On September 27, 2021, CERSAIE (hereinafter referred to as: Bologna Exhibition), which was suspended for one year last year due to the epidemic, made a strong return. This exhibition will last for 5 days (September 27 to October 1, 2021).
The Bologna Exhibition was founded in 1983 and is the leading architectural ceramics exposition in Europe and even the world. As the largest and most professional ceramics exhibition in the world, it continues to lead the latest development trends in the international ceramic tile and sanitary ware industry and is the industry development vane for global ceramic people.
It is understood that this year's Bologna exhibition only has 13 exhibition halls open, with about 600 exhibitors. There are only 6 Chinese ceramic companies participating in the exhibition, and Owen Lai is one of them.
Since its establishment, Owen Lai has been deeply involved in the international market and strives to help Chinese high-end brands move to a broader international stage. Today, Ouwen Lai's international marketing network has reached countries and regions around the world, the system is sound, and it enjoys brand visibility and recognition in the international market.
As a leading company in the field of modern bricks and plain ceramic tiles, since participating in the exhibition in 2018, this is the third time that Ouwen Lai has appeared at the Bologna Exhibition on behalf of China's modern forces. It has invested in actual marketing and shared the stage with outstanding international peers. competition; at the same time, it demonstrates the innovative strength of Chinese enterprises and builds a bridge between Chinese and international design.
At this Bologna exhibition, Owen Lai takes "Blocks of Time" as the booth theme: using the material design language of ceramic tiles to describe the traces of time in all natural things, and each product series is a story block of humanistic thoughts. The booth area is 80 square meters. In order to fit the theme and leave more space for interpreting product language, the space design will focus on highlighting the products.
The product specifications on display are relatively diversified, mainly large, with 750×1500mm, 600×1200mm, 900×1800mm, etc. being the main products.
Owen Lai has repeatedly shared his views on the "tide direction" of products: The industry's product specifications are getting bigger and bigger, and may even get bigger. In the process, the distance between people and products is getting bigger and bigger. close. In the past, our contact with products was the distance from the human eye to the ground. Now it may be the distance from the human eye to the desktop. In the future, it will be more accessible and the distance of experience will be closer and closer. Products will be extended to wider areas.
There will be many points of contact between products and people, so the interface between products and people should focus on intimacy and pleasure. Whether it can be more humane and make people more comfortable is the key to the success or failure of the product experience. So, IIn addition to vision, we also need to pay attention to whether the interactive interface can have good interactivity with people and make people more happy.
As a design-led ceramic tile brand, Owen Lai's main product design this time is relatively simple, mainly in line with the mainstream European aesthetics. The products are mainly functional, pay attention to details, and pursue human comfort.
Take the symbolic product "Five Touch Series" as an example. This series is the latest iteration of Ou Lai's masterpiece. The most talked about among peers and consumers is the unique product created by Ou Lai's original national invention patent "GL Soft Touch Technology". Gold soft-touch finish. Touching the surface of the ceramic tiles with your hands, you immediately feel the gentleness of spring breeze and rain.
Owen Lai creatively personified the product in the pre-product design. The "Five Touch Series" took the texture of the Cliffs of Moher rock formations in the European continent as the design prototype. Starting from the three dimensions of texture, touch and light, the design is very unique. Powerful, extremely gentle to the touch, and full of color, the product character of "hard on the outside and soft on the inside" touches the senses, emotions and soul.
For products, Owen Lai has always adhered to original design, transforming the absorbed essence and accumulated experience into the evolutionary ability of the product. In addition to the five tactile series, it also includes a series of plain ceramic tiles, fine slates and other symbolic products and specialty products that have been heavily developed in recent years. They will be the focus of this Bologna exhibition.
As industry media people said: "This exhibition will be held as scheduled, which is tantamount to a shot in the arm for global ceramic companies shrouded in the shadow of the new crown pandemic."
After a long time, the 2021 Bologna Exhibition was finally launched again. At a time when global epidemic prevention and control was still tense, Owen Lai became the first brand team to arrive in Italy from China, becoming a brand that is currently at the forefront of the international arena.
The journey from China to Italy was tortuous and full of difficulties. How did they do it? What is Bologna like now?
Huang Zhuoli, general manager of Ouwen Lai International Marketing, recorded their stories.
Let’s take a look, what will you experience when you arrive in Bologna?
Not Just Plan A
The Bologna Exhibition has pressed the pause button since the 2020 epidemic, and the entire international exchange has been in a slow state. Even before August this year, we were actually not sure whether Bologna wasWhether it can be carried out normally is a change that has not been encountered in the past 20 years. It is the most uncertain period, but our preparations for it will be more detailed and thorough than before.
In the past two years, all our work plans cannot only have plan A, but must also have different plans, including B and possibly C and D. We have even prepared robots for this exhibition, which is undoubtedly a good idea. A real-life test of team resilience.
It was not until mid-August that we finally received confirmation that the Bologna Exhibition will be held as scheduled, and we breathed a sigh of relief. All the product plans, booth design and construction, customer invitations, etc. prepared for the launch will finally be in vain.
Of course, the Bologna Exhibition is definitely going to open, but the important thing is what should people do? As we all know, since the global outbreak of the new coronavirus, international transportation, epidemic prevention and control, international visas, etc. have basically come to a standstill. It is basically impossible for ordinary people to enter European countries. Unless it is a special matter, you can't expect to be able to do so. Got a visa.
