Li Ning Sports Brand Fights For The Olympic Games, Looking Forward To The Arrival Of The Inflection Point

Li Ning, the largest sports brand in China, from "everything is possible" to "let change happen", chose to start again on the eve of the London Olympic Games, which is a bit special for Li Ning, who is closely related to sports and money. On July 5, Li Ning announced that Zhang Zhiyong, the former chief executive, had resigned, and Jin Zhenjun, a TPG partner who had previously invested in Li Ning, was the executive vice chairman responsible for the internal affairs and operations of the group. This is indeed a symbol of a turning point for this company, which is gradually showing signs of decline.

　　 Changsha franchised stores put forward the Olympic offensive

At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games four years ago, Li Ning Feitian lit the Olympic torch and became the focus of attention. At the same time, Li Ning Company launched waves of enthusiastic marketing offensive. At that time, Li Ning showed a good upward trend. China's domestic sales once exceeded that of Adidas and was only one step away from Nike.

It will be the year of the London Olympic Games. This time, Li Ning Sports Footwear The brand hopes to continue the Olympic marketing offensive.

In the Li Ning stores, large and small, in Changsha, the advertising slogan "Anything is possible", which has been used for many years and is familiar to consumers, has quietly disappeared, replaced by a new advertising slogan "Let change happen".

The reporter saw the uniforms of five sports teams, including gymnastics, diving, table tennis, shooting and badminton, in the Chinese Olympic delegation sponsored by him in the shopping mall yesterday. These war gowns are worth a lot of money. A set of them is priced close to 900 yuan. But in the days when the Olympic Games is about to open, they still become the most popular products in the store. In addition, the cultural T-shirt series printed with the London Olympic Games emblem, China and other words, as well as the main Olympic champion, because the price is above 100 yuan, the sales staff said that they will be the main sales force of Li Ning during the entire Olympic period.

　　 Betting on the Olympic Games to change the dilemma or "empty"

Betting on the London Olympic Games is actually a reaction of Li Ning to break his down and out state.

In 2011, the net profits of Anta, Tebu, 361Du, PEAK, and Li Ning, the five major domestic sporting goods manufacturers, were 1.73 billion, 966 million, 1.133 billion, 780 million, and 386 million, respectively, and Li Ning ranked the bottom. In 2010, Li Ning's net profit was 1108 million yuan, a drop of 65% in one year.

Bad news came in succession. At present, Li Ning's internationalization has become a phantom, and its design center in Portland, the United States has lost half of its employees. At the same time, the agreement with the American partner FootLocker Inc. has been terminated, and the sales company established with the Spanish agent has also gone bankrupt. Li Ning Company issued an early warning that the total order amount in Q4 (the fourth quarter) this year showed a high double-digit decline, and the annual revenue and profit may show negative growth.

Moreover, the desire to rally through the Olympic Games may also be "empty". Changsha consumer Xiao Liu is a sports fan. When he was a sophomore at the Beijing Olympic Games, he saved and bought many of Li Ning's Olympic products. "At that time, I bought T-shirts with Chinese dragon, Chinese red and other elements, and basically wore them every day, which made me feel very proud." However, this year, Xiao Liu, who has a stable income, has no intention of buying Olympic products. "Maybe I will buy something interesting. After all, it was held at home four years ago. This year, it is far away in the UK, so I don't feel so involved."

Xiao Liu's idea is consistent with that of many sports commodity marketing experts: the Olympic Games platform will have some effect in the short term, but it is unrealistic to completely change the current dilemma.

Brand remodeling is too hasty, and development deviates from the main channel

　　 What's the main problem with Li Ning?

Behind the appearances and results of the wrong positioning of "post-90s Li Ning", the failure of brand remodeling, sales decline, high inventory, and the resignation of senior executives, Li Ning deviated from its main channel.

The brand of Li Ning has always been rooted in the spirit of sports and the domestic market. In recent years, Li Ning's path has become more and more slanted and narrower.

In 2010, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the company, Li Ning launched a "post-90s Li Ning" brand remodeling plan. The so-called "post-90s Li Ning" refers to Li Ning Company, which was founded in 1990 and has just celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2010. To use the popular phrase "almost post-90s" to describe it, Li Ning Company is the "post-90s" in the sports goods industry.

However, Li Ning's huge investment in the post-90s market did not get the expected return. Judging from the market reaction, this rash decision led to the evil result of "neither side is pleased".

The purchase desire of the 70's and 80's generation, the original main consumption force, has declined, but the 90's generation, who are fully trained, do not buy it.

In the past few years, Li Ning Company has been internationalized, moved closer to the "post-90s" generation, and opened up the children's clothing market. Its positioning is erratic, and its development has been severely restricted.

Expert opinion

　　 Li Ning Must Hurry to Save Himself

Under the dilemma, a few days ago, Li Ning, as the founder, finally decided to go to the front to guide the track again. The personnel adjustment of CEO Zhang Zhiyong is only the first step of Li Ning's self governance. Re focusing on Li Ning's brand, sportsmanship and domestic market is a key move for Li Ning Company to clean up its roots. This strategy is obviously the result of Li Ning's own careful consideration. He said: "The multi brand strategy needs to be changed. We will focus our resources more on one brand of Li Ning. We need to rely on expertise to make excellence, and then cover the mass market.

Li Ning plans to change the cost structure of products and operations in the next one to two years, focus on developing core products and the domestic market, create more first-class products and consumer experience, and consolidate the position of China's largest sports brand.

However, although the planning is good, it is important to implement it. It is unknown whether Li Ning Company can be reborn. Zou Jing, director of the brand communication department of Horizon Forward Strategy, said: Li Ning's re emergence at a critical moment is undoubtedly a reassurance to the company and investors, but if he and the management team want to really turn the tide, they must seize the time and take the right medicine to win new development space.