VF Net Profit Fell 15.3% In The Fourth Quarter.

U.S.A clothing Group VF Wei Fu (NYSE:VFC) recently released the fourth quarter and annual earnings report, data show that the group's performance in the US market continued to deteriorate, the fourth quarter net profit fell 15.3% to 264 million 300 thousand U.S. dollars, the total sales volume basically flat with last year's record of 3 billion 320 million U.S. dollars, less than Wall Street analysts previously expected 3 billion 440 million dollars, gross margin increased slightly to 49.1%. Compared with the previous fiscal year, the annual sales volume of the company was no more than $12 billion, operating profit fell 16% to $1 billion 500 million, and gross profit margin was 48.4%.

It is noteworthy that, compared with its main outdoor sports brand The North Face performance downturn, Vans still maintained strong growth momentum, in niche market Nike And CONVERSE continued to compete, becoming the most eye-catching performance of the group. brand 。

Group outdoor sports department's annual sales grew by 2% to 7 billion 500 million US dollars. The sales of its main brand Vans in the fourth quarter benefited from 20% strong growth in the Asia Pacific region, up 14% from the same period last year. The annual sales increased 6% to 2 billion 300 million dollars over the previous year, or about 15 billion 800 million yuan. Sales of The North Face in the fourth quarter dropped by 8% compared with the previous year. Sales in other regions except Europe declined. The annual sales fell 2% to 2 billion 300 million US dollars in the previous fiscal year.

According to the world clothing and shoe net, the fourth quarter revenue of the group was mainly driven by the strong performance of its brand Vans during the holiday season. In fact, Vans recorded a 1% decline in the first quarter of fiscal year 2016. After adjusting the strategy in a timely manner, brand sales began to pick up in the second quarter.

Sam Poser, a senior footwear industry analyst, pointed out that Vans is now a brand of young fashion culture. Although the sales of sports shoes are still hot, not everyone likes Nike basketball shoes. Different consumers love different styles. Vans's positioning is obviously a brand that can make consumers younger, cooler and more personalized.

Karl Heinz Salzburger, head of global operations at Viagra group, stressed in an interview with the US media: "we do not want to become a fashion brand. Fashion tastes are constantly changing, coming fast, and going fast."

Sponsoring concerts has become an important marketing tool for Vans. For example, Warped Tour has always been the driving force for Vans to increase sales volume. During the 50th anniversary anniversary of the brand last year, Vans held at least 12 music festivals around the world, promoting the penetration of music, art, street culture and extreme sports in the platform of House of Vans.

Kevin Bailey, chairman of Vans and the street group of the Wei Fu Group, believes that the young consumers have changed a lot compared with the past. They will find out who they are through the beautiful things and experiences in life. And music and art are what they will share through Instagram. Therefore, Vans chooses to increase the exposure of social media by means of music festivals or Warped Tour, so that the brand can regain the attention of consumers.

Early last May, according to Wei Fu Group, a "Damn Daniel" video in the social media's forwarding volume has exceeded 346 thousand, the number of people on the YouTube has more than 1 million 200 thousand, the transmission of the video makes the white classic Vans become a trend product again, the sales of direct outlets increased by 20%, and online sales increased by 30%. Behind this is that the brand knows how to attract young people to love and pay attention to the trend. Popular culture has directly promoted the growth of Vans sales.

As for Vans's rise and fall, some analysts pointed out that the concept of cross-border cooperation and the cooperation between the strong design and business team behind the brand.

The cooperation between Vans and other tide cards can be traced back to twenty years ago. In 1996, it reached a long-term and stable cooperation agreement with one of the most popular street brands, Supreme. In 2003, it launched the high-end Vault series, and focused on product design. It added leather, knitting and grid elements to the once skateboard shoes, and gradually attracted the new generation of consumers to pay a higher price for them.

In 2015, the brand and the Japanese artist Murakami Takashi Takashi Murakami launched the Vans * Takashi Murakami series, known as the Vans buy series, in addition to shoes, the series products also include T-shirts and skateboards, even if the selling price is up to 4000 yuan, all products are sold out immediately after the shelves.

To better attract millennial consumers, Vans also worked with Nintendo Nintendo in June last year to launch a series of shoes, clothing and accessories inspired by early video games. From canvas sneakers to plumbing hats, 8 digital art technologies are used to create printed patterns, highlighting the role of Nintendo's classic games, including the legend of super Marie, Duck Hunt, King Kong and Zelda. The inspiration also comes from Nintendo's first game interface.

As a skateboard trend Street brand, by encouraging a large number of teenagers to show their Vans shoes when playing skateboards or listening to concerts, Vans currently has 6 million 950 thousand fans in the official account of Instagram.

For the revival of China's consumer market, Steve Rendle, chief executive of Wei Fu Group, said in an interview that digital transformation will be the top priority of the group's future development. China has now become the second largest market for Vans in addition to the US. The group started distributing social media channels in China as early as 2012, and is the first foreign brand of sina micro-blog's first batch of advertising.

When Kevin Bailey talked about skateboarding, which was not a mainstream Asian performance, it was revealed: "after in-depth study of Asian consumer behavior in China, brand finds that as young consumers become more and more aware of western culture, music and art play an important role in their lives, and more consumers will seek more personalized things."

According to the world clothing and shoe net, Vans classic canvas shoes have become popular products in Tmall flagship store. The total sales volume has reached 141 thousand pairs. Vans plans to attract more young consumers and stimulate sales growth in 2017 by further strengthening cooperation among brands.

In addition to balancing the high-end and low-end markets, Vans is also beginning to be alert to the impact of fast fashion.

Kevin Bailey points out that as the pace of fast fashion continues to accelerate, the initial setting of Vans for young skateboards is also a matter of relevance. Companies must be aware that the trend of style continues to accelerate.

In order to deal with competition, according to the different styles of Vans sports shoes, the lowest price of the product is not more than 45 US dollars, which can afford this family's important role in the consumption of young people. An American fashion industry analyst pointed out: "the millennial generation wants simple and affordable fashion products, and their parents will not complain that they are spending 40 to 60 dollars on a pair of shoes. There are no problems with a few pairs a year."

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