Jul. 16, 2025
On July 6, 2025, Giti Germany Tire Company hosted an extraordinary exchange event. Lin Yachi, a well-known influencer and industry expert, was invited to visit. In just one day, he engaged in in-depth discussions with the company’s senior leadership on critical topics such as market saturation, supply chain optimization, and consumer conversion.
The key takeaway from this exchange struck at the heart of the industry's challenges: in a landscape dominated by oversupply and homogeneous competition, “involution” has become a widely acknowledged dead end. However, the way out is not out of reach—rebuilding the brand value chain and winning the “three key battles” of 2025 is the key to helping companies survive economic cycles.
Lin Yachi, a legendary entrepreneur in the tire industry, has achieved remarkable results—including growing 100,000 followers on Douyin in just six months, expanding into four overseas regions, and increasing in-store customer traffic by over 80% monthly. He brings a practical and replicable methodology for breaking out of involution. This article will delve into the essence of involution, outline the framework of the three battles, and present actionable strategies—a valuable blueprint for the tire industry and other sectors trapped in similar stagnation.
The essence of involution lies in inefficient competition under conditions of oversupply. During the exchange, Lin Yachi pointed out: “Involution is a shared reality across the industry, but when competition reaches its limit, we must think about how to survive the cycle.” This kind of competition stems from overcapacity—companies chase efficiency and low prices for survival, but often fall into a dead end.
For example, 2024 data from the tire industry shows that 54% of retail shops experienced a decline in service volume, with 13% seeing a drop of more than 25%. The disparity was especially stark in top-tier cities—while 16% of stores plummeted, 17% saw a growth of over 25%. This reflects the accelerating K-shaped divergence: companies following outdated rules are eliminated, while innovators with new strategies capture profits.
Involution is not a single form of competition. Lin Yachi dissected it into three structural layers:
(1) The Quagmire Zone (The Abyss of Price Wars): Companies blindly slash prices, entering a vicious cycle of “there’s always a lower price.” For example, one tire brand lowers prices by 10%, only for competitors to follow with a 15% cut, eventually leading to quality collapse and customer loss. This is essentially a short-sighted “low-quality, low-price” strategy that squeezes profit margins and harms the industry ecosystem.
(2) The Scale Zone (The Red Ocean of Bargains): In the traditional mainstream price range, companies rely on scale advantages to offer better deals, but lack differentiation. Traditional chains, for instance, rely on legacy customers, but struggle against new online competitors. Since new media made pricing transparent in 2024, such businesses must upgrade or risk losing market share.
(3) The Victory Zone (The High Ground of Value Innovation): This is where companies compete on product value and core competencies to create new mainstream pricing zones. The case of Fat Donglai Supermarket is often cited—without cutting prices or exploiting workers, it became a legend through efficient supply chains, employee care, and precise market positioning. Similarly, in the tire industry, companies in the victory zone break through with technological upgrades (e.g., eco-friendly tires) or service innovation (e.g., all-in-one maintenance), ensuring sustainable profit growth.
These three competitive zones reveal that involution is an elimination game, not a dead end. The Quagmire Zone is about survival, the Scale Zone is about stability, and the Victory Zone is about winning. Companies must recognize where they stand—those stuck in low-price competition will eventually be eliminated, while those enhancing core capabilities will thrive.
“Breaking out is the only way to break involution!” Lin Yachi’s assertion is loud and clear. One-dimensional competition (like price or scale alone) is dead. Multi-dimensional ecosystem-based competition is the way forward. He likens it to a rainforest ecosystem: towering trees (giants), shrubs (mid-sized firms), and moss (small innovators) coexist symbiotically. The tire industry must shift from price wars to value wars. The specific path: the Three Battles of 2025—Marketing for survival, Positioning for sustainability, and Organization for quality.
The Marketing Battle: Online-Offline Integration Determines Whether a Company Can Survive
This is the baseline battle. Data from 2024 shows that all growing companies had online-offline synergy. While early-stage new media growth benefited individual stores (e.g., viral TikTok outlets), major offline players like Giti Germany have now entered the scene, making dual-channel integration the new norm. Why? Offline-only companies can at best maintain status quo, while integrators grow.
