[Depth] Changes In Columbia

How to break the stereotype of "the vest is a middle-aged man" is a problem facing the outdoor sports brand Columbia. They hope to become younger in the Chinese market.

The outdoor sports brand Columbia (Columbia), founded in 1938, is 80 years old this year.

At the same time, the US brand made an important decision in their most valued overseas market.

In April 2018, Columbia announced the Columbia movement held by its partner Sw ire Resources Ltd.

Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. 40% stake.

Another 60% stake in the trading company is in the hands of the parent company of Columbia.

This means that, starting in January 1, 2019, Columbia will fully operate its own business independently.

In 1938, Paul and Marie Lamfrom named their own hat company Columbia Hat Company, using the Columbia River of Columbia, Portland.

Subsequently, the company's business has been inherited from the family son-in-law, daughter and grandson, and the small business of the hat company has developed into a pnational outdoor sports apparel group with an annual income of nearly $2 billion 500 million.

And Columbia's China business is also a gradual process.

In 2005, Swire Group, as the exclusive distributor of Columbia China, introduced the brand to China.

The mature retail team of Swire Group, and the successful experience of introducing Reebok and Puma into China, let Columbia choose and trust this partner.

During the pioneering period, Swire quickly set up sales outlets for Columbia and organized market activities.

By the end of 2013, Columbia's sales network in China has already included 70 Columbia direct shops, 51 distributors in 660 retail stores in 180 cities, and 47 retail stores in Shan Hao (Mountain Hardwear, Columbia sub brand) in Columbia.

At the same time, Columbia has been concerned about and participated in the Chinese market.

In January 1, 2014, Columbia sportswear Commerce (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. was founded, of which Columbia accounted for 60% of shares, and Swire Limited's subsidiary Sw ire Resources Ltd accounted for 40%.

According to the agreement between the two sides, the initial cooperation period is 20 years. After fifth years of cooperation, Columbia has the right to acquire a minority stake in Swire.

When foreign brands first enter the Chinese market, agents and joint ventures can smoothly and rapidly expand their sales channels and expand their markets.

However, any brand that wants to stay in the Chinese market for a long time needs to go on the road of independent operation.

Columbia has entered the nineteenth year of China and has finally reached this stage.

Zhu Guangxian, general manager of Columbia China

Zhu Guangxian, general manager of Columbia China, is a career path that has been highly praised by Fudan graduates. He started his career from Procter & Gamble, then moved to other foreign companies, and gradually promoted to become a professional manager.

After leaving Procter & Gamble, Zhu Guangxian worked in Nike and served as director of global business development of Jordan brand when he worked in Nike global headquarters.

In 2016, Zhu Guangxian joined Columbia and was appointed general manager of Columbia sportswear Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Zhu Guangxian said to the interface news: "now, our brand has a unique position in China. Consumers already have a clear understanding of the brand. Today, our management team is one of the best management teams in the industry. Buyback is more capital side change, but it does not affect the original team management."

In other words, the popularity of the brand in China and the maturity of the Chinese team make this step "logical".

At present, there are more than 220 Chinese teams in Columbia, which are divided into brand marketing department, product marketing department and retail terminal management department. They are responsible for 750 retail outlets operated by 86 brand Direct stores and 50 wholesalers.

In 2017, Columbia created $168 million in revenue in China, which has achieved a high single digit growth compared to the previous year.

Without middle age standard, Columbia wants to be younger.

Compared with the reality that the agents pay more attention to the actual revenue, Columbia, which operates independently in China, can invest more in the longer term and pay more attention to "brand first".

So what is the brand image of Columbia?

From the discussion of outdoor sports forum and feedback from outdoor enthusiasts, young people are more interested in fashion design. However, Columbia has not met its needs.

Zhu Guangxian admitted that Columbia had made mistakes in product development in the past.

"Whether it's local development or us development, we ignore the need of the Chinese generation to upgrade in a certain way."

In 2005, just after entering Columbia, China's main consumer force was 70. The aesthetic and demand of consumers at that time may be compatible with the products provided by Columbia.

However, when the consumers after 70 gradually entered the age of no doubt, Columbia did not aim at the post 1980s and post-90s, but let the design become "obsolete" with the first batch of consumers.

