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On August 16, it was reported that Wang Ziru, the founder of ZEALER and current head of Gree Electric's channel reform project, had resigned, sparking heated discussions. According to Blue Whale News, Wang Ziru's name can no longer be found on Gree's internal office software. Since confirming his joining Gree in 2021, Wang Ziru has frequently become the company's "traffic leader". When the tide recedes, people can't help but ask, what has Wang Ziru brought in addition to traffic during his more than a thousand days at Gree?

From a digital blogger to a Gree "worker"

Before becoming the operator of Gree's channel transformation, Wang Ziru's first widely known label was a digital blogger. In 2014, Luo Yonghao ventured into the mobile phone circle and released his first smartphone, Hammer T1. Wang Ziru pointed out that Hammer T1 had product design defects, while Luo Yonghao insisted that there was no problem with his own product. In the end, the two sides engaged in a three-hour verbal battle under the matchmaking of Youku. Since he could not produce evidence during the evaluation, Wang Ziru had to remove the sign of "objective, independent, third party" and gradually disappeared from the public eye.

Wang Ziru and Luo Yonghao had a three-hour verbal battle. Video screenshot

Then, Wang Ziru's fate with Gree began.

According to public information, Wang Ziru and Dong Mingzhu should have met in 2016. In the entrepreneurial program "I am the Founder" broadcast that year, Dong Mingzhu served as the mentor of Wang Ziru's team. That year, Wang Ziru also posted a photo of himself and Dong Mingzhu on Weibo.

In May 2020, Gree held a live broadcast to celebrate its 10th anniversary on JD.com. Wang Ziru served as the host and talked with Dong Mingzhu and JD.com executives. That live broadcast set a record for the highest transaction volume of home appliance live broadcast at that time, with a transaction volume of over 703 million yuan.

In the second half of 2020, Dong Mingzhu's nationwide live broadcast sales event was held in 13 cities. Among the hosts invited, there were many well-known people such as Yi Yi and Yin Song, but Wang Ziru appeared more often. Just over half a year after the live broadcast tour ended, in July 2021, some media confirmed the news that Wang Ziru had joined Gree Electric.

The reform of the authorization channel "offended many people"

After joining Gree Electric, Wang Ziru rarely appeared on public platforms, and Gree Electric did not disclose his specific work content. However, according to some public reports, he was previously in charge of Gree's channel reform project.

It is understood that over the past 20 years, Gree has relied on a regional joint-stock distribution model to seize the market. This channel model can stabilize dealers at all levels, reduce vicious competition, provide better pre-sales and after-sales services, and quickly achieve large-scale expansion. However, the disadvantage of this channel model is that there are too many intermediate links and it is not flat enough, which in turn pushes up product prices and makes Gree lack the motivation to invest in online channel construction.

After the 2020 Spring Festival, Dong Mingzhu publicly proposed channel reform for the first time, canceling agents at all levels and allowing dealers to directly pay the headquarters for goods. At the same time, Gree increased its e-commerce and opened "Dong Mingzhu's Store", where retailers and consumers can place orders. At the same time, Dong Mingzhu herself frequently took part in 13 live broadcasts on platforms such as JD.com, Kuaishou, and Douyin, with a total live broadcast sales of 47.62 billion yuan.

In March 2022, Gree established the Digital Channel Management Department, and Wang Ziru was appointed as the project leader of the digital channel reform. After taking office, Wang Ziru began to promote the cloud-network wholesale reform, which replaced the traditional wholesale model with online ordering. Gree headquarters coordinated the shipment, and dealers did not need to get goods from Gree's sales companies or lower-level agents in various places. The links in the middle links were shortened, prices were more transparent, and more profits flowed to Gree, but dealers could not sit still, and the once tight bundling became a resistance to reform.

Wang Ziru said to Dong Mingzhu in a program: "Can you give me an office closer to you? I want to report to you at any time." Video screenshot

In May 2023, Wang Ziru appeared at the Gree Electric Appliances (Jiangxi) New Marketing Model Presentation Conference. In that speech, he called on dealers to recognize the general trend and not just focus on immediate interests. At that time, a dealer said: "Many dealers struggling on the profit and loss line may not be able to survive the second year if they ignore their immediate interests. So Wang Ziru has offended many people." In fact, in March this year, news of Wang Ziru's resignation came from dealer channels, and at the end of last year, a dealer predicted: "He (Wang Ziru) will leave within one to two years."

At the same time, many industry insiders believe that Wang Ziru has made a lot of contributions in the process of promoting Gree Electric's channel reform. "He has assumed the role of 'explorer' of Gree Electric's channel transformation. If this matter is done by Gree Electric's traditional management, it will be more or less constrained by traditional thinking. But Wang Ziru is not from the Gree system, so it is easier for him to make new explorations." An unnamed home appliance industry insider analyzed. He believes that Wang Ziru's contribution to Gree's channel reform cannot be ignored, but his work in Gree must have limitations. "Because the foundation is relatively shallow, there is a lot of resistance to pushing this forward. This is also the reason why Wang Ziru said that the office should be closer to Dong Mingzhu, because many things require Dong Mingzhu's full authorization to do, and if there is anything, he should ask Dong Mingzhu for instructions and report in time."

