The Tide Of Chinese Goods Is Taking Advantage Of The East Wind, And Converse Is On The Way To Rise!

According to the World Clothing, Shoes and Hats Network, in recent years, Chinese consumers' confidence in domestic products has soared due to the improvement of the quality of China's clothing industry. Taking advantage of this trend, the 90 year old domestic sneaker brand came back to the public's view, and also copied the current model of popular money to go abroad. However, in addition to "feelings" and "hot money", it seems that it is not so easy for Huili to want a comprehensive recovery.

Recently, back to the vision of Chinese consumers Warrior It has become more "foreign". The brand's latest overseas limited series WOS33 (Warrior Ordinaries Streetwear) has attracted extensive attention from domestic and foreign media. At present, this series of products is only sold online. The two overseas versions of Warrior shoes on sale are red and blue, respectively. The price is up to 70 euros, about 544 yuan, five times the price of the domestic version.

This latest series, called "WOS33", has achieved a young upgrade from various communication channels. The series of pictures were filmed in Chinatown, and the foreign young people wearing Warrior sneakers in the advertising film naturally interpreted the fashionable culture prevailing all over the world today, making people almost forget the stereotype of domestic products in the past.

In addition to visual transformation, WOS33 It has also remained active on social media and other platforms close to young people around the world. It has now opened an official Instagram account and an international official website, and has more than 560 followers on Instagram.

Many people are confused about the new name of this overseas series, and think it has little to do with the Warrior brand itself. In fact, Warrior represented by W in WOS33 is the English name of Huili in its early days. However, this overseas limited series for the international market does not really have much to do with the Chinese Warrior brand. Instead, it is a brand remodeling project initiated by a four person team, which signed a one-year licensing agreement with China Warrior.

The main figure in this four person team is Bohan Qiu, who remains active in China's fashion industry. Bohan, who grew up in Shenzhen Qiu said in an interview with WWD that when he was young, the school would wear the uniform Warrior shoes, which naturally formed the desire to revitalize Warrior. He revealed that in January next year, the team will take the WOS33 series and open a limited time shop during the Paris Men's Wear Week, and then hold similar activities in Los Angeles, New York, London and other major cities.

Obviously, the main target of the WOS33 series is the international market, and its pricing level has also been greatly increased with the change of name and packaging. However, the team explained that on the one hand, pricing reflects the international orientation, and more importantly, it is because of the team's investment in improving the quality of Warrior shoes, such as improving the problem that Warrior is easy to open.

It is worth noting that this authorization agreement is only one year old, and the team hopes to see the sales situation one year later before making a decision. It can be seen that this overseas limited series is very experimental.

Today's WOS33, on the whole, presents an international level, but this is not the first attempt of Huili to reshape its brand. In 2010, JingDaily reported that China Huili once wanted to enter the high-end market in China and authorize in the Australian market, but two attempts almost ended without success.

The retro trend of Warrior since 2008 has really brought the brand back to life, but this is due to an own dragon incident. In a street shot of Hollywood actor Orlando Bloom, people found that he was wearing a pair of strange red and blue striped white sneakers. Many people mistakenly believe that it is Warrior sneakers, which for a while has driven the patriotic and retro feelings of Chinese people, and also brought the brand of Warrior back to the public view. According to the data of Ali retail platform in 2016, Huili ranked among the top three.

The earliest establishment of Huili can be traced back to 1927. Its predecessor is Yichang Rubber Goods Factory, which has been 90 years. In 1935, Warrior officially registered the trademark of Warrior, whose homonym is Warrior. For a long time, Huili has been synonymous with quality and high price, and it is also the standard equipment of Chinese professional sports athletes. For example, the Warrior 565 basketball shoes specially designed for the basketball team, and the WB-1 low top shoes, which are also popular across the country.

Both the Chinese women's volleyball team in 1979 and the Bayi team in 1981 wore Warrior sneakers when they won the match, bringing Warrior to its peak in the 1980s. According to data, the annual sales of Warrior in the 1980s, at its peak, reached 800 million yuan, equivalent to 204 billion yuan today. Today's sports Nike In 2016, the global turnover was about 25.3 billion US dollars, 170 billion yuan.

However, in the late 1990s, Guangdong and Fujian ushered in the transfer of manufacturing industry in the European and American markets, and the competition in the shoemaking market grew day by day. Foreign brands have also gradually entered the Chinese market. Nike entered the market in the 1980s, while adidas entered the market in 1997. The stagnant Huili continued to be squeezed, and finally Shanghai Huili Shoes General Factory went bankrupt in 2000.

Later, Shanghai Huayi Group acquired the Huili trademark, but the business situation was not optimistic after several ups and downs. It was not until 2008 that the decline was reversed, but the revival craze caused by Hollywood stars in 2008 was actually an own goal. Looking carefully at the picture, it is not difficult to find that it is another Chinese sneaker brand that has leapt to Feiyue. The relationship between resilience and leap is also very subtle.

The earliest Warrior shoes came from Shanghai No. 6 Rubber Shoes Factory, and Feiyue came from Shanghai No. 1 Rubber Shoes Factory. Later, Warrior was acquired by Huayi, and Feiyue was acquired by Huayi subsidiary. But the fate of these two domestic brands is totally different. Feiyue was registered as a trademark in France by the French, and became popular quickly with the brand story of Chinese products. With the rise of Chinese retro sentiment, many consumers have also taken a leap in clothing. However, many leaps in the market are not the original domestic products, but the improved international versions.

In contrast, Huili has always maintained its domestic nature, but has not escaped the fate of trademark registration abroad, which has greatly hindered brand Go international. Some analysts believe that entering the international market in the name of WOS33 has actually lost Warrior's original brand heritage to some extent, more like an independent brand.

In any case, this WOS33 series has made a young and international upgrade for Huili, but it also reminds that this domestic brand revived with feelings is far from a high-quality international brand. No matter in terms of brand image or product, Chinese companies that really hold the leading power of Warrior can no longer continue to eat their old bread.

More importantly, the problem of plagiarism has been seriously hindering Huili from winning the respect of consumers. In addition to the popular red stripe shoes, most of the styles of Warrior's product series are similar to Converse New Balance, adidas, Yeezy and other international brands are too similar. At present, consumers' understanding of Warrior is still on the classic style, but if the style does not make any innovation, this trend will soon pass.

Last year, some media revealed that the Warrior school shoes, which have been used by Guangzhou Zhixin Middle School for ten years and match with school uniforms, have been officially abandoned, because the quality of Warrior shoes is too poor and easy to open. The criticism about the quality of Warrior has been common. Some critics pointed out that Huili was abandoned by the school of unified procurement, which just reflects the company's inaction and the mode of consumer demand. In the current fierce market competition, this has put Huili in a weak position.

However, Huili brand, which is neglected in management, has not yet fully gained the economic benefits after becoming popular, and Taobao has already seen a large number of fakes. The confusion of distribution channels has disrupted the market, and the low price and quality usually only allow consumers to form a one-time purchase, but it is difficult to form loyal consumers of the brand.

Now, more and more brands focus on "telling stories", which is understandable. However, the story of Huili is more due to the retro feelings that consumers spontaneously told in the 1980s than the information that the brand actively conveyed. In other words, Huili may not have the ability to actively explain the brand story.

When Nike, adidas, Puma, Reebok and other sports brands compete fiercely in the international market, they not only step up the innovation of products, but also constantly upgrade the marketing methods, actively narrowing the distance with consumers. In such a market environment, can we still rely on passive resilience?

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