdmarket positioningreflections
2012年11月26日，昔日制笔大亨上海英雄金笔厂于其官网宣布，以250万元倒卖公司49%的产权，昔日对手“派克”转而成其大股东[1]。对于一家净资产曾高达3.72亿元的企业而言，称其“贱卖”也不为过。遥想当年，笔者上小学时，钢笔曾一度风靡，选钢笔水时还十分挑剔，非要英雄牌的纯蓝墨水不可。然而，好景不长，不久后，水性笔威风凛凛地闪亮登场，时至今日依然稳坐书写笔市场的头把交椅，钢笔也渐渐被人们遗忘。昔日英雄风光不再，难免惹人唏嘘。然而，除了扼腕叹息，我们更应反思，究竟是什么断送了英雄金笔厂的光辉岁月。
On November 26, 2012, Shanghai Hero (Group) Co., Ltd, once apen-making mogul, declared on its official website that 49% of itsequity had been sold to Parker, a long-time rival and now aprincipal stockholder, for a mere 2.5 million. It is a realfire-sale as Hero’s net assets once summed up to 372 million.Reminiscing my primary school days, when fountain pens were a rage,I was a keen Hero fan. However, good days end soon. Before long,gel pens made a dazzling debut and quickly dominated the market,pushing fountain pens away from people’s memory. A hero fades out.However, more important than useless lamenting is to reflect andrethink—what is it that puts an end to Hero’s glorious days?
英雄金笔厂简史A brief history of Hero CO. 英雄金笔厂成立于1931年，前身是华孚金笔厂，资本银元1.5万元[2]。1937年 1月成立股份有限公司，资本增至20万元（当时币制）。此后经历战乱，厂房被炸，迁移厂址，它却依然英勇不倒。1947年，新中国成立前夕，工厂改组股份有限公司，资本增至3亿元（当时币制）。1958年1月8日解放日报头刊登“英雄笔赶派克”报道，标题晒“英雄金笔的英雄气概——2~4年要赶上美国”。1996年的半年财报显示，英雄当时的总资产7.03亿元，净资产高达3.72亿元，可谓风光无限好。1993年8月，英雄的B股股票就在上海证券交易所正式挂牌上市。然而好景不长，从1999年开始，英雄的主营业务便开始出现亏损，到2000年英雄公司靠年底突击变卖资产，才得以扭亏为盈。2001年左右，英雄由于业绩下滑严重，不得不淡出资本市场。
SHANGHAI HERO (GROUP) CO., LTD, formerlynamed HUAFU, was founded in 1931 with a capital totaling15, 000.Six years later in February 1937, HUAFU became an incorporatedcompany, total capital increasing to 200,000, measured by thecurrency at that time. The company survived wars, explosions,relocations, and in 1947, two years before the founding of PRC, itunderwent a restructuring, and its total capital reached300,000,000. One news headline in a 1958 Liberation Daily read“Hero CO. to surpass US in 2~4 years.” Earlier in 1993, Hero beganto trade B shares in SSE (Shanghai Stock Exchange). In itshalf-year financial report in 1996, a total capital of 703 millionand a net capital of 372 million were reported, evidencingtremendous profits. But not for long. Since 1999, Hero’s mainbusiness started to record losses; and at the end of 2000, Hero hadto sell its assets to get out of the red. At around 2001, due tosevere sales downturn, Hero was forced to withdraw from thesecurity market.
那么，究竟是什么断送了英雄的前程？下文将从3方面作简要探讨。
Now, what causes Hero tofall? The following texts will attempt an analysis from threeaspects.
高端or多元，傻傻分不清楚Unclear market positioning 根据英雄金笔厂官方网站给出的资料，其主要产品有铱金笔，绘图笔，宝珠笔，墨水，金笔等；主营钢笔，高端系列也有几千元的。旗下的分公司，如上海白金制笔有限公司，经营品种则较多，不仅有书写工具，还有其他办公工具。这样的产品架构，不免令人困惑。说高端吧，就那么几支。说它想走多元路线吧，又远不及同行。
Hero’s official website shows that its main products includeiridium-point pen, drawing pen, roller pen, ink, and fountain pen.Among them, fountain pens are the key products, some high-endseries even costing several thousands. At the same time, Hero’sbranch offices, Shanghai Platinum Pen Co., Ltd for example, sellmuch diversified products, including not only writing instruments,but also other office stationeries. Such product portfolio, neitherhigh-end-oriented nor diversity-oriented, is quite baffling.
