Lining After 90 Is More Important Than "Going To Lining".

When "90s Lining [26.40 -1.86%]" ads flooded the streets, Lining himself just came out of the excitement of the world cup.

Lining liked Brazil, which was a habit left behind when he was a kid. But he admitted that the Brazil team led by Dunga in the world cup in South Africa was "too focused on the result".

It seems that the gymnastic prince who won six gold medals in the sixth World Cup Gymnastics Competition in 1982 saw the process more important. But in reality, the Li Ning Co's strategic operation and daily management were basically handed over to CEO Zhang Zhiyong. Lining was therefore called "good leader" by Zhang Zhi Yong.

From Lining's dream to Li Ning Co and then to the dream of Lining brand, how can Lining play a good role in the role of his chairman and deal with Li Ning Co's "de Lining"?

Original voice

Looking for resources to enhance brand internationalization

"If your personal dream matches your company's dream, you can achieve a brand."

Is Li Ning Co's bid changing and brand remolding related to Lining's internationalization strategy? What's the effect of the internationalization of Lining brand these years?

Lining: first of all, our capability should be internationalized. We need internationalization in marketing, product development, technology capability and company operation platform. And then do marketing according to the market mechanism. You have to train your kungfu to participate in international competitions. Moreover, even if we do well in kungfu, we may fail in international competitions.

Assuming that there will be some setbacks in the future internationalization, do you have a bottom line?

Lining: This is actually a process. This process does not need to say that the bottom line is not the bottom line. Because every step you take, you will have a plan and problems, and you will make adjustments. These will choose according to the company's capabilities and opportunities.

Many years ago, you had a particularly famous saying: "be Lining of the world, not Nike of China". At what stage did you start to do Lining's internationalization plan? And what opportunities are there for this internationalization strategy?

Lining: in fact, the problem of internationalization can be understood in this way. Simply because it wants to export, or simply wants to do the market of a certain country, this is an international phenomenon. And we want to become an international brand by internationalisation. This means that you have to adopt international standards. Here we all have the chance to win, so there is no special opportunity.

We hope that we can enhance our resources in the process of upgrading our capabilities and enhancing brand value. This process is actually an international process.

From another point of view, Li Ning Co is still in the stage of upgrading capability, and China's market is actually gradually becoming internationalized. China's local market itself is an international market. If you can occupy a place here and become an excellent person, you will be able to ring loudly around the world. This is the first.

Second, Lining must be able to get his share in any market in the world. We are now taking this step, such as selling badminton in Southeast Asia. According to the company's plan, the next 5 to 8 years will be a stage of gradually expanding the international market.

I saw a particularly valuable picture outside your office. In January 2004, the Li Ning Co's first batch of business leaders were mostly behind the scenes, or even left. Now that the company is headed by second generations of leaders, you must have a bottom line or a standard when you are selecting or judging whether a team is available.

Lining: I think we are first of all a growing company. It is not clear how we are growing up now. There can be no bottom line concept now. The company's employees or management itself is also improving as the company develops.

Therefore, senior managers should meet the requirements of management personnel's quality and skills, such as product development, sports marketing, information management and so on. I think the principle is that our team should meet the needs of the company's development, and the company's development needs to meet the needs of the market.

As for how to do it, every company has the development needs of every company. Everyone has the dream of everyone. If the personal dream matches the company's dream, it can achieve a brand.

"De Lining" has been working hard.

"Lining's consumer groups do not know me more and more. This is what I wanted to see 20 years ago, and it will be very good to achieve it today."

Have you changed your dream or understanding of Li Ning Co in the past 20 years? What are the characteristics of different stages?

Lining: whether the chairman is a dream strategist is not decided by himself. The whole structure of our company is a team led by CEO to complete the planning, then approve and approve the board and then implement it.

Of course, this strategy is accomplished through communication. The more sophisticated the strategic planning is, the more capable it is to accumulate, including internal and external capabilities, which enables the company to take into account market opportunities and shareholder returns in its development.