In the US market, though Columbia has no shortage of top fabrics and technology, Columbia is basically a mass consumer oriented brand from pricing to products and the national conditions of the United States.

In China, the outdoor sports crowd is relatively small, and consumers are not very routine in the use of products. This also causes Columbia to focus more on domestic consumers and professional athletes and enthusiasts, and the pricing of products is also high.

However, Columbia is consistent with its consumers' positioning. Although the outdoor sports Pyramid spire guides the movement and consumption trend, the largest consumer group is the non professional level of ordinary consumers, especially in China, where outdoor sports have not completely erupted.

In China, taking the professional route or taking the mass leisure route may be the choice that many brands have to make.

Columbia also recognizes that the outdoor sports products in China are still in the emerging stage, the proportion of the group in Pyramid is small and the demand for the top products is small.

And the high degree of urbanization in China determines that a large number of consumers are gathered in the city, and it is unwise to ignore these consumption forces.

As in Europe and America, many people will wear subways to squeeze subway and work. In China's urban life scene, outdoor sports products are also gradually existing. This change of concept also expands the consumption group of outdoor sports products.

And what kind of products do young people in the city like? Feng Yu, an outdoor sports enthusiast, says he chooses products, or enough tide is cool enough, or the function is professional enough.

Then, he bluntly said: in his impression, two items in Columbia do not belong.

This consumer psychology has been grasped by Columbia.

Zhu Guangxian explained: "first of all, the emotional connection between young people and brands comes from better service and higher technology. Secondly, the brand should be able to provide consumers with cool and nice ways to wear in different scenes, so that he can show them with friends."

He said that from the second half of 2018 to the beginning of 2019, Columbia will continue to introduce a series of young trends in China, and also have outdoor high-tech products. When introducing the international product line, its independent design team will combine the needs of Chinese consumers to carry out more accurate product development.

Prior to this, in North America, Columbia has launched the designer's cooperation with the trend shop Kith and Opening Ceremony. In the second half of this year, next year, some cooperative product lines will also be launched in China and cooperate with other trend brands in China.

Another mistake that Columbia has made in terms of its products is being corrected.

Zhu Guangxian said that in the past, Columbia mainly invested in outdoor hiking products, but market information showed that the growth of consumer groups in this field was very slow.

With the rapid development of skiing, cross-country running and small water sports, Columbia will also increase investment in these areas and bring more products to consumers.

In fact, Columbia has a number of well-known brands in the field of subdivision, including Columbia Montrail, Mountain Hardwear, snow boots brand Sorel, and light luxury outdoor brand prAna.

It is reported that in the next few years, Columbia also wants to bring these brands to China, but these brands need to build awareness in the mainstream sports consumers and the Chinese market.

The future changes of Columbia products will not only be the appearance but also the price adjustment.

Zhu Guangxian revealed that, while maintaining the pricing of high-tech products, some of the entry-level products will be adjusted in price next year, such as urban casual shoes with high technology content, ordinary Hoodie and sports pants, so as to attract more consumers.

Upgrading stores and optimizing brand image

If you visit the outdoor brand floors of shopping centers or department stores, you have a great chance to see Columbia, but there is also a great chance that you are not impressed with the shops in Columbia.

Ordinary blue and white Logo, similar to the neighborhood decoration style and display of goods, in the moment consumers swept away, the brand's sense of existence is not strong.

Maybe ordinary consumers can't identify brand A.

And the brand B technology content is poor, but they can feel that the brand A is better than the brand B advertisement, Slogan is more attractive, the store is more cool, and these factors will largely determine who they consume for.

Despite the escalation of consumption and the new retail era, online has become the most important channel, but the offline scene is still an important position of brand image.

Among them, Columbia also wants to find a way of dialogue with young consumers.

First of all, the change happens in the shops where the two sides are in positive contact.

Columbia's Direct stores and distributors' stores in China have declined in recent years, from 92 stores and 800 distributors to 86 and 750.

Optimization and focus are the ways for Columbia to pform stores.

Zhu Guangxian said that in 2017, Columbia opened fifty or sixty new stores, and also closed forty or fifty low-grade shops with poor image. It rebuilt and upgraded more than 100 original stores. The upgrading and pformation of the shop brought customers better product experience and more customized consumption experience.