Dong Mingzhu's remarks were criticized by netizens

During the time when Wang Ziru was a "Gree employee", his relationship with his boss Dong Mingzhu also attracted attention from the outside world.

In early August, Wang Ziru, as a senior executive of Gree, visited Rongguo Mansion in Shijiazhuang with Dong Mingzhu and took a group photo.

At the beginning of this year, after a lapse of 5 years, the "Gree 2024 Global Dream Festival" was held in Zhuhai. A video of Gree Electric employees singing "My mother is Dong Mingzhu" in the allegro program at the ceremony caused complaints from netizens. On January 30, the official responded that the performer of this program made a little joke at the time to add a humorous atmosphere. The original words were "My mother is Dong Mingzhu... My mother likes Dong Mingzhu the most." According to Guoshi Direct, an employee said that the "My mother is Dong Mingzhu" program of the annual meeting was choreographed by people invited to perform outside, and Wang Ziru was the general director of the event planning. However, this news has not been verified.

A program at the "Gree 2024 Global Dream Ceremony" caused netizens to complain. Beijing Business Daily

Earlier, Wang Ziru's remarks regarding Dong Mingzhu also sparked heated discussions among netizens, and Wang Ziru was also caught in a whirlpool of public opinion.

In November 2023, Wang Ziru, head of the channel reform project of Gree Electric Appliances, and Dong Mingzhu, chairman of Gree Electric Appliances, jointly participated in a program on Guangdong Satellite TV. During the interview, Wang Ziru said: "I have not seen the salary slip given to me by Gree", "Can you give me an office closer to you? I want to report to you at any time", "Even if I do nothing every day, I just watch how she holds meetings, and I listen to what she says and does every day. I think it is a very happy thing."...

Regarding Wang Ziru's remarks, some netizens believe that "Wang Ziru is just a common flatterer." But some people also commented that "Wang Ziru's professionalism and workplace ability are the ceiling for ordinary people" and "questioning Wang Ziru, understanding Wang Ziru, and envying Wang Ziru."

On November 17, 2023, some media learned from Gree Electric that Gree Electric has reported to the public security organs on multiple insult and defamation incidents in which multiple self-media outlets maliciously edited relevant videos and used vulgar and obscene words to insult and defame company executives in order to gain traffic. Currently, the public security organs have accepted and filed the cases. On January 30, 2024, Gree Electric said that after the public security organs filed the case and conducted an investigation, multiple self-media outlets insulted and defamed the company and its executives, and these self-media parties have been fined or detained by the public security organs.

Where will Wang Ziru’s next stop be?

Recently, Wang Ziru was forced to execute again.

Tianyancha information shows that because Wang Ziru failed to perform the payment obligations determined by the effective legal documents within the period specified in the execution notice, the Nanshan District People's Court of Shenzhen issued a consumption restriction order to restrict his high consumption on August 9. It is worth noting that the applicant for execution in this case is Shanghai Shuhui Venture Capital Center (Limited Partnership), which is the investor of Guangdong Jinru Yunhai (Group) Co., Ltd. (Zealer operating company).

This is not the first time that Wang Ziru has been subject to enforcement. Tianyancha shows that he was twice filed by the court in June last year and January this year and became the subject of enforcement. Among them, in January this year, Wang Ziru was forced to enforce more than 33.83 million yuan by the Nanshan District People's Court of Shenzhen. According to the consumption restriction order of the Nanshan District People's Court of Shenzhen, it was a "dispute related to Shanghai Shuhui Venture Capital Center (Limited Partnership)". Therefore, the industry speculated that Wang Ziru's dispute with Shanghai Shuhui Venture Capital Center (Limited Partnership) this time triggered the repurchase bet clause, but failed to repurchase. In response to media inquiries about the consumption restriction order, ZEALER said that this had nothing to do with ZEALER and that ZEALER was operating normally.

Wang Ziru. "Guangzhou Gree Electric Appliances" official account

According to Tianyancha, Wang Ziru is currently associated with three companies, but only one of them, Shenzhen Yuechen Auto Beauty Co., Ltd., is still in existence, and Wang Ziru's 30% stake was frozen in February this year. The company itself has also been listed in the list of abnormal operations for failing to publish annual reports on time several times.

Regarding the rumors of Wang Ziru's resignation, neither he nor Gree has responded so far. Amidst the silence, it remains a mystery as to where Wang Ziru's next stop will be.

However, what is certain is that Gree will not stop its channel reform. According to data from China Market Research, from 2019 to 2022, the online retail sales share of Gree air conditioners increased from 22.3% to 28.9%, while the online share of Midea air conditioners fell from 30.5% to 28.2% during the same period. In the face of the benefits of channel reform, Gree will also push the next "Wang Ziru" to the front.

Upstream News is compiled from Beijing Business Daily, Luzhong Morning News, Red Star News, Securities Times, Cailianshe, National Business Daily, Times Finance, etc.