2024-08-15
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
"As I approach 30, I gradually feel that I am unable to do things well sometimes," Zeng Mohan said with a smile.
This is of course a joke. In the eyes of the outside world, Zeng Mohan graduated from Tsinghua University and served as the chief operating officer of the home furnishing platform "Zhufaner". His life was smooth sailing. But this top student withdrew from the peak of his career and made a bold decision: to start a business and sell mattresses.
Zeng Mohan said that his starting point was simple: there were no good enough products in the industry; his vision was also simple: "Heal life with sleep."
In 2020, the high-end mattress brand "Banrixian" was officially established, and its first product "Air Bobo" became a hit on Tmall. After that, Banrixian launched new products such as "Miss". Among them, the ultra-high-end product "Mulan" that is benchmarked against international luxury mattress brands has a unit price of more than 20,000 yuan and ranked first in the 618 double mattress category sales list.
The mattress market, which is huge but fragmented, is facing the impact of new domestic manufacturers represented by brands such as Banrixian and Blue Box. With the help of Tmall's "New Brand Support Plan", Banrixian ranked among the top 3 mattresses during the 618 shopping festival this year, and many of its mattresses were listed on Tmall's best-selling list. Its sales in 2023 reached 150 million yuan, and it is expected to exceed 200 million yuan in 2024.
For consumers, mattresses mean a sense of relaxation that allows them to “take a break from their busy lives.” For Zeng Mohan, building a brand is not only about realizing commercial value, but also about conveying his ideas to more people.
On Xiaohongshu, Zeng Mohan’s personal account is called “Mattress King Mohan”.
With his disassembly and evaluation of many mattresses, he has more than 30,000 fans. In this category with a long decision-making cycle and low repurchase frequency, Zeng Mohan evaluates mattresses in an interesting way, explains relevant knowledge, and naturally spreads the brand influence of Banrixian.
In his opinion, creating a personal account is nothing more than a "strong desire to express oneself". And the ultimate way to satisfy the desire to express is to create a brand. Those wild ideas are condensed into concrete and tangible products, supporting the dreams of thousands of consumers.
Zeng Mohan introduced that Banrixian has three important product lines: "Air Bobo", "Miss" and "Mulan".
Among them, "Air Bobo" is Banrixian's first hit series, including Air Bobo Hard Candy, Air Bobo Low Spring, Air Bobo Left Soft and Right Hard and many other products; "Miss" is the high-end main product line, with more upgrades in design and materials; the new product "Mulan" has taken on the mission of impacting the ultra-high-end, and the price per piece in the Tmall flagship store is more than 20,000 yuan.
Cute product names like "Air Bobo" and "Miss" did not cause any embarrassment to Zeng Mohan. This Tsinghua engineering student often took the lead in shouting in the live broadcast room: "Sisters, charge!"
His strong desire to express himself is his strong personal label; listening to consumers' opinions requires a humble business temperament. Zeng Mohan, who seems to be unkempt, always carefully strikes the right balance between the two. Once there is a conflict between himself and market feedback, his reaction is decisive: he must "put consumers' voice first."
"If I keep insisting on my desire to express myself, I will become an artist," Zeng Mohan said. "I don't have a life goal to be an artist. I still want to influence enough people and help them sleep well."
All of Banrixian's partners are graduates of Tsinghua University. Does the aura of Tsinghua's top students give Banrixian a unique brand temperament?
Zeng Mohan half-jokingly said: One is "rustic", and the other is "being serious".
But in terms of brand image, neither of these is prominent: Banrixian's products have won many design awards, and its "seriousness" about materials is also hidden in the core area of the mattress. Zeng Mohan introduced that Banrixian uses a material called "AiR Bounce® elastic mesh", which is usually used in the soles of sports shoes, high-speed rail tracks, car engine protective covers and other places, and can absorb vibrations and impacts in industrial scenarios.
In the past, this new material was monopolized by European and American manufacturers. Zeng Mohan traveled all over the country to factories and finally found a supplier who could produce this material.
