On the afternoon of October 30, at the forum activity of “e-cigarette entrepreneurship in the new consumption era” of Shanghai International e-Cigarette Industry Expo, Wang Sa, co-founder of SnowPlus, delivered a keynote speech “protecting minors is the responsibility and bottom line of enterprises and industries“.
“It’s the core value of SnowPlus to protect minors,” Wang said. “We regard this as the lifeline of enterprise development, and put it at the top priority of the enterprise. Even if some measures conflict with business profits, they will not change. No matter how big the impact on the business, we should put the protection of minors first. ”
Electronic cigarette is a very special industry. On the one hand, it has a huge market and belongs to a typical “new domestic product”: invented by Chinese, China has more than 90% of the global patents, more than 95% of the production, more than 90% of the export volume, and the pricing power in the international market; on the other hand, for such a nascent industry, the product and market are obviously not standardized. Therefore, SnowPlus has been trying to assist and cooperate with the competent authorities to promote the standardization of the industry, especially the introduction of industry access system and national product standards.
“We believe that with the joint efforts of the state, industry, enterprises and the public, China’s e-cigarette industry will soon be on the right track. In this process, SnowPlus is willing to take on more social responsibilities and let enterprises and industries develop in a more benign environment.” Wang said.
The following is the actual record of Wang Sa’s speech
Dear guests, industry partners and media friends
Hello, I’m Wang Sa of SnowPlus. I’m very glad to meet with all my colleagues in the industry today to communicate and discuss the future development trend of vape industry.
The past two months, it have not been very positive for practitioners in the electronic cigarette industry.
Since the first outbreak of lung disease in the United States in August this year, the pressure of public opinion from abroad to China has been hitting consumers and industries again and again.
As for the real causes of the disease of electronic cigarettes in the United States, I believe you have a lot of knowledge.
However, another problem caused by electronic cigarettes in the United States should be paid enough attention to, that is, how to ensure that electronic cigarettes do not intersect with minors.
Ten days ago, the sixth World Internet Conference was held in Wuzhen, 127 kilometers away from Shanghai.
At this year’s Wuzhen Internet Conference, there was a forum that received special attention – “online minors protection and ecological regulation” forum.
On the forum, Yu Jianjun, founder of Himalayan FM, impressed me with his speech. He shared that as the father of a 13-year-old daughter, he found that her daughter would hide in the bathroom for an hour every day to play games. After discovering this, he carefully analyzed the Internet behavior and demand of minors of her age, and then began to make many attempts in Himalayan platform, including model and content management. Because in his ponit of view, we should protect minors like protecting own children.
We all know that nicotine can cause serious damage to the developing brain of minors. In the early years, it was generally believed that the human brain had developed and shaped around the age of six. However, it was found that the development of human brain was much slower than that of imagination only when the development of MRI technology lagged behind. Many important functions of human brain would not mature until very late. Because the development of human brain is a long and complex process, in this process, the brain with strong plasticity is easily affected by nicotine and gets addicted more easily.
Last week, the national health and Health Commission and the Beijing Municipal People’s government held the “Health China (2019-2030) tobacco control action theme promotion activity and the launch ceremony of the youth tobacco control special action” in Beijing.
At the meeting, the leaders of the national health and Health Commission put forward the proposal on the special action of youth tobacco control: “teenagers should dare to refuse the first cigarette“, and specially reminded that “teenagers should take the initiative to stay away from e-cigarettes”.
As a part of the industry, we should not only have a strong sense of responsibility and protection awareness, cooperate with the competent department, and do a good job in the governance of e-cigarette ecology; at the same time, we should also use a more development perspective to deal with the relationship between enterprise development and minors, truly protect minors, and protect their healthy growth.
There is particularity in our industry. We may meet with many minors, so in the process of our sales and promotion, we should always tighten a string, which is the red line and bottom line of minors. Taking SnowPlus as an example, we have carried out a series of measures from multiple dimensions of sales, products and promotion to protect minors. Here, I would like to share some specific measures of SnowPlus:
First of all, considering the possible harm of online sales to minors, SnowPlus has done a number of works:
First, in the flagship store of e-commerce platform, there is an eye-catching prompt: “minors are not allowed to purchase and use electronic cigarettes“;
Secondly, it launched the “identity verification system” together with platform parties such as JD to strictly verify the age of the buyer;
In terms of offline sales, when we choose to cooperate with dealers, we also adopt strict regulations, and all SnowPlus dealers are not allowed to sell vapes to minors. In case of any violation, the agency qualification shall be cancelled;
In addition, both the franchised stores and dealers of SnowPlus are required not to set up stores around primary and secondary schools, and other places that may affect minors to buy e-cigarettes.
In addition to domestic market development, SnowPlus officially enter overseas market in August this year. Now it has entered more than 20 countries and regions including Russia and Southeast Asia. In the overseas market, we will also adhere to the code of protection for minors and resolutely do not promote all kinds of products for minors.
Recently, under the advice and guidance of relevant departments, we have done several things:
First of all, in terms of product research and development, we refer to the traditional tobacco packaging design, and remind in the striking position of the new generation of product’s outer packaging: “electronic cigarettes contain nicotine, and minors are not allowed to buy and use them”;
At the same time, we actively develop and produce products with lower nicotine content and products without nicotine.
In terms of brand communication, we strictly abide by the following principles:
Do not use any advertising terms to induce minors to use;
All offline activities organized by SnowPlus are prominently marked with “minors are not allowed to enter” and so on. On the activity site, we will also prevent minors from entering the activity area through on-site supervision by staff.
All we have done is to minimize the harm of vapes.
To fully protect minors is the core value of SnowPlus.
We regard this as the lifeline of enterprise development and put it at the top priority of the enterprise. Even if some measures conflict with business profits, they will not change. No matter how big the impact on the business, we should put the protection of minors first.
SnowPlus is a young start-up company. Fortunately, in the shortest possible time, we have brought together a group of people who have firm faith, persist in moving forward and dare to challenge themselves. From “post 70s” to “post 95s”, from grass-roots employees to company partners, from regions to headquarters, everyone is pursuing excellence. With such a team, SnowPlus has become one of the fastest growing vape brand in China.
The core reason why SnowPlus is so cohesive is that it has a common bottom line and values. Our country has always stressed that both material civilization and spiritual civilization should be grasped and both should be emphrasized hard; for an enterprise, economic benefits and social responsibility should also be grasped and both should be emphrasized hard. In many specific fields and affairs, social responsibility is more important than economic benefits, such as the protection of minors.
Electronic cigarette is a very special industry. On the one hand, it has a huge market and belongs to a typical “new domestic product”: invented by Chinese, China has more than 90% of the global patents, more than 95% of the production, more than 90% of the export volume, and the pricing power in the international market; on the other hand, for such a nascent industry, the product and market are obviously not standardized. Therefore, SnowPlus has been trying to assist and cooperate with the competent authorities to promote the standardization of the industry, especially the introduction of the industry access system and national product standards. We believe that with the joint efforts of the state, industry, enterprises and the public, China’s e-cigarette industry will soon be on the right track.
In the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it is said that “we should never forget our original intention.” In the process of moving forward, SnowPlus will always remember its original intention and put it into action, that is, to improve the lives of one billion adult smokers worldwide to the greatest extent, and try to reduce the number of new people to join the smoking community. We are also willing to open the door, accept the supervision from government departments, media and the public, and create a better tomorrow!
In the future, SnowPlus will keep its original intention and undertake more social responsibilities, so as to make enterprises and industries develop in a more benign environment!
Thank you!