首先，英雄的高端路线不甚成功。虽然英雄钢笔近年来已从礼品笔、收藏笔等多点发力，尝试走一条有自己特色的经营道路，争取在高端化方面有所突破，但收效不尽如人意。在大型超市中，高端奢侈笔柜上最耀眼的，依然还是老牌的万宝龙（Montblanc），万特佳(Montegrappa)，奥罗拉（Aurora），以及价格比较亲民的派克（parker）等，英雄钢笔则倍显势弱。其次，在文具产品多元化方面，英雄更是惨淡。以上海晨光文具为例，其产品类别就达15多种，每种类别还有进一步的细分。因其产品的多样性和清晰的市场定位，进军连锁经营后，目前在全球已有35000家晨光样板店，年销售额近20亿元。而英雄金笔厂已是连亏好几年。根据其年审计报告，2010、2011年营业收入分别为4348.620522万元，3779.254230万元，净亏损分别为159.680336万元472.248642万元。 Firstly, Hero isn’t somuch a high-end brand. In recent years, although Hero has, in thehope of establishing itself as a high-end brand, devoted to sellinggift pens, business pens and other luxury pens, the results wereless than satisfactory. Best-selling luxury-pen brands in majorsupermarkets are still Montblanc, Montegrappa, Aurora and theless-expensive Parker, rendering Hero outshined. Second, in termsof diversity, Hero is even disappointing when compared to itscompetitors. Under the product range of M&G, a leadingstationery manufacturer in China, there are 15 major categories,each including detailed offering. Owing to product diversity, clearmarket positioning, M&G has become a huge success, with morethan 35,000 shops worldwide and an estimated annual sales revenueof 2 billion. On the contrary, Hero has suffered continuous lossesfor many years. According to its auditing report, Hero recorded anoperating income of approximately 43.5 million and 37.8 millionrespectively in 2010 and 2011, and a net loss of approximately 1.6million and 4.7 million respectively.
市场变化快, 年轻人不买老钢笔Quick market changes render fountain pensobsolete
自从中性笔从80时代进入国内市场后，就一直雄踞书写笔市场。书写介质为水性的笔称为水性笔，亦称为宝珠笔、滚珠笔，兼有钢笔和油性圆珠笔的特点，书写润滑流畅、线条均匀。中性笔书写方便，用完就扔。而钢笔还需更换墨水，还有可能漏水弄脏纸面，两个字，麻烦。因此，对于文具的最大消费群学生而言，钢笔就像佝偻的老者，而中性笔则显得年轻而方便。在这个实用主义泛滥的社会，中性笔的风靡不难理解。
Ever since entering Chinese market in late 80s, gel penshave dominated the market of writing instruments. Gel pens, alsocalled roller pens, use liquid-like inks and therefore possess thefeatures of both fountain pens and ball-pens. They can writesmoothly and are also convenient. When the inks run dry, you mightjust change another one. Fountains pens, however, requiresink-refilling all the time, and they sometimes leave ink stains onpapers. It is quite troublesome. As a result, for students, thebiggest pen-consumers, gel pens represents fashion and convenienceand fountain pens become obsolete. In a century characterized bypragmatism, the popularity of gel pens is inevitable.
笔者走访了校外几家文具后，发现笔架上摆的几乎都是中性笔，钢笔则居于一隅，无人问津。大多数店主表示，营业额的80%来自中性笔，很少有人来买钢笔，“年轻人不买老钢笔”。
After visiting several stationary shops outside the campus,I found that all most shelves are filled with gel pens, fountainpens lying on corners, dirt-coated. Most shopper owners say that,80% percent of their sales revenue comes from gel pens, fountainpens are rarely wanted, as they explain, “young people don’t likeold fountain pens.”
