FRIETAG Backpack Is Popular All Over The World, But Also To Catch Up With The Chinese Market.

At 2:00 p.m. on November 21st, Daniel Freitag was sitting in a joint office space in Shanghai. In front of the apple computer, there was a 101 page slide. After 5 hours, a design discussion with his leading role was about to begin. Although he was familiar with the content, he still seemed nervous.

"Hundreds of people have signed up. I'm surprised."

Daniel Freitag said, "we need to know that we are still a very small brand in China".

As you may have guessed, this brand is the Swiss bag brand FREITAG, which is the same name as Daniel Freitag.

In 1993, Daniel Freitag and his brother Markus Freitag were inspired by trucks flying on expressways. They contacted the Truck Company and recovered heavy tarpaulins used to wrap carriages. They made this waterproof and wearable material into postage bags.

From raw material recovery, tarpaulin tailoring, washing, design and final sewing, it takes five processes to make a FRIETAG backpack.

During the period, the workers will also treat the dirty old tarpaulin specially, so that the cloth looks as though it is retro, but it still keeps its luster.

Because the tarpaulin material is waterproof, heat-resistant and functional, the recycled material will show irregular texture after use. Every FRIETAG backpack can be said to be unique.

In Switzerland, you can attribute the popularity of FREITAG to this country's pursuit of "environmental philosophy" because of the lack of resources, while other countries, such as Japan, which have similar national conditions in Switzerland, have made it possible for FREITAG to have more contacts with the spread of television and movies.

In the hot 2005 drama "ENGINE", Takuya Kimura was named "Takuya Kimura bag" in Japan because of the bright yellow FREITAG.

"Each bag is unique." maybe it's just the superficial reason why FREITAG is popular around the world. It really attracts the consumers who speak different languages and cultures.

The backpacks made from recycled materials come from trucks that are speeding up in the European continent. Every tarpaulin has a special smell. You don't know where they've been, what they've been and what kind of weather they've been through. The consumer has provided great imagination.

After that, the brothers made an insightful decision not to position FREITAG as a knapsack producer, but a brand related to consumer value orientation and lifestyle.

In 2011, when the new product line Reference was launched, FREITAG published a print and electronic version of the publication The Daily Reference, which can not only criticize current politics, but also interest in life.

All these make FREITAG brand more mysterious and attractive.

With the gradual rise of social media, bright, highly recognizable FREITAG Reference packages are also suitable for drying out in Facebook or Instagram.

You can even find a label called "#FREITAGLOVER" in Instagram. The world's tide people are very good at modeling, and they keep passing the photo with this package. At present, there are more than five hundred thousand posts related to FREITAG, and on Pinterest, netizens are keen to share the story between them and FREITAG. A netizen named Gowanus released a backpack photo, which says, "for many years now, I still feel this material is wonderful."

The brothers who graduated from the art department have been engaged in design work. After the first FREITAG was formed, their designer friends became the first batch of users.

Because of its functional and stylish appearance, this backpack was soon loved by FRIETAG's friends.

"Switzerland is not a big country, and the circle of designers is also very small."

Daniel Freitag said.

To some extent, these designers who carried FREITAG on the back played the role of KOL, and the brothers received more orders.

23 years later, FREITAG has developed from a small workshop of 70 square meters to a designer brand with more than 400 outlets in the world.

The similar story also comes from the British "Cambridge bag" The Cambridge Satchel Company. In 2008, the brand of the retro schoolbag was born everywhere in the short span of two years. It was the brand founder Julie Deane who contacted the bloggers one by one, let them carry Cambridge Satche in the fashion week and other activities, then take photos and put blogs, and the users had the first recognition of the brand in the commentary.

In China, FREITAG also wants to replicate their successful path in Switzerland and Japan - first accepted by small circles, and then more people are accepted by the word of mouth and the proliferation of social networks.

Despite the fact that there are not many people who know about FRIETAG now because they insist on not taking any advertising marketing strategy, on the other hand, the bag brand made of recycled materials is not cheap. On the official website of FRIETAG, a FRIETAG Backpack

Mostly in the 200 Swiss francs (about 1300 yuan), and in the physical shop, the price will obviously be higher.

"Labor cost is our biggest expense."

Daniel Freitag told the interface reporter.

FREITAG has always insisted on using Swiss local workers and designers. Although their labor costs are more expensive, such practices can provide more jobs and social benefits for Switzerland.

However, Daniel Freitag is rather uneasy about the extent to which FRIETAG can turn on the Chinese market that has just started wearing personalized clothes.

This is only the second time he has come to China. It has been 15 years since he came to Shanghai last time. He admitted that "FRIETAG's popularity in China is not very high indeed."

In 2013, FRIETAG was sold in the Chinese market for the first time in The Gloss, the brand integration store in Xintiandi, Shanghai. Then it also expanded to Beijing, Chengdu and Shenzhen by cooperative distribution. At present, there are 11 sales points in China.

What comforts Daniel Freitag, however, is that these few sales outlets return the sales information, even though their popularity is not high, but Chinese fans have a good loyalty to FRIETAG brand.

Zhang Ji is one of FRIETAG's fans. He is currently the director of operation of WAKE UP, a bicycle brand in the city. After learning that the Swiss brand, which is popular with cycling circles, has to hold its first official event in China, they have contacted FRIETAG brand actively, providing several cycling and DJ performances for the evening of November 21st.

Zhang Ji told the interface reporter that FRIETAG has set up in China.

"This fan sponsored and brand collaborative organization will organize theme activities on cycling and riding content on a regular basis. Most of the fans who come to the scene that night are creative people engaged in design, photography and art.

"Beautiful, practical, very special and interesting."

The presence of FRIETAGer (who likes FRIETAG) will tell you that this is why they love this brand, and these descriptions point to one point -- FRIETAG's "uniqueness" stuck to in the 23 years of its establishment.

On the knowledge side, a netizen named IMHO said in reply to "why Frietag is so expensive": "in the contemporary social scene, through modern pragmatism, we should abandon the trend of advocating conformity and advocating individuality."

It also indirectly explains why FREITAG can be popular among designers and other groups.

But the consumer's preferences are still hard to grasp. You can't guarantee what the next small pack will be. Think back to the fashionable brands that once filled the streets, such as where daddy went, Liu Ye's son Fjallraven Kanken (Arctic Fox), a French brand cote&ciel that once became a Taobao bomb, a Chinese minority.

The market demand is constantly increasing.

Think of arctic fox opening the trend of field equipment to become a daily backpack. Cote&ciel caters to the pure and concise design that many people like nowadays. Maybe these brands become the reason of "burst money", and they can also follow our popular interpretation of FREITAG.

But this has also become the puzzle of Daniel Freitag.

"For a Chinese consumer who wants to buy backpacks, there are additional requirements for the design style and the concept behind the brand in addition to the demand for basic functions."

Daniel Freitag said, "now, I need to figure this out. Maybe I will know tonight."