Ralph Lauren: Late Luxury Campers!

U.S.A brand Ralph Lauren (Polo Ralph Lauren), like Burberry and MontBlanc, joined in the abolition of China. Agent Turning to the battalion, although this action is late, it is better to join the game later than not.

On Valentine's day, Polo Ralph Lauren revealed to the media that it would open in the mainland of China, Ralph Lauren. Direct shop The move was dubbed by the industry as "late game enrollees". Because the same grade brand shop has long been everywhere in China, and Ralph Lauren has two exclusive stores in the mainland, all in Shanghai.

Over the past 40 years, in the US and Europe, Ralph Lauren has been ranked among the top luxury brands. In Asia, especially in the mainland of China, Ralph Lauren has been regarded as a vague middle end business brand. This is because in the past few years, Ralph Lauren's brand operation in China has failed. The contradiction between agents and branding is very sharp on Ralph Lauren.

　　 Luxury agency

A trend in the luxury industry is that after China has gained a foothold in China, a number of famous international brands have proposed to revoke the original agent and change it into their own camp. MontBlanc, Burberry, Gucci and other international luxury brands have recovered their proxy in the Chinese market and turn to the direct mode. This has led many luxury agents to survive.

The reason is that brand names have gradually recognized their brands in the Chinese market and are unwilling to share profits with others to maximize their own interests. On the other hand, some brands are in order to avoid the confusion of their brands due to misleading agents. Ralph Lauren is one of them.

As early as mid 2009, Ralph Lauren spent millions of dollars to invite Boston Consulting Company to re investigate and assess the mainland market. At that time, Ralph Lauren had already been very unsatisfied with the general agent in China. He planned to cancel the general agent. He hoped to set up a set of systems for the Chinese market, including offline and online, with the help of the reports of internationally renowned consulting companies. But in the past two years, the system has not yet been implemented.

In the mainland market, which is against the clock, their speed is slow enough to be unbelievable. The reason is probably that the contradiction between Chinese agents and MontBlanc is irreconcilable.

　　 Ralph Lauren's decision

The contradiction between agents and branding always exists, but in the mainland of China, the contradiction between Ralph Lauren and its Chinese agents has long been very prominent.

Ralph Lauren has three series, the Pur ple Label, the black mark series (Black Label) and the blue label series (Blue Label) represent the different positioning, some belong to the luxury ranks, some belong to the relatively expensive high-end business ranks, and the needles are the ranks of the young fashion.

But these three series of products are sold together by dealers in China. The price is also chaotic. The low-end series is sold more, consumers are seriously misled, and the brand image is destroyed. Many mainland consumers still believe that Ralph Lauren's product is the ubiquitous counterfeit Polo. In addition, Ralph Lauren dealers did not have strict requirements for site selection. They not only missed the opportunity to seize the gold market, but also sold blindly in the two or three line cities, leaving no brand positioning in the minds of consumers.

Of course, these are not the agents' fault. The original agent's mission is to sell more and better, not responsible for shaping the brand image. Now, most of the luxury brands have already recovered their agency rights, and Ralph Lauren's action seems slow. However, Ralph Lauren's US leaders seem to have decided to catch up because it is better to join the game later than not.

　　 Make up for missing brand positioning

Over the years, Ralph Lauren's brand value in China has not been fully reflected, which is related to the North American market which has long been the most important thing, especially in the north end. 70% of the brand's sales are in North America, and in other countries and regions are dealers. This is not a healthy state. Many front-line brands now account for 40% to 50% of sales in Asia, while Ralph Lauren's Asian market has contributed only 9%.

Now, the staff of Ralph Lauren Shanghai direct shop has been well-trained. As long as we talk about cooperation, the first reply is "we do not act as agent." it is said that Ralph Lauren attaches great importance to the newly opened Shanghai store. The furnishings in the shop must be considered by 72 year old Lauren himself.

In general, Ralph Lauren is trying to make up for its brand positioning in China. Ralph Lauren President Roger Farah (Roger Farah) has said that the Chinese market is "only once in a lifetime". He said, "we must act swiftly and intensify our e-commerce strategy in this area because I think this will help to set the brand positioning we are striving to achieve."

Ralph Lauren's plans in China include both offline and online businesses, including direct outlets and e-commerce. For online, Ralph Lauren is not only looking for stores in Beijing and Shanghai, but also in the two or three line cities in China.

Ralph Lauren's China development plan is part of the overall plan to enhance Asian performance. Recently, the company has also taken over franchised stores in Korea and Japan and is considering setting up well-known outlets in Asia.

For Ralph Lauren's China plan, S (a n f o r d Bernstein) chief luxury analyst Luca Solca (LucaSolca) believes that Ralph Lauren is a "late game player", but its characteristics of the middle class are very strong. If it can be successfully implemented, it will be successful in the Chinese market. "(a)

　 Brand tips

Polo Ralph Lauren was registered in New York, USA in 1968. Ralph Lauren's design combines romantic atmosphere, innovative inspiration, classical charm and detail. Fabrics always give people comfortable feelings, and their styles are concise and fluent. They represent the creation of American brands. "SANTA BARBARA POLO & RACQUET CLUB" has become the pronoun of today's gentlemen casual wear, and is also the most Polo brand.

[industry review]

　 Italian fashion chairman Yan Jun

In November 2010, I was invited to London to attend the opening ceremony of a digital flagship store in Ralph Lauren. At that time, I could feel the clear attitude of some of the heads of the Department to the mainland market of China. The prospect is very good and will be turned into a direct camp in November 2010. Sure enough, at the beginning of this year, some news came to light, showing Ralph Lauren's signs of a whole set of strategies for the Chinese market.

Ralph Lauren has two priorities: one is to make the Chinese realize that this is a very high-end brand; the other is to set up a Chinese team and choose leaders who are very familiar with the Chinese market.

Ralph Lauren's entry into the Chinese market is the most important one. Although the good location of the first tier cities has been occupied, the expansion of the two or three line can wait until the brand positioning is basically completed. Because it is very important for consumers in China's two or three tier cities to see this brand in Beijing. If not, it will be ignored directly, even though Ralph Lauren has spent a lot of money on the flagship store near them.

　　 Fifth Avenue luxury network CEO Sun Yafei

The relationship between international brands and Chinese agents has evolved in the following ways: "peaceful transition", such as Gucci; "Redemption" such as Burberry; "noisy, litigation", such as MontBlanc. Through the above ways, the first-line brand has basically recovered the agency right now. Perhaps Ralph Lauren's move can set off the trend of the next round of recycling agency right, that is, the luxury brand between the first line and the second line has been transformed into a direct one. But not all, because many second tier brands still aim at large volume and need to reduce the cost of franchised stores by agents.