Integrating hard-core industrial materials into mattresses may be the product style of Tsinghua science and engineering men - "crazy stacking of materials". Zeng Mohan used hamburgers as an analogy: other companies' products are McFlurry Chicken and McFlurry Fish, while Banrixian is a "super three-layer Big Mac".
The stacking of materials increases the cost, but also brings an upgrade in the experience. During the 618 shopping festival this year, the Banrixian team conducted an in-depth comparison with other ultra-high-end products overseas. After removing unnecessary premiums, they used AiR Bounce® elastic mesh to create the "Mulan" with a unit price of more than 20,000 yuan. It is reported that when the "Mulan" was blindly tested with an imported luxury mattress worth 680,000 yuan in an offline store, it had a relatively consistent sleeping experience.
Zeng Mohan is good at material innovation and supply chain integration. At the same time, he is also constantly exploring new career areas.
Although Xiaohongshu is doing very well, Zeng Mohan describes himself as an "e-commerce rookie". Most of his previous professional experience was in offline business, but online business is a huge market. "Tmall mattress business is worth 10 billion yuan a year, so I can't give it up."
In order to gain resources and also to learn and grow, Banrixian signed up to join Tmall's "New Brand Support Program" in September 2023.
During this period, the Banrixian team participated in the online operation training courses offered by Tmall to learn the latest brand operation knowledge. When the big promotion comes, Tmall will also launch special ranking activities for the merchants who support the best, and provide low-interest installment financial services for durable consumer goods such as mattresses.
The "New Brand Support Plan" has brought considerable growth to Banrixian. During the 618 period in 2024, Banrixian ranked first in the Tmall double mattress and mattresses above 3,500 yuan list. "We hope to do long-term business on Tmall, not just temporary gains and losses in a city or a pond, but long-term and healthy development." Zeng Mohan said.
The rise of a number of emerging brands, represented by Banrixian, Blue Box, Naqu, etc., has brought new variables to the mattress market worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
According to iMedia Research, the size of China's sleep economy market will reach 495.58 billion yuan in 2023, up 8.6% year-on-year. Head mattress brands include Simmons, Sealy, Tempur, Xilinmen, etc. These large companies are in a leading position in terms of both marketing budget and supply chain strength.
But new players are not completely without opportunities. Zeng Mohan believes that D2C is one of the few advantages of new brands.
D2C (direct to consumer) is usually a channel concept, but Zeng Mohan pointed out that it also means that new brands have a deeper and more direct understanding of consumers. For traditional brands, a large amount of consumer feedback is accumulated in the dealer link, while new brands that adopt the D2C model can more easily obtain fresh first-hand information. As long as the direction is adjusted flexibly and agilely enough, the ant may trip up the elephant in the fight.
Another way to overtake is through e-commerce. Zeng Mohan revealed that the online penetration rate of the mattress market is only 15% to 20%, and there is still room for further development on the e-commerce platform. Currently, Tmall accounts for half of the sales of semi-daily mattresses, and it is also a "battlefield" for major mattress brands.
In addition, half-day leisure has also returned to offline to establish a deeper connection with consumers.
This year, Banrixian opened its first offline flagship store in Changning District, Shanghai. Zeng Mohan introduced that this store adopts a warm design style and has opened an independent trial sleeping room, focusing on home atmosphere and relaxation. This year, Banrixian plans to open 12-15 offline stores, and currently has 8 stores.
With this set of "combination punches", Banrixian's business territory has been steadily expanding. It is estimated that its sales in 2024 will exceed 200 million yuan. Next, Zeng Mohan set a growth goal of "10 times in three years" for the brand, "hoping to occupy a place in the sleep industry."
Of course, compared to disorderly competition and involution, perhaps "unity" has more long-term value. Zeng Mohan emphasized that no matter who makes excellent products, it is a benefit to the consumer market. "I think it is a good thing for everyone to make products seriously and deliver products that exceed the price range. I am also willing to stand up for them."
Collect and organize the latest news information and make it available for free for everyone to read