As you mentioned just now, as chairman, you have given great power to your team, especially for the founder of an enterprise. But on the other hand, many media and even many professors from university business schools are discussing the management principles of Li Ning Co, that is, the company's team should meet the needs of the company's development. What do you think of the changes in your relationship with Li Ning Co over the past 20 years? Is it necessary to "go to Lining"?

Lining: I should say "go to Lining". I did it from the very beginning. From the first day of making a brand, though it is using my name, but to remove my personal feelings, I hope this brand will become a character endorsement. It is an independent character.

Today we have been working hard. What is important is not the so-called "de Lining", but what the brand is and what it wants to do. I think this is the most important thing.

In fact, we want to have a distinctive personality and a distinctive brand gene because the brand is too rich. What we need to do today is much more meaningful than "going to Lining".

In recent years, you have rarely seen your presence in the media or in public. Even if it appears, it is not for Li Ning Co, but for personal charitable work. Most of the founders are reluctant to leave their company, or do not want their image and company to leave. So what do you think?

Lining: first of all, I am not divorced from the company. I am involved in all the major decisions of the company. Of course, I am not involved in daily work and daily business, including the ongoing brand remodeling. But in the past, the company had made important decisions, and I have been involved all the time, so I did not completely leave the company or say that I was separated from the company.

As for the relationship between the company and myself, the feedback from the market is probably because of Lining's dream, so it turned into a dream of a company and a brand dream. But now, the dream of the brand and the dream of the company are no longer a dream of a person. It should be a dream of the employees of the company, because we are in the era of China's transformation, and China needs the brand of Lining.

I once said that we all recognize Chinese manufacturing, but the Chinese brand is now watching the whole world, and the Chinese are longing for it. Therefore, our brand dream will become a Chinese dream, and it can not be realized only by myself. To achieve this dream, we must rely on everyone.

Now the Lining brand consumer group may not know you more and more.

Lining: that's the best. That's what I wanted to see 20 years ago. If Lining himself bought the products of Lining brand, then the product development, sports marketing and service of our company's backstage products would be wasted, and the brand value would be gone. I have my own space. I distinguish Lining from Lining brand and Li Ning Co. {page_break}

Can you tell me the difference?

Lining: for me, the company has automated office platform, this governance structure is sound.

At present, the most important thing is to communicate with Li Ning Co CEO Zhang Zhiyong, as well as various directors and some core teams. I will also do some work in a targeted way. So for me, even if I am not in Beijing, the operation of the company is absolutely no problem. I now put more time in Lining's public welfare career and put it on my family.

Personal and brand growth

"If you don't have a competition, you probably don't know who you are or where you are."

In the arena, you are a very strong, very energetic person. As an entrepreneur, has there been any change in your style of doing things and running businesses since your initial business?

Lining: the competition is very special. It is a special thing to be put into a special environment. It is not realistic to say that you do not spell it, but it does not mean that you will have the result.

I am getting older and more serious. Actually, when I was young, I was very active, not a very serious character, so I could communicate well with my teammates and coaches in the team. This character changed little when I was an enterprise.

In the past 20 years, what do you think is the most impressive experience you have experienced, or which of these things have you grasped?

Lining: like the case analysis, actually I always feel that I have many problems. Every stage is seeking change. Every stage feels that I should grow up like a child. In fact, Li Ning Co is good at growing up. We have formed our own culture, and at the same time, we have been seeking change internally, of course not to say that we have been in turmoil all the time. There are also many headaches in change. For example, there are many inertia thinking to change, just like creating a new enterprise; for example, the structure of human resources should be changed, for example, the product structure should be changed, from low price products to high technology products.

When you set up a new goal, the implementation process is very important and willing to change, so we can go to the present.

What do you think of competitors, such as international brands Nike, Adidas, Anta, and other sports brand enterprises that are also national brands?

Lining: I feel that if there are no world-class enterprises to enter the Chinese market, Chinese enterprises will not promote internationalization so fast. Because international brands have brought some business concepts and technologies, which will affect the growth of Chinese enterprises, and we will have comparative learning and surpassing.