Lin Yachi’s team saw an 80% monthly traffic increase in six months from Douyin, with a 95% conversion rate from online inquiries—thanks to the synergy of traffic + projects, seizing timing gaps (early-stage product profitability) and momentum gaps (platform traffic peaks) for 10x growth. His quote—“You can’t run fast without riding the wave, but riding the wave alone won’t take you far”—reminds the industry that marketing isn't blind spending, but strategic choices for long-term survival. For example, Giti plans to build a “Douyin direct sales + in-store experience” loop in 2025 to increase customer flow by 30%.
The Positioning Battle: High-Quality Development Determines Whether a Company Can Last
After surviving, companies must think long-term. The positioning battle is about securing your niche. Lin Yachi emphasized: “Without a unique identity, you won’t last.” In the past, companies pursued all-in-one services (e.g., one-stop tire centers), but new media has triggered specialization (e.g., off-road tire stores), eating away at generalists.
The essence of positioning is: “Fusion is stronger than division.” Focus your resources to build local dominance. For example, Lin Yachi’s team centered on “B2B supply chain + C-side traffic,” increasing customer stickiness in six months. Fat Donglai achieved the same by focusing on “employee happiness + ultimate customer experience.”
Companies must ask: “Am I the rainforest’s towering tree or the moss?” Choosing the right track is more important than effort. Focusing on EV tires or niche overseas markets builds long-term defensibility.
Theory must translate into action. Drawing from data and experience, Lin Yachi offers the following tactics:
(1) Marketing Battle: Seize Timing & Momentum, Combine Traffic with Projects
Tactic 1: Lock in the Bonus Window. New product launches (like graphene tires) offer high profits initially. Use social media (Douyin/Xiaohongshu) for quick outreach—Yachi’s team generated 10K+ views per video to precisely drive traffic.
Tactic 2: Build a Synergy Matrix. Offline stores serve as experience centers, online channels drive traffic. Case: a tire chain store using Douyin live streams in 2024 boosted in-store conversion by 40% by tying in “free inspection” services to create demand.
Watch-out: Pure online or offline models will fail. Synergy is the only way forward.
(2) Positioning Battle: Focus on Specialization, Win with Precision, Not Exhaustion
Tactic 1: Ditch the All-in-One Model, Embrace Niche Excellence. Tire companies can carve out submarkets—like focusing on “winter tires” or “racing-grade tires”—and use expert content (e.g., TikTok science videos by Lin Yachi) to build authority.
Tactic 2: Maximize Local Advantage. Concentrate resources to dominate specific regions. For example, Giti grew its market share in Southeast Asia by 15% in six months through localized supply chains.
Case: Specialized stores (e.g., EV tire outlets) rose with new media and took 20% of traditional shops' market in 2024.
Watch-out: Chasing everything leads to collapse. Focus wins.
At the end of the exchange, Lin Yachi said: “Great companies are born in winter.” Involution is a test, not a death sentence. In 2025, the tire industry's K-shaped divergence will intensify—pioneers like Giti Germany will break through the value chain with the Three Battles, while laggards risk being eliminated. History offers a lesson: Apple rose from the dot-com crash, Huawei from sanction-driven isolation.
Today, on July 16, 2025, we stand at a new starting point. Enterprises must hold their belief: win the marketing battle to survive, the positioning battle to endure, and the organizational battle to thrive. Lin Yachi left this message: “Break out of involution, for we either perish in it or are reborn through it.” The future belongs to those brave enough to reshape value through multi-dimensional competition and endure economic cycles with core capabilities. In this battle, we are all the ones who will break the deadlock.
For media inquiries, collaboration opportunities, or to learn more about Lin Yachi’s business methodology, please contact:
Contact Person: Amy Shaw
Phone/WhatsApp: +86 189 1112 9881
Email: yasn21@yasn.com.cn
Official Website: www.yasnshow.com
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