不重视品牌保护Poor brand protection 英雄钢笔的销售主要依靠代理商，在企业风光的时期，代理商数量巨大。然而受利益所驱，英雄金笔厂的代理门槛很低，只要是手头有钱，在厂里找点关系，一来二去地代理合同就能敲定。一尝到甜头，各路卖家纷纷加入市场，原本相对固定的利润空间大大缩水。实打实的成本价，换不来实打实的收益，于是黑心商家铤而走险，开始了假货的买卖。让他们高兴的是，英雄金笔厂早期的打假力度并不高，措施不痛不痒，假货贩卖商这下定心了，更为猖獗起来。
Hero-made fountain pens are mostly sold to distributors, andin those successful years, Hero had a huge amount of distributors.Profit-driven, Hero had minimum requirement when selectingdistributors; as long as you have relationship and a fat purse, youcan become an agent. The increasing number of agents intensifiedcompletion and reduced profit margin. Not before long, the profitmargin was lowered to a point where, for some distributors,revenues failed to cover costs. Bold enough to take risks, somebegan to sell faked goods. Yet to their light, Hero wasn’t so keenon cracking them down. The measures taken by Hero were ratherperfunctory, and as result, counterfeit Hero fountain-pens became arage.
而随着假货的泛滥，英雄钢笔的品牌形象也日益受损，从专柜货摇身一变成了地摊货。由假货带来的品牌劣质影响，实际上注定了英雄走奢侈高端路线短期内必然举步维艰。而反观其对手，来自美国的派克笔厂，其品牌保护措施则绝不含糊。首先，派克打假力度大。某代理商谈到，派克刚进入中国时，假货也很多，但派克积极打假，发现一起，罚金不低于两万。其二，代理商规范统一。对于派克的代理商，店面的陈设，广告的设计，都需提交公司申请，同意后方能实行。这样以来，派克的品牌形象得以完好地保存，体现了其始终如一的高品质。也难怪英雄难过“派克”关了。
The proliferation of counterfeit goods tainted Hero’s brandimage; a cheap Hero replaced a decent Hero. Indeed, the impact thatcounterfeit goods had on brand image determines that, for Hero,going high-end is a lost cause, at least in the predictable future.Conversely, Parker, Hero’s long-time rival, has taken strongprotective measures to secure its brand image. First, Parker washarsh on counterfeiting. A Chinese agent of Parker said that, whenParker was a new player in China, counterfeiting was also serious.But Parker was proactive. Once spotting counterfeiting, Parkerwould file a lawsuit and claim a penalty no less than 20,000.Second, Parker required standardization over its agents. For eachagent, specific store display and advertisement designs wouldn’t beallowed until Parker grants assent. By doing so, Parker managed tomaintain a good brand image, and secured never-changing superiorproduct quality. No wander Hero lose the game.
结语Final words 当然，出了以上几个原因，英雄金笔厂的破产还有着其他原因。俗话说，痛定思痛。如今，英雄金笔厂的当务之急就是找到合理的市场定位，并加大品牌形象的保护力量和积极有效的营销手段。只有这样才能重振“雄”风。
Admittedly, the failure of Hero is multi-faceted. As achines idiom goes, one must recall past pain as a warning for thefuture. Now, the priority for Hero is find a clear and reasonablemarket positioning, spend more efforts in protecting brand imageand adopt active markting measures. Only by doing so can thefalling hero revive itself. 参考信息来源(References):http://qnck.cyol.com/html/2012-12/05/nw.D110000qnck_20121205_1-22.htmhttp://wiki.mbalib.com/wiki/市场定位http://www.hero.com.cn/http://finance.sina.com.cn/chanhttp://finance.sina.com.cn/chanjing/gsnews/20121227/165014136164.shtml
本文编辑：ViviY.PENG，赖亮生，陈惠文Editors：Vivi Y.PENG，LiangshengLAI, Huiwen CHEN
本刊文章仅代表作者个人观点，文责自负。The views expressed in thispublication are the sole responsibility of the author and do notnecessarily reflect the views of VGT WEEKLY.
