Sporting Goods Market Or "Price Spree"

Following the beginning of this year, Lining announced the opening up. U.S.A After the e-commerce market, PEAK also recently announced the establishment of a subsidiary in the United States, the two largest local market. Sports Products giant overseas The battle for battle intensified.

A high-profile entry into the US market

The daily economic news reporter found from PEAK sports official website that in February 20th, when the NBA all star game was being staged in Losangeles, PEAK sports and its stars announced that it had established a subsidiary in Losangeles, and will officially enter the US market.

PEAK sports CEO Xu Zhihua said, "entering the US market is a big test for PEAK, not only because PEAK will become the most famous Chinese brand in the history of NBA all star weekend, but also to grasp this opportunity to show itself on the international stage, and achieve the brand internationalization again."

Hou Lidong, manager of PEAK sports public relations, confirmed the news to reporters. He said PEAK's subsidiary in the US is mainly responsible for three aspects of business: product research and development, channel development, and the use of the regional advantages of the United States to track the players who sign the contract.

Hou Lidong also revealed that PEAK is currently negotiating with the relevant departments about the plan to open stores and enter large stores, and it will soon be implemented. In addition, PEAK will not rule out the possibility of entering the US e-commerce brand in the near future.

The independent critic of the industry, Ma Gang, said that among the many sporting goods brands in China, PEAK is one of the most invested advertising companies. The advertising marketing before it is a "Pathfinder" for the US market to enter the US market, and the product sales are basically "win by quantity". The output will not be very high. The establishment of a subsidiary in the United States will start an independent operation, and its brand awareness and reputation will be improved. In addition, it can also solve the channel problem, so that more consumers who understand PEAK can easily buy PEAK products.

Confrontation with Lining

It seems that the US market has become a "battleground" for PEAK and Lining, the two largest local sporting goods giant.

As early as January 20th, this newspaper reported that Lining spent $10 million to open up the US e-commerce platform. Although the performance in 2010 is not optimistic, this year's orders are likely to slide, but Lining's move is considered to be a "daring attempt" for Nike giant's "back garden".

However, compared with the positive confrontation with Lining, PEAK's previous move was relatively low key.

Hou Lidong told the daily economic news reporter that in fact, as early as 2005, PEAK began to penetrate into the NBA system, and became the official partner of NBA in 2007. Before the establishment of the subsidiary company, the development of the US market was mainly in 3 aspects, including the cooperation with NBA alliance, NBA club and individual players. Though these methods have gained some popularity in the US market, they are limited after all.

But with the help of the NBA all star game, PEAK clearly made the media flash. Hou Lidong said the move will speed up the process of cooperation with NBA.

Speaking of the positive competition with Lining, Hou Lidong said that although they were all exploring the market, there were differences between the two channels. Lining was more dependent on the e-commerce platform, while PEAK was established by its subsidiaries to operate independently, and it penetrated into the US market through physical stores, stores and other channels.

For the US e-commerce market, PEAK has been relatively cautious.

According to the reporter, although PEAK has already opened an electronic mall in China, it has more cooperation with Taobao, excellence, Le Tao and other three party platforms. Hou Lidong said that through these forms, "just like opening a store in a large store, you can make use of the popularity that Taobao and other platforms have accumulated to rapidly expand PEAK's consumer groups." On the contrary, if you build an e-commerce platform, you will need more investment and will not achieve good results in the short term.

As for the overseas e-commerce market, PEAK is still planning, hoping to build a good store after trying to enter.

Anta's "no action"

As early as last year, Adidas and Nike announced the next five year plan, the two global sporting goods giants said they would increase the number of new stores in the two or three line market in the next five years, and will launch products that are closer to the two or three line market price.

At the same time, Chinese local brands began to explore positively for their own development path. However, compared with Lining and PEAK, Anta's internationalization path seemed to be slower.

Anta's 2010 annual report shows that in 2010, Anta realized sales of 7 billion 408 million 300 thousand yuan, including 7 billion 326 million yuan in the domestic market and 82 million 300 thousand yuan in overseas markets, accounting for only 1.1% of the total sales.

In terms of the marketing of brand internationalization, Anta has a big gap in advertising investment and the number of star players signed with Lining and PEAK.

In this regard, Anta has shown the same "calm" as always. Yuan Wei, manager of Anta sports and public relations, told the daily economic news reporter that Anta still concentrates on the domestic market, and there is no plan to enter the US market in a big way.

Ma Gang said that this is closely related to Anta's own brand positioning and market strategy.

According to "daily economic news" reporter, Anta has been focusing on the development of the domestic market these years, including the cooperation with the Chinese Olympic Committee, sponsoring the CBA League of China, providing the Chinese delegation with a prize dress or match suit, etc., and has already taken a larger share in the domestic market.

Ma Gang believes that in the overseas market expansion and expansion, compared with Lining and PEAK, Anta does not have the advantage.

"Lining has a very good relationship with the US gymnastics team. In the United States, he has his own gymnastic school, which has a wide range of connections. In addition, Lining has set up a design center in the United States, plus physical outlets and e-commerce platforms, and Lining has an obvious advantage." Because of the earlier investment in advertising, PEAK has signed many popular stars, and official cooperation with the NBA alliance has prompted PEAK to officially enter the US market.

In contrast, Anta's "innate advantage" is not obvious. If we want to expand the US market, we need to put more energy into it. Instead of doing so, we should first "capture" the domestic market and expand the market share of the domestic market as soon as possible.

"Boil two pots of water at the same time, it may not boil, but it is better to boil a pot of water first." for the two market strategies, Ma Gang says "no matter how good or bad", when their brand positioning and marketing strategy are different.

Market or play "price spree"

The US giants extend their tentacles to the two or three line market in China. Undoubtedly, "Sima Zhao's heart is known to all." under heavy pressure, many domestic sporting goods brands also choose to "go out", which is known as "cross coverage" by Ma Gang.

However, unlike Lining and PEAK, XTEP and XTEP are not eager to open up the US market.

According to the reporter, so far, besides selling products to the US market through a small number of foreign trade channels, only Lining and PEAK have been operating in the US in the form of official brands. 360 degrees and XTEP are more popular in the Southeast Asian market. Besides, according to Ma Gang, XTEP is preparing to enter the Taiwan market.

Although the surface is peaceful, the "secret struggle" between Chinese brands has never stopped.

"Taking Anta as an example, the number of new stores may be less than 800 this year, down from more than 790 last year, but with the number of stores such as children's clothing brands and fashion brands, it is likely to increase by nearly 2000. Anta is now trying to multi brand operation," Ma Gang said. Under the situation of more intense competition, brand diversification and diversification of commodities will be a major trend in the sporting goods market of that year.

In addition, although there are not many e-commerce websites for sporting goods brands in China, paying more attention to e-commerce is another trend in this year's market.

For the competition between Chinese brands, Ma Gang said, "price competition will be more intense". In 2010, influenced by the rising price of raw materials, sporting goods must be raised. However, under inflation, consumers have "clenched money bags", which will also force businesses to increase marketing efforts to stimulate consumers' desire to buy. The price war has just begun. Perhaps "shopping" is enough to depict the war more accurately.