For a long time, the marketing strategy of a business has been about creating products, redefining concepts, and then deciding on pricing and positioning before determining where to sell. This approach is similar to finishing your furniture and decorating your home before even looking for a house to live in.
The traditional process starts with "furniture" — designing a great product, adding some value through branding, and then setting a price. Next comes positioning, which involves using different materials to create a unique image. Finally, you end up with an idealized model. If there's more furniture, you open a store and design its layout. But at the end of the day, you still need to find a place to put it all. When you think of such high-quality items and elegant designs, you naturally aim for the best locations — like top-tier city business districts, targeting high-end consumers. However, what often happens is that these prime spots are already taken by big brands and international names, making it hard for newcomers to break in.
In reality, channels are like houses. The same furniture might not fit every home. We used to focus on building the furniture first, only to later realize the channel wasn't right. Today, the key is to reverse the thinking: instead of starting with the furniture, we should first think about the channel. Where will you sell? Will it be a small apartment or a luxury villa? Understanding the channel’s characteristics is the first step.
How do we think differently? It starts with asking: What kind of crops can I grow? What seeds should I plant? What fertilizers and pesticides do I need? For example, if you try to grow tropical rainforest plants in the desert, they won’t survive. Similarly, businesses must adapt to their environment.
When we rethink the entire business journey, we must start with the channel. Channel comes first. If you place it second, everything else could be wasted. That’s why many luxury brands haven’t succeeded in China — limited distribution channels make it hard to scale. Even large companies that launch high-end fashion lines often struggle, investing heavily without seeing results.
Once the channel model is clear, your marketing strategy and mix will change. You’ll need new methods to acquire customers efficiently and convert them effectively. In today’s Chinese market, especially in places like Xianghe furniture market, there are huge opportunities for channel innovation, sales growth, and direct consumer engagement — this is the biggest opportunity available.
Not all furniture fits every home. For instance, if you’re selling on TV shopping, you need to consider timing — prime slots mean higher visibility. If you're in a less popular time slot, you may need to adjust your product mix and pricing to appeal to different demographics. Based on your target audience, your cost structure, and your channel, you can then design your products, set your prices, and optimize your offerings.
Thinking about "where the house is" may seem like a reversal, but it's actually the foundation of real strategic thinking. Previously, our business logic was flawed. If we keep following the old path, we'll fail. Start by identifying your sales channel, then build around it — how to expand, scale, and replicate. Then, design your products. Consider how to make money on that channel, how to engage with consumers, and ultimately build a full marketing system. This is the true formula for fast growth. Otherwise, you end up with a lot of decoration and furniture, but no house to fit them — leading to failure, or worse, abandonment. The right approach is to think about the house first, build it, then do the decoration, and finally bring in the furniture and settle in.
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