Chapter 129: Profit First — Mid-to-High-End Brand Positioning
"Adhesive hook?" Wei Zetao looked down at the 3D diagram on the paper in front of him and quickly understood the concept.
The image showed a flat surface, annotated with glue on the back, and the front side was shaped like a hook.
He immediately asked, "Mr. Yang, is this meant to be mounted on a wall?"
"Exactly," Yang Wendong nodded as he sat down. "You can stick it on walls, wooden cabinets, even metal surfaces.
But it's not ideal for lime-plastered walls. Over time, it may fall off.
The main idea is to replace nails—so people don't need to hammer holes into their walls just to hang something. Nails damage walls, they're a hassle, and they don't look good."
"I see…" Wei's mind spun quickly. A moment later, he looked surprised. "Mr. Yang, the market for this could be huge!"
"Of course," Yang Wendong said with a smile. "Easily larger than Post-its—and far bigger than the Rubik's Cube.
You were all wondering why I insisted that the ground floor of every new factory building be filled with injection molding equipment? This is why. Adhesive hooks are going to be our next flagship product."
Wei looked back at the diagram and said, "Such a simple design—but if you haven't thought of it, you wouldn't even realize the opportunity."
"That's how it is with many little things in this world," Yang said, smiling. "Our partner 3M became a global giant because of little innovations like this."
Wei nodded—he was familiar with 3M. "So are we trying to follow 3M's path?"
"No," Yang shook his head. "Changxing Industrial will act more like a parent company—a holding company. The brand doing these everyday products will be Deli.
Besides, 'Changxing Industrial' is a terrible name for marketing in the West or Japan. No one can remember it. But 'Deli'—spelled D-E-L-I—looks and sounds like a real English word."
"That's true." Wei nodded. "Even in Hong Kong and other Chinese-speaking regions, 'Deli' is easier to promote.
Has the patent been registered yet? We'll want that done before mass production."
"It's already done," Yang replied. "I've registered it globally—even in poorer countries. Unless a place doesn't have a patent system or isn't part of the Paris Convention, it's covered."
He had enough cash now that filing international patents was no longer an issue.
"I was overthinking," Wei said with a nod. "Of course Mr. Yang has it covered."
Yang chuckled. "Patents are the foundation of this company."
Wei picked up a plastic adhesive hook sample and examined it. "So we're going with this size for production?"
"No need to fixate on one size," Yang shook his head. "It depends on where it's used.
For example, in the kitchen, you might hang plastic bags or utensils—those need a certain size. In the bathroom, it might be for towels—totally different. And in wardrobes, for clothes, again different."
"So we'll be making a wide range of sizes?" Wei asked.
"Hundreds—maybe thousands eventually," Yang replied with a smile. "Functionality and aesthetics both matter.
Let's start with the most practical and commonly used ones. We'll handle niche demands later."
Wei looked again at the hook in his hand and chuckled. "Honestly, I want to take a few home myself—for my kitchen and bathroom.
Once we release these, we're going to have serious production shortages. Might even outsell last year's plastic flowers."
"That's likely," Yang said with a satisfied smile. "They're small, simple, but massively in demand. And legally, only we can produce them—unlike plastic flowers, which anyone can make.
I'm actually more concerned about not having enough capacity."
Wei paused, then said, "Mr. Yang, what if we outsource production?"
"Outsource?" Yang was immediately familiar with the term. In his past life, outsourcing was common in China.
Aside from a few major categories like automobiles or heavy machinery, almost everything else could be outsourced.
Even famous Chinese appliance brands often outsourced core products like air conditioners and refrigerators.
Wei nodded. "Exactly. Glue traps were simple—just labor-intensive. As long as we had enough factory space, it wasn't an issue.
Post-it notes were different. We had no industry foundation for that here in Hong Kong. We had no choice but to do it ourselves.
But adhesive hooks are mostly plastic. There are tons of factories in Hong Kong that can handle injection molding easily.
As for applying the adhesive, that's similar to glue traps. It can be done manually—or in-house—so we have flexibility."
"Hmm…" Yang nodded. "That's worth considering. Let's revisit this after we stabilize initial production."
"Got it," Wei smiled. "Actually, there's another advantage.
With glue traps and Post-its, we had no real industry peers in Hong Kong. Aside from banks and suppliers, we didn't interact much with others.
But now that we're stepping into plastics, we'll meet more players in the same space. That could be useful for networking."
"True." Yang nodded.
In Hong Kong, building relationships mattered. Even if you didn't need someone's help today, you might need it tomorrow.
It was part of the reason he planned to attend Liao Chong Hing Bank's upcoming banquet—to expand his network.
More contacts—especially high-level ones—never hurt.
Wei said, "Then I'll go find Old Hong and finalize the drawings so we can order the mold."
"Good," Yang nodded.
—
Two days later, Wei returned to Yang's office with Hong Xuefei, carrying prototypes and final design drafts.
After reviewing them, Yang said, "The surface is still a bit rough. Can we make it smoother?"
"Absolutely," Hong replied. "There are different grades of plastic. Better ones look much cleaner—but they cost more."
Yang nodded. "What material were you planning to use?"
Hong glanced at Wei, then said, "We were hoping you'd decide."
"Let's go with the higher-grade plastic," Yang decided. "The cost is minimal at this scale."
Hong asked, "How much weight do you want these hooks to support?"
"Not much—maybe a few pounds at most," Yang replied.
In his previous life, many adhesive hook ads claimed they could hold dozens of pounds—even entire oil drums.
But realistically, 99.9999% of people would never use them for that.
Those exaggerated claims were the result of hyper-competitive marketing. But now that he held the patent, there was no need to join that pointless race.
Hong nodded. "For a few pounds, even basic solid plastic is fine. That's no issue.
But we do need to be very careful about the adhesive."
"I've already spoken to Qian," Wei interjected. "He recommended a few glues from 3M. But he said no matter what brand we buy, we'll have to run tests to verify."
"Of course," Yang said. "It's easy to test strength—but what about longevity?
These aren't like glue traps or Post-its—they're long-term products.
If they fall off the wall after a few months, our brand reputation is toast. Plus, we have to account for variations in temperature and humidity."
Wei reassured him, "Don't worry. The adhesive industry already has established standards for this.
They use environmental chambers to simulate aging—exposing samples to heat, cold, and high humidity.
The tests simulate years of wear and tear in just a few weeks.
3M has the protocols. Qian is having all the relevant documents and manuals shipped to us via air courier."
"Perfect," Yang said, clearly pleased. He knew some specialized industries had aging simulation methods—like the controversial battery lifespan tests in the EV industry.
But in this era, such standards weren't easy to access.
Wei added, "We will need to import some temperature-humidity test chambers from Japan."
"Buy them," Yang said immediately. "We need this testing.
Even after this product is done, we'll need those machines for future products. It's a worthwhile investment."
"Understood. I'll get back to you with the estimated requirements," Wei said with a grin.
It was nice having a boss who was willing to invest. For professional managers like him, it made their job much easier.
Yang nodded, then added, "One more thing: I want you to remember this for the future—
Even though the Deli brand is for everyday products, we're positioning it as a mid-to-high-end brand.
Profitability is the priority.
So whether it's adhesive hooks or any future product—don't just think about cutting costs.
It's okay to allow slightly higher costs in exchange for better design, performance, or appearance."
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