The general manager leads the team
In this situation, we have two options. One is to appoint a local agency in Italy to assist in organizing the exhibition, with the sole purpose of brand exhibition appearance; the other is to dispatch a business team from the China headquarters to grasp the top international Sales platform opportunities at exhibitions.
For Owen Lai, we know very well that Owen Lai must choose the second option, because Owen Lai has been cultivating the international market for more than 20 years and has a very good sales effect on an international stage like the Bologna Exhibition. It is absolutely perfect to participate in the exhibition. It is not just a showpiece, it must be for the purpose of sales, and it can achieve zero-distance contact with global high-end merchants. Only by connecting the headquarters team with exhibition resources can the benefits be maximized.
Finally, we determined the personnel plan for the general manager and vice president to personally lead the trip to Italy. Yes, in the most strategic battlefields, generals must go to the front line. Only when they can hear the sound of cannons and see the smoke of gunfire can they truly have an insight into market changes.
It is worth mentioning that after the company learned about our plan to go to Italy, the support department immediately formulated a very detailed epidemic prevention plan for us, including protective tools, emergency treatment, and hygiene training. Let’s be armed to the teeth and truly see the power of teamwork in the Owen Lay department.
Italy Departure
Several of our international marketing bosses have been doing business flying around the world all year round. They all have good experience in operating international rules. Due to the epidemic, we have been locked down in China for two years. This Bologna exhibition It can be regarded as the first battle out of the country.
International flights are also very tight at the moment, with only one or two flights per week. Completed homework on Italian business visa, ticketing, Italian epidemic prevention regulations, etc.After that, on September 16, we boarded a flight to Paris with a 48-hour nucleic acid certificate and full anti-epidemic gear. We arrived in Paris and then transferred to Bologna.
This is my first time sitting on an international flight in two years. I have a sense of familiarity accumulated over the years, but also a little uneasy. The world has changed a lot in the past two years, and Europe is very familiar to us. Now I feel very strange again. I don’t know whether the Europe after the epidemic is still the Europe before. We can’t give us the answer until we arrive.
I looked around at the passengers on the plane. There was no space requirement between seats. Everyone was quiet and there was not much conversation. Most of the people on the plane still have Chinese faces, and more of them are young and immature passengers who look like students. The excited expressions of tourists in previous years have disappeared.
These days, the brave people who dare to risk the epidemic and go abroad are basically international students and business people. You must know that from arriving to quarantine, waiting for flight schedule, returning to the country for quarantine, etc., a round-trip international trip takes almost 2 months. .
Meals and drinks on international flights are much simpler than before. We arrived at the Paris airport after more than 10 hours of confusion and transferred to the cabin. The moment we exited the cabin, I felt like we were facing a formidable enemy. I felt that we were all as grand as the Shenzhou spacecraft exiting the cabin. The crew and passengers all put on full-body protective clothing and protective masks, and resolutely walked out of the cabin door fully armed and landed in Paris. .
After we arrived in Bologna, we also observed the situation of the local people along the way. Relatively speaking, the local residents in Europe were much more lax than foreigners like us. 80% of the people walking on the streets wore masks and were fully equipped to prevent the epidemic. Very few. In their concept of epidemic prevention, they are not particularly nervous and have become accustomed to it.
European-style isolation
After arriving in Italy, we will immediately start a 10-day home quarantine period. This time we went to Bologna to participate in the exhibition, instead of staying in a hotel, we arranged to rent an apartment. According to the quarantine regulations, you are not allowed to go out during this period, and you can only stay in the apartment and handle daily affairs online. However, Italy's quarantine is based on self-discipline, and there are no scary actions such as putting up seals and raising cordons.
Although Italy's home quarantine is relatively loose, even if no one stops you from going out, it will be difficult for people during the quarantine period to move outside. After arriving, be sure to declare all your residence, itinerary, length of stay, etc. online, because none of us can have a local health green code. We must do a nucleic acid test every 48 hours, which can be done at a pharmacy near our residence. If you do it, the results will be available in 15 minutes.
During our stay, the landlord must provide a local guarantee, and he is jointly and severally responsible for our actions. Therefore, the landlord will come up to greet us every day, and also help us declare for nucleic acid and purchase daily necessities.Supplies and more. Many local places will have restrictive measures, and you must show the local health green code to enter. During the quarantine period, you will not be able to enter various restaurants, shopping malls, and consumer places.
During the quarantine, the daily life of Ouwen Lai team members
Work, work, work
During the quarantine, our entire team in Italy did not stop and worked online all the time, communicating with customers online and handling various matters such as exhibition construction. Although we cannot go to the construction site before the exhibition, we still control the progress of the entire exhibition preparation, and local managers give us feedback every day.
I paid attention to the current situation of European workers. In the past, most of the people who built the booths came from Pakistan, India and other countries, but now the people doing construction are basically local Europeans, and they are all workers who have lived in Europe for a long time. , it is estimated to have a lot to do with epidemic prevention and control. Outsiders are basically not allowed to come in.
As the quarantine time is about to arrive, the Bologna Exhibition is about to start. It can be said that we are the first ceramic tile brand team to land in Italy from China. No matter in the past, present or future, Owen Lai will always be at the forefront of the international forefront. , I believe this is a brand with a sense of mission. If you do it, do it seriously.
Finally reunited after a long time! Looking forward to meeting our international friends at the exhibition!
