Jingyishan | TextOn May 20th, which is regarded as the new "Valentine's Day", Gree Chairman Dong Mingzhu and Meng Yutong, who was once labeled as the "successor of Dong Mingzhu", once again held hands on social media to show their affection.

Meng Yutong posted that he received a WeChat message from his former boss after two years, and shared their chat records. The Gree official account also responded, "Welcome home for dinner. Behind the reconciliation of enemies, of course, is business. Gree immediately announced that in a few days, Dong Meng will join forces for live streaming.

Dong Mingzhu, as a frequent visitor to online hot search lists, is not unfamiliar to the public with her feud story with Meng Yutong. Dong Mingzhu selected Meng Yutong as her "successor" through a variety show in 2021. After a brief honeymoon period between the two parties, Meng Yutong was marginalized at Gree and resigned two years later (there are also reports that he was dismissed). In 2023, Dong Mingzhu publicly criticized Meng Yutong, stating that when she was a secretary, she couldn't even write a word and only wanted to rely on Gree to become an internet celebrity.

If Dong Mingzhu's consistent expression is sincere, Meng Yutong obviously does not conform to her values and corporate employment philosophy. So this reconciliation is also interpreted by the outside world as a last resort. Gree's revenue growth has stagnated in recent years, with its 2024 financial report showing a year-on-year decline of 7.31% in revenue, marking the first negative growth in nearly four years, while its direct competitors Midea and Haier continue to maintain positive growth. The main business of air conditioning is experiencing weak growth, and the diversification strategy has repeatedly suffered setbacks. In addition, Dong Mingzhu's series of remarks in recent years are not well received among young people, and the anxiety of Gree's transformation breakthrough can be imagined.

The question is, can re partnering with a young internet celebrity who was once expelled from the company be an effective measure for Gree's transformation? In the era of traffic, Dong Mingzhu and Meng Yutong can create a sensation, and live streaming sales may also achieve good short-term performance. In fact, a few years ago, the "Mingzhu Yutong Selected" live streaming room also performed well, but Gree is not a live streaming company and cannot operate according to the logic of generating traffic. Whether a company's own products and channels match is the key to long-term success or failure.

If we only look at the live streaming results, Dong Mingzhu personally set a stunning sales record of nearly 50 billion yuan in a year when she went live streaming. However, doubts such as "brushing orders", "requiring dealers to place orders in live streaming rooms", and "transferring offline performance to online" have always been present. It can be seen that there is an unresolved contradiction between Gree's basic products and sales channels, and the live streaming sales model. If these contradictions are not resolved, no matter how large the traffic of the Dong Meng alliance is now, its assistance to Gree's transformation and development will be limited.

The difficulties faced by Gree have been analyzed by many industry insiders, such as long-term dependence on Dong Mingzhu's personal IP, traditional brand image, and lack of innovation in products, which all determine that it is difficult to attract young consumers. Comparing horizontally with competitors such as Midea and Xiaomi, they expand their market through minimalist design, smart home ecosystem construction, and youth oriented marketing. The Rose Air Conditioner launched by Gree before was denounced by many young people as "ugly and expensive". Such products, relying on traffic to drive sales, may also find it difficult to open up the market for young people.

Holding hands with Meng Yutong again may bring a brief buzz to Gree, but its fundamental problem lies in strategic ambiguity and lack of innovation, rather than a lack of traffic. In fact, Dong Mingzhu never lacks traffic, and her every move is easily trending. However, her statements in recent years often conflict with the values of most young people, such as "never use returnees", and even do not conform to the basic consensus of modern enterprise management. As the head of a company, this may be what needs to be reflected upon and adjusted. If her own cognition had not changed, the outcome of her collaboration with internet celebrity Meng Yutong would probably have been difficult to be optimistic.

Traffic can generate momentum, but it cannot replace the reconstruction of product strength and business models. Dong Mingzhu's fifth term has begun, and if Gree is still trapped in the game of "domineering CEO" and traffic, it may be difficult to escape the fate of "falling behind". As netizens have said, it is easy to forget grudges with a smile when we meet, but Gree's future cannot be solved by just a meal.

(The author is a senior media professional)