Lining'S Brand Struggles In The US Market

Chinese athlete Lining won the world's attention at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. He held the torch high at the opening ceremony, flying over the National Stadium, showing his ambition in China and showing himself creating the world's first class sportswear.

Lining, a former Chinese gymnast, held the torch high above the National Stadium in the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

3 years later, Lining has returned to the ground. His Li Ning Co (Li Ning Co.) has made a big profit by signing up several high-profile spokesmen such as basketball star Shaquille ONeil (Shaquille O/Neal), which has seen a drop in profits, and it has experienced a large number of designers and employees in Portland, Portland.

Company

The Li Ning Co issue highlights the difficulties faced by Chinese companies in building new global brands that match their manufacturing capabilities.

Some companies have made progress, such as Lenovo Group Ltd., but it has benefited a lot from IBM (International Business Machine Corp.) PC computer business in 2005.

Most companies haven't made much progress. They have to face sophisticated global competitors and face the fact that brands are hard to recognize.

According to a survey conducted by market research firm Millward Brown and media company WPP PLC, 83% of consumers outside China can not name a Chinese brand or company.

In China, Lining brand ranked third in sports apparel companies after Nike (Nike) and Adidas (Adidas).

Now, the 22 year old sports clothing company based in Beijing is adjusting its practices in the US market.

Lei Xiaoshan, founder of China Market Research Group, a consultancy in Shanghai, says the problem is that they are much lower in their overseas markets than in China.

Lining and other executives refused to be interviewed, they said in a statement. "We are still going all out to develop the Lining brand."

But Li Ning Co, a new American partner, is planning to re open the US market in the name of Lining Digital Li-Ning. Before the planned physical store opens, it will first focus on online sales.

George Lu, President of Lining Digital Corporation, said: "we plan to plan and analyze online data in order to understand the US market before further expansion.

We hope this brand can establish some connection with Americans.

The Li Ning Co disclosed this new attempt on Monday. The redesigned company on the US website said it was "the biggest brand you have never heard of."

Lining won 6 medals in gymnastics at the 1984 Losangeles Olympic Games, 3 of which were gold medals, one of the most famous athletes in China, but his company in the United States was hard to expand its awareness.

According to analysts at Barclays Bank (Barclays), too many inventories have led to many discounted sales of Lining retail outlets, which frustrated Lining's ambition to compete with Nike.

Li Ning Co's profits in the first half of 2011 fell by nearly 50% compared with a year ago, which is the latest measure of the company's performance.

Revenue in the first half of this year dropped by nearly 5%, to 4 billion 300 million yuan, or about 678 million dollars.

The company did not disclose US sales figures.

Previously, Li Ning Co's initiatives to open up the US market include inviting O'neal (the Boston Celtics) who was the last team to retire before playing the role of the Boston Celtics (Philadelphia Celtics) and Ivan Tone Turner (Evan Turner), the 76 member of the Philadelphia.

4 years ago, it opened a global design center in Portland. It is not far from Nike's headquarters in Beaverton (Beaverton), and designs shoes for the American market.

Two years later, the company opened a display area in Portland.

An employee of Li Ning Co said that the company is trying to find its own market position, and has entered into a sales agreement with many Badminton Clubs in the United States, and even added a ping-pong ball room in the exhibition area to attract new customers.

Last year, Li Ning Co also reached an agreement with Foot Locker Inc. to allow its subsidiary Champs Sports to bring Lining products into the market.

But the operation of Portland's front office has been difficult. About half of the 30 designers and other employees who design tennis shoes and clothing for the US market are leaving this year.

Li Ning Co executives declined to comment on the matter.

The new Lining Digital Corporation is a joint venture with Acquity group. It is a brand consultancy and private equity firm in Chicago.

At the beginning of this year, the company signed a joint venture agreement with Li Ning Co, and Li Ning Co accounted for 20% of the shares in the new company.

The Li Ning Co terminated the distribution agreement with Champs and Foot Locker and reclaimed the management rights of its website.

It is not clear how the George Lu initiative combined with the Li Ning Co's attempt in Portland. The employees of the Li Ning Co said that the two departments representing Li Ning Co had their own booth at the trade fair.

Li Ning Co executives say the expansion to the US market is experimental, in order to explore the needs of American consumers.

George Lu said he has hired 20 employees to design a new image for Li Ning Co, which aims to enable Americans to understand the eastern culture's understanding of nature, balance and brain body connection.

He also designed his own product line and did not sell it in the exhibition area of Portland.

Today, on the Li Ning Co website, a pair of men's running shoes, priced at $80, are made of mesh materials and can "adapt to natural gait".

The lotus pattern yoga pants are priced at $55, which is suitable for making "accurate posture" and, of course, dressing for coffee after exercise is also appropriate.

According to the plan of George Lu, American consumers can understand Lining brand in O'neal's community activities and sporting goods stores.

Lei Xiaoshan, a China market research group, said that joint ventures might be the right move for Li Ning Co. Multinational companies such as McDonald/s Corp. and Starbucks (Starbucks Corp.) are looking for different companies to cooperate in developing their businesses overseas to avoid risks.

Earlier this year, Starbucks bought a joint equity interest held by its Maxim/s Caterers Ltd., China's Maxim's Caterers Limited, which has all the ownership of Starbucks's retail outlets in China's six largest regions.