The Old American Sneakers PONY'S Road To Rejuvenation In China

December 14th, a sports event

The loyal fans of American professional sports and street culture have definitely heard the name PONY.

More than 30 years ago, it was one of the best sports brands in the United States, and it was the same as CONVERSE and Adidas. At that time, Nike was only a "little brother" in the sports industry.

In 1976, the Montreal Olympic Games in Canada, PONY was the only sponsor of the designated sports shoes brand. In the 1979 NBA tournament, one of the four pairs of sneakers on the players' feet was from PONY.

PONY has blossomed in various professional sports in the United States, and its products are sold in more than 40 countries and regions around the world.

However, in the end, PONY embarked on different development paths with Nike.

Nike uses the incomparable appeal of "flying man" Jordan to launch the AirJordan series, insists on taking the professional sports route, while PONY chooses to cooperate with music, dance and fashion stars.

So, in 80s, Nike and PONY became the crossroads of fate.

The rise of sports in the world has made Nike brilliant, but the PONY brand has been almost silent.

A sharp eyed businessman will not sniff out the great value of this 70s and 80s major sports brand in the United States. But how to bring the core characteristics of this high-quality brand asset into full play and how to fully link it with local resources to maximize efficiency is the core proposition for the revival of this brand.

Now, Huang Haiguo, head of PONY Greater China, told the successful marketing reporter that he had "found the feeling".

Based on leisure, standing firmly in the category of vulcanized footwear, and strive to return to the professional sports industry high profit zone, this is the development strategy of PONY brand in China.

From sports to leisure

Considering that the professional sports such as European football and NBA have been deeply rooted in China, it has been quite difficult to get involved in the sports equipment market which has already been stable in the competition pattern. PONY has chosen a road with few people walking along with its own characteristics.

CEO Huang Hai, a brand operator of PONY Greater China and Kunshan tathon boutique trading Co., introduces the reporter of "successful marketing".

In his view, China's sports products can be roughly divided into three brand camps according to the relevance of sports: the first camp is a professional sports brand represented by Nike, Adidas and Lining; the second camp is a sports brand represented by Puma and Kappa, which combines recreational functions and sports functions, and is the main product of eye-catching costumes. Converse, VANS and other brands belong to the third camp - the leisure brand with shoes as the main products, both sports and fashion elements.

PONY belongs to the third camp.

"Our position on PONY is young, fashionable and fashionable, with shoes as the main brand."

Huang Haiguo said.

Such brand positioning comes from the overall consideration of the competitive environment of the brand operators.

At present, international brands such as Nike, Adidas, local brand Lining and so on, with strong capital strength and many years of market experience, have already established a solid foothold in the Chinese market. They have also formed a solid brand awareness in the minds of consumers, and have no chance to enter the market again.

Puma, who pioneered the sports fashion industry's "sportswear" blue ocean, has successfully tore the gap between Nike and Adidas dominated market. The Italy brand Kappa, operated by China, has successfully explored the business model of combining international brands with local sports resources in China. However, the first advantage of the two has already set a very high threshold for the latecomers to enter.

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"We will continue the advantages of PONY in fashion."

Huang Haiguo said.

Based on leisure, standing firmly in the category of vulcanized footwear, and waiting for the opportunity to shift to professional sports and high profit area in the future, this is the survival strategy of PONY brand in China.

How to make the brand "tide"?

The brand strategy has been clear. The remaining problem is how to highlight the selling point of "young and fashion" in brand equity so as to improve brand awareness in the segments of consumers.

So, how to make a "tide card"?

Huang Haiguo replied, "we will consider all the things that can bring the brand to the trend."

Fashion stars, music, extreme sports and joint limited single products are the four best tools to create "tide".

"Stars are the fastest way to brand globalization."

Huang Haiguo said.

According to his observation of the development of PONY brand around the world, the key to the success of brand marketing is "finding the right star".

PONY has sponsored many top stars before, but what is most impressive is the strong figure on those stadiums. NBA's famous star BobMcAdoo, boxing champion, rugby legend EarlCampbell, baseball star ReggieJackson were once its image spokesmen - and now the PONY, the main trend trendy brand, needs to be pformed through star effect.

They signed a contract with the Korean Music Group 2PM, and its promotional advertisements will soon be broadcast in China.

"We are more inclined to find alternative stars.

There are too many celebrity endorsements in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and there are always indelible labels on them. Korean celebrities, whether they are music, body language, or the vitality and spirit of the whole people, give people a very Fashion feeling.

He said.

In addition, PONY has been insisting on sponsoring the ESPN extreme sports competition. Next year, it will also launch a limited amount of shoes with the HelloKitty cross-border cooperation. The Pony doll product series jointly designed and made with the famous designer JasonSiu of Hongkong will also be released in 2011.

"We are sponsoring skateboarding and launching HelloKitty's cross industry cooperation shoes, not just to attract skateboarding enthusiasts, or to attract HelloKitty fans. What we want more is to create brand flu and flu."

Huang Haiguo said.

Targeted promotion and diversified product design make PONY's brand image increasingly plump.

Breakout of product details

At present, PONY has opened nearly 200 stores in mainland China, including direct stores and franchisees.

At present, the brand competition for gold (1397.60, -0.40, -0.03%) is fierce. Later PONY expects to attract consumers' attention and franchising with fashion marketing campaigns and advertising in exchange for brand awareness.

In the vulcanized shoes market, the direct competitors of PONY are almost Converse and Vans, together with the high profit margins of fashion and leisure products. This has become an important reason for many distributors to choose PONY.

From the perspective of brand research and development, the most important task of PONY is to rely on the rich historical resources of the brand as soon as possible to occupy the trend of casual shoes.

Huang Haiguo believes that using fashionable avant-garde and practical details to reflect the high quality of products and brands is the breakthrough point for PONY.

According to him, at present, the common design of vulcanized shoes in the market is the rich variety of shoe material and color, but the sole type is relatively single.

"There may be many shoes in a store, but there are no more than three soles."

For ordinary people, shoes that do not pay too much attention are also the way to embody personalities in the target group of PONY, who are catching up with fashion trends.

"Changing the vamp, the inspiration is always exhausted.

If the sole has changed, it is different from the "base" of the whole pair of shoes, giving people the feeling and taste completely different.

Huang Haiguo said that PONY has made more styles of soles based on the classic brand continuity, and has realized the diversification of product design and accurately grasped the shopping psychology of people in the fashion trend.

Huang Haiguo told reporters that PONY has avoided the positive confrontation with the big sports brand through differentiation. Now, for the brand, the biggest challenge is not what other brands are doing, but from themselves.

When the target audience can connect with the actual customers, it shows that the brand has been successful.