ZHENG Youquan feels overjoyed that the wigs made by his rebecca company are so well received by African customers. Based in Xuchang, central China’s Henan Province, rebecca wigs are worn by at least seven wives of African ambassadors to China, branded as noble.
　　The largest hair product manufacturer in the world and the only one of its kind that has gone public in China, rebecca’s hair products include human hair weaves, ladies wigs, mannequin wigs, synthetic hairpieces and toupees sold in more than 30 countries and regions. rebecca’s products enjoy competitive brand recognition in north America, Africa and Europe.
　　African favorite
　　The company’s noble brand is particularly designed for African customers.
　　“Hair products by rebecca have been sold in many African countries in central, western, eastern and southern parts of the continent. They are best sold in nigeria and South Africa,” Zheng, Chairman of Henan rebecca Hair Products Co. Ltd., said in an interview with ChinAfrica.
　　According to him, the sales volume of rebecca in Africa reached around $80 million in 2011, making the company indisputably the leading brand among its competitors in Africa. Production is expected to increase once branch factories are enlarged in nigeria and Ghana, with 2012 estimates expected to reach around $150 million.
　　Strategic marketing
　　During its 20-year history, exploring the African market is one of the company’s biggest strategic decisions. rebecca’s headquarters in Xuchang is China’s largest distributing center for human hair. Since the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Xuchang has been a world-known processing and trading base for raw hair products. Many locals work in the industry. Zheng, who started his career as a hair products trader there, soon set up a small hair factory, turning Xuchang from a sole distributing center to a hair products manufacturing base. Currently, there are hundreds of hair products manufacturers in Xuchang, whose sales account for more than half of the total national sales.
　　In 1993, Zheng’s factory became a Sino-U.S. joint venture named Henan rebecca Hair Co. Ltd. It was reshuffled and launched as a shareholding company in 1999 - and in 2003, it went public.
　　Before 2000, the United States was rebecca’s primary market. However, as the market in the United States had matured, Zheng realized the risks to the company’s future development by putting all his eggs in one basket and the company began to explore markets in other continents, including Africa. Zheng embarked on a factfinding mission to nigeria, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire in 2000. “I was shocked that shops selling hair products could be found everywhere in a market in Lagos, capital of nigeria. Seeing this, I believed Africa would be a potential market,” said Zheng.
　　Reaping success
　　Rebecca took a long-term view of their Af- rican operation. At the end of 2000, the company established its first sales company branch in Lagos and launched noble, a brand particularly for Africa.“We didn’t make a profit in the first half year due to cultural differences, local competitors’boycotting and lack of knowledge on local market demand,”Zheng told ChinAfrica, adding that it was their consistency in promoting the brand that attracted more and more agencies to purchase noble later. “Our products had to be sold at a higher quality but lower price,”said Zheng of rebecca’s strategy.
　　After three years’ efforts, rebecca was well received by locals in nigeria. The supply of the noble brand couldn’t meet the demand, with the market share taking up 50 to 60 percent. rebecca then set up six branches in nigeria and began to set its eyes on Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo, enjoying increasing popularity in Central and Western Africa.
　　From 2006 rebecca’s success inspired more and more Chinese hair product manufacturers to seek their fortune in Africa. Facing fierce competition, rebecca adapted its strategy and began to explore markets in central, eastern and southern parts of Africa. It set up sales companies in South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic republic of the Congo and Zambia, all the while perfecting its sales network on the continent.
　　Localization
　　Besides expanding its sales network, rebecca set up factories to manufacture hair products in Africa. The nigeria and Ghana operations began in May 2011. “These factories supply products for Central and Western Africa. The manufacturing cost and the transportation cost are dramatically decreased because of them,” said Zheng.
　　Workers in the factories are recruited from the local population. According to Zheng, more than 3,000 local employees staff rebecca’s factory in nigeria and Ghana. Apart from some senior management staff and technicians sent by the Chinese parent company, middle-level managers were all locals. “We also launch training programs to improve local workers’ skills and management ability,” said Zheng.
　　Zheng believes that at the early stage when a company goes abroad, its main task is to promote the products. However, the ultimate goal has to be integrating the parent company’s philosophy with local culture to build the branch factories’distinctive enterprise philosophy. “It is a tough road, but it is what we have been do- ing,” Zheng told ChinAfrica.
　　The company is also an active supporter of charitable causes, putting something back into local communities by donating hair products to social campaigns.
　　


　　Innovative approach
　　Although a leading brand in African, even in world market, Zheng, as the chairman of rebecca, has always kept a strong sense of crisis. “The competition is fierce. We have to be innovative in management, design and promotion to meet the challenge of market changes,” he said.
　　Zheng said people tended to think products of lower prices were more suitable to African markets. But actually there are more potential demands for high-end hair products. What rebecca has achieved is proof of that. The sales of such products have become a new growth point for the company in recent years. In the future, rebecca will strengthen its efforts to design high-end hair products. It will also set up two more factories in Tanzania and namibia and produce lower priced hair products locally while importing highend products from China.
　　Africa has become rebecca’s second largest market after north America. The sales volumes in Africa increased by 40 percent in 2011, much higher than the growth rates in north America and Europe, 10 percent and 28 percent respectively. Zheng estimated that the China’s domestic market will emerge as the largest one in the next three to four years, and Africa will exceed north America to keep its second rank.
　　The company is on an arc of success and is bold in its future success predictions.
　　“The future four factories in Africa will bring about an annual sales volume of$200 million. And I believe the products imported from the Chinese parent company will bring another $200 million,”Zheng told ChinAfrica.