Anta: From Imitation Nike To Beyond Opportunity

Phil Nate (Phil Knight) is a legend.

In 1972, he founded Nike (Nike) and quickly built it into a leading brand in the global sporting goods industry.

More importantly, Knight's "light asset operation" mode launched in the 80s of last century has now become the mainstream business mode of global sporting goods business.

Even those traditional sports brands with a hundred years old have to choose the "Nike" way of existence so as to keep pace with Nike's expansion.

For this reason, Phil Nate once said: "the only way to defeat Nike is to imitate us in a comprehensive and accurate way, and then find different points to break down."

In 1992, Lining, China's excellent gymnast, founded his sporting goods company under his name, and the Chinese sporting goods industry entered the "brand" development stage.

However, in the first ten years, most Chinese sporting goods manufacturers were only the important OEM partners in Nike's "light assets operation" mode, and a batch of OEM factories with good manufacturing skills were born.

There are nearly 3000 footwear production enterprises in Jinjiang, Fujian, on the southeastern coast, with over 300 thousand employees and 650 million pairs of shoes annually.

Among them, Chen Dai Town, which has an area of only 38.8 square kilometers, is the main sports shoes production place in China and even in the world.

Today, Anta, 361 degrees, Hyde, del Hui, Jordan and gold lake from Jinjiang are developing rapidly to become an important competitor in China's local sporting goods market, relying on the imitation of Nike.

As Phil Nate said, the competition of the global sporting goods industry is becoming more and more similar to the "Nike mode".

China's local sporting goods enterprises represented by Lining and Anta are also pursuing the "light assets operation" mode.

This means that it will be more difficult to surpass Nike.

This case is based on the analysis of the development strategy of Nike and Anta, in order to solve the puzzle set by Phil Nate.

Nike's "light asset operation" mode, the so-called "light asset operation" mode, is outsourcing the product manufacturing and retail distribution business, concentrating on the design, development and marketing business; and the marketing promotion mainly adopts the way of product celebrity endorsement and advertising.

The "light assets operation" mode can reduce the capital investment of companies, especially the large amount of fixed assets in the production field, so as to increase the rate of return on capital.

Nike started the "light assets operation" mode in early 1980s when the global manufacturing industry moved to developing countries at a peak.

In the US market, sports products begin to shift from professional athletes to mass market.

Nike has grasped the pace of market pformation and changed the traditional business mode of the American sports shoes market by relying on the "light asset operation" mode.

From the perspective of the industrial chain, Nike relies on the "light asset operation" mode to integrate the two ends of the industrial chain well. Its core contents include: first, product research and development, Nike set up a R & D laboratory in 1980, and leader Tom Mcgwak (Tom McGuirk) even participated in the "core system" to repair the sediment works of the Arctic seabed.

Nike's R & D lab is made up of biochemical and physiological experts. Mag Walker once pointed out that "our job is to explain human activities with biochemistry and physiology."

Since 1995, Nike has spent $50 million a year on R & D and product development costs. It has studied products from many aspects such as biomechanics, engineering technology, industrial design, chemistry and physiology.

The company also set up a research committee and a customer committee to hire coaches, athletes, equipment operators, foot doctors and integer doctors to jointly examine various design plans and materials, in order to improve the design of sports shoes according to ergonomics.

Nike also acquired some new technologies through merger and acquisition strategy, such as the Tetra of the United States, which specializes in making gasbag materials, and those series of sports shoes that use this technology are very important for Nike to create brilliance in the 80s of last century.

In the product design process, a large number of detailed monitoring data can help Nike improve product performance.

For example, the data of Nike laboratories clearly record the differences between the basketball players Jordan and Barkley who have to bear the pressure on their feet when they are landing because of the difference between the two players' jumping ability and landing mode.

Nike also attaches great importance to the feedback of consumers' information. On the one hand, it helps to understand consumer preferences and grasp market changes; on the other hand, it also helps the R & D personnel to improve product performance.

In Nike's "light asset utilization" mode, highly skilled R & D and market tracking systems are often shielded from the "star advertising" strategy.

In fact, the strategy of "light asset utilization" itself abandonment of manufacturing links with low added value in the industrial chain, and competition based on the downstream market is easily imitated and surpassed by competitors.

Therefore, Nike's R & D system is not just a purely technical work.

Or, it's a commercial gimmick that can be advertised.

Nike research and development has always maintained a principle, "we have spent a lot of efforts in technology research and development, because the bad products can not definitely cause people to put their feelings into it."

"If we sell things that are not honest, we will know sooner or later," Knight said.

Second, business strategy and marketing are well known. Nike's marketing strategy is well known as an industry model.

Whether it's Jordan's celebrity endorsement strategy or creative advertising, Nike always shows itself to be a dynamic company in the marketing process, and every Nike shoe is full of seduction.

However, from the replicability of marketing strategy, simple marketing means are the most easily imitated, which is evident from the current mainstream sports products market promotion.

"I think it is not a good thing to define the word" marketing "as a process of assisting the sale of goods with five words available.

Phil Nate pointed out, "in my eyes, marketing is very similar to sociology.

The most successful thing that Nike has done is to explain what people are doing now and where they are interested, and we are very honored to achieve all our original ideas.