Similarly, without the rapid development of other domestic brands, the industry will not have the current market situation. With so many domestic brands and competition in the market, it will touch every enterprise's own ability. Because there is competition and competition, it will change naturally. So I think competitors are very cute. If there are no competitors, you may not know who you are or where you are.

Today's Lining brand wants to convey to consumers the feeling that it is younger, more fashionable and even cooler. Do you feel that you are not keeping pace with fashion? Will you deliberately change yourself?

Lining: actually, I don't think age is a problem. The important thing is to be energetic. Brand is advancing along with the times, so the brand must also keep alive. Many of our employees are young people, consumers are young, Li Ning Co has developed for 20 years, brand is still feeling after 90.

Of course, I will try to keep up with you. But how hard I am, my age is getting older and older. So I feel that my value in the company is not simply to create those fashions after 90. What's more, I want to contribute to the spirit of the company's sports spirit.

In addition, because this brand is my name, I created it, so it is easy for people to focus on myself. There are so few things on me that I can't represent the value of the brand, so don't pay attention to me. Lining's brand is an independent, complete and personalized brand.

Aside

Value of vision leadership

There are two large offices in the northwest corner of the 1 building of the Li Ning Co park headquarters in Tongzhou, one belonging to Lining on the west side, with simple furnishings on it, and a picture of Lining's Tang wedding dress and two pictures of Lining's son on the table. The closet behind is only two stories. Obviously, Lining did not come very often.

The office separated from Lining's wall belongs to CEO Zhang Zhiyong. Books, photos and decorations are all enriched.

Without any intention or coincidence, Zhang Zhiyong's desk Gusi went eastward, while Lining's desk moved east to the West. That is to say, Lining and Zhang Zhiyong are "back to back".

In fact, the "back to back" "Li Zhang match" is quite tacit.

In 2001, Zhang Zhiyong, 35, succeeded Chen Yihong as general manager of Li Ning Co. The chief financial officer, who has been working in Li Ning Co since graduating from University, is steady and reliable, and has always been considered "persistent pursuit of systems and systems".

Lining is also willing to give full play to his power and give Zhang Zhiyong enough space to fulfill his ambition. More than two years after Mr Zhang took office, Li Ning Co's annual sales exceeded 1 billion yuan successfully, which was once a bottleneck in the sales of Chen Yihong and Lining. After the success of June 2004, Li Ning Co successfully landed at the Hong Kong stock exchange. Zhang Zhiyong continued to lead the transformation of the company from family business to professional manager.

It was also during this time that the topic of "going to Lining" was enjoyed by the media.

But Lining didn't think so. He continued to "live in secluded simplicity" and even had news that Lining was stopped by the front desk when he appeared in the office of the company in Hongkong.

However, as Lining has said, he has never "left the company". In 2008, Lining fired as the last torch of the Beijing Olympic torch relay. Although Lining himself urged the company to be low-key, the Wall Street journal still regarded this as the biggest success of Li Ning Co. Zhang Zhiyong had tried to press the huge sponsorship fee to become the official sponsor of the Beijing Olympic Games, but was finally grabbed by Adidas.

Based on this, Zhang Zhiyong divides Lining's most crucial contribution to the company into three aspects.

"The first is vision leadership. That is to say, when he is interacting with us, he will never talk to you about the past and the present, what we will talk about forever, what we will do in the future and what we will be aiming for in the future. This is a very important part of my company's value. The second part, he understands the enterprise very deeply, his understanding of sports is also very deep. Third, in the whole process of operation, I feel that we have a strong sense of trust. It's one of his characteristics that he wants you to do and identify your key abilities. " Zhang Zhiyong said.

From this point of view, Lining's role in the company is much more than that of the outside world. Lining is merely an understanding of the "shopkeeper". Zhang Zhiyong is more like Lining's "translation", and at the right time, combining the market environment and company resources, adopts reasonable planning and steps to realize Lining's future thinking.

Before 2009, Zhang Zhiyong occasionally referred to family and future retirement plans with familiar reporters. But now, he would say Lining asked the company staff to be "dedicated".

"Everyone thought I was too young, so I bleached it." Zhang Zhiyong, 44, pointed to the white hair on the sideburns and opened his cold humor.