Knight always holds the idea that selling goods that others do not need is an immoral and difficult task.

Knight therefore hoped that Nike's marketing behavior is not only to let everyone notice its products, but also to constantly remind everyone what Nike is doing.

In 1993, Nike and Coca-Cola and vodka were selected as the first members of the American Marketing Association (Hall of Fame).

From the point of view of "famous brand hall", the so-called brand names must be "continuous success, creativity and pioneering, which will have a great impact on the life style of the public, and at the same time, it can become the object of learning for the whole American enterprise."

It can be seen that Phil Nate created a culture that could not be easily copied for Nike.

His view caters to the development of marketing culture since 1950s.

In terms of the educational influence of marketing on business form, a company based on marketing is a company that will make customers.

In this pition, profit itself becomes less important. Customer satisfaction is the biggest challenge for the company.

So, when you find that some companies are trying to imitate Nike's marketing strategy but have not achieved better market expectations, it may actually convey many wrong messages to consumers.

For example, when Nike chose Michael Jordan as the main spokesman of its core basketball series sports shoes, it is very helpful for developing the target market.

However, even Jordan himself must admit that he can not have much influence on football.

In the early 1990s, Nike has often discussed such a question in the early 1990s: how does Nike locate itself?

Is it to be the role of a multinational company to provide a unified image and product in the global market, or to become a global consumption form company, carefully designing different images and products suitable for different places in the world according to the different preferences and circumstances around the world?

The problem that Nike managers think is based on the theory that global consumers have "homogenization" consumption desire. This controversial theory was proposed by Harvard University Theodore (Levitt) in the early 1980s.

Leavitt believes that a common market with common consumer cognition will go towards the form of commodity standardization.

Technology has established certain standards and rules for all sales activities.

The best example of Leavitt's homogenization is Coca-Cola.

She believes that any place that has not yet been "Nike" will only be able to understand Nike's role in the world when it really understands the meaning behind the brand.

"If we want to succeed in the global market, we must clearly implement a set of values and spread it all over the world."

In understanding the essence of global management, Japanese management scientist Kenichi Ohmae (Kenichi Ohmae) has far-reaching influence on Phil Nate.

Knight thought he was a "real genius."

In the early 1990s, Phil Nate was inspired by Kenichi Ohmae's The Borderless World.

Kenichi Ohmae pointed out that where the national income is 26000 US dollars, consumers will naturally go global. Consumers in these places will ask for quality and value, not care about where the product is made.

Therefore, the whole world will be guided by the needs of "world consumers".

This means that an economic globalization promoted by multinational companies has gradually abandoned the "headquarters management mode of operation", instead of "local market oriented decision execution".

Kenichi Ohmae emphasized that the company should "re learn the art of innovation". He thought that because of too much plagiarism and business, the valuable art of innovation has been lost.

Anta: from imitation to beyond development, Anta's development process is a microcosm of the development of sports shoes industry in Chen Dai Town, and also the leader in it.

In 1981, Ding Hemu (currently chairman of Anta group) set up a shoe factory with a partnership.

In 1990, Ding he and the shoe factory partners separated and set up separate doors.

1 years later, Anta shoe factory was established, but it was only an ordinary family factory.

At that time, the sporting goods market in China just started.

Ding Hemu's son Ding Zhizhong came back from Beijing to take care of the family business and decided to make the shoe factory bigger.

However, due to technical and material problems, Chen Dai shoe, which has just started, has not been able to base itself on the domestic market.

In 1993, the production of Cheddar sports shoes represented by Anta shifted from "inside" to "outside", and began to produce sports shoes for multinational corporations OEM.

Overseas orders allow many Jinjiang sports shoe manufacturers to complete their original capital accumulation, but Anta is not outstanding during this period.

Unlike many shoemaking companies in Jinjiang, Anta not only undertakes overseas orders, but also focuses on domestic market and devotes itself to developing domestic market distribution channels.

Ding Zhizhong thinks, "terminal network is the foundation of the survival of an enterprise.

A stable overseas order can lead to a comfortable life, but the domestic market is also a very large market. To find a place in this big market, we must have our own network.

In 1997, Anta started the construction of VI system, gradually standardizing the use of trademark identification, and began to implement brand strategy.

In 1999, Ding Zhizhong, 30, became the general manager of Anta group.

At the beginning of his term, he made an important decision: he signed an agreement with the Chinese national table tennis team, and invited world champion Kong Linghui to become the spokesman of Anta brand image.

In the same period, Anta launched its brand slogan: "I choose, I like".

Anta has quickly gained a higher market awareness.

In 2001, Beijing Anta Oriental sporting goods company was established and began to implement the new development strategy of product diversification and brand internationalization.

The company crosses to the field of sportswear, accessories and other apparel products, from single sports shoes to the production and sale of comprehensive sports goods.

In the same year, the first Anta sporting goods store opened in Lisheng sporting goods store in Beijing, and the Anta monopoly system began to start in full.

According to statistics from the China Federation of Commerce and the China National Business Information Center, Anta sports shoes rose to the first place in 2001.

In 2004, Anta implemented overseas promotion strategy in succession in Singapore, Greece, Hungary and so on.