Next, the development ideas of Columbia entity store are as follows: the proportion of Direct stores is kept unchanged, concentrating on Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the direct battalion team establishes the best mode, the best retail plan and the best consumer experience, and at the same time carries out the verification of the new retail mode in these stores.

At the same time, Columbia will gradually pfer the market to the distributors in the north, so that it can expand its regional advantages, and will not quickly open stores in the short term.

At the same time, Columbia also plans to open more theme brand centers, such as high-end outdoor sports shops, ski shops, leisure trend shops, etc.

The company's terminal channel subdivision departments will also provide different product configurations for electricity suppliers, shopping centers, department stores, high-end shops and mid end shops according to different channels and groups.

In the Columbia business sector, the fastest growing electricity supplier, the company also intends to WeChat small programs, social networking platform, and its own "CI" (Consumer First) retail platform to do more online and offline integration, to bring customers better product experience and interaction experience.

Not only should consumers have more willingness to enter the store, but Columbia also wants to go more into the life of consumers.

Many sports brands want to become part of the lifestyle of consumers. Especially with the trend of sports and leisure, sportswear has occupied more and more space in people's wardrobe.

However, compared to running and yoga, the "cost" of mountaineering and cross-country running seems to be greater. Outdoor brand bears the responsibility of bringing more consumers into the circle.

In April 23rd, Columbia announced that it would continue to sponsor the Chongli 168 international super cross country competition.

The contestants in this competition can get the qualification points of the ITRA (International cross country running Association) and the top international cross-country race UTMB ring Blanc peak super cross country competition.

Columbia is also one of the sponsors of the UTMB Blanc super cross country competition.

Those who run many marathons may challenge cross-country race next, and those who are not interested in riding in cities may try to ride cross-country.

While inspiring participants to enter the outdoors, Columbia is also arriving early to arrive at the upcoming occasions of young consumers.

Choosing a spokesperson is also a must for sports brand development in China.

The rapid growth of sports brand Adidas in the Chinese market in recent years can not be separated from the star spokesmen such as Lu Han, Eddie Peng, Yang Mi, Di Ali Gerba and Yi Wan Xi Xi.

In signing a brand ambassador in China, Columbia has set up three criteria: athletes from water sports, mountaineering, cross-country running, cross-country riding and other sports; young athletes; stars who love outdoor sports (not necessarily traffic stars).

At the same time, Columbia has also made it clear that apart from brand ambassadors, they pay more attention to brand positioning and consumer experience.

Waiting for outdoor sports with China

Although the ideal future is beautiful, the current outdoor sports equipment market in China is not entirely bright.

In January this year, China Outdoor Textile Products Association (COCA) released the 2017 annual market survey report of China outdoor products at the ISPO sports industry forum.

According to the report, in 2017, the total retail sales of outdoor products reached 24 billion 460 million yuan, the growth rate was 3.22%, the total shipment volume was 13 billion 790 million yuan, and the growth rate was 2.61%.

In 2011, the growth rate of these two items was astonishing 59.2%, 50.9%, and then declined for 6 consecutive years, and finally the lowest growth rate since 2002 in 2017.

At present, the most revenue in China market is local brand Pathfinder.

In 2017, the Pathfinder revenue was 3 billion 36 million yuan, an increase of 5.5% over the same period last year, but the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies is expected to be 85 million 197 thousand and 400 yuan, a decrease of about 151.45% over the same period last year.

Both the total retail sales and the growth of big brands have encountered some problems, but outdoor sports brands still have confidence in China.

Frederic Frederic Guiral de Haas, chief executive of German brand Jack Wolfskin, told the financial times that the wealthy had gradually built up interest in outdoor sports. The sales of wolf claw in China, especially in major cities, increased by more than 15% over 2016.

And the group, which owns The North Face and Vans brands, also said that China will be the main investment area before 2021.

According to a multi-year practitioner of the outdoor sports equipment industry, while the brand profits such as Pathfinder and Keller stone have declined, such as The North Face, the number of brands is increasing exponentially. In China's outdoor equipment market, the development of equipment market such as fishing and camping is very fast.

Another outdoor sports brand, Patagonia, an agent in China and Zhong Zhaoxin, director of marketing department of Nanjing Mckinley company, once told the media that Patagonia's revenue in China in 2017 was 80 million yuan, and its growth rate was also kept at high digits.

Columbia has also been affected by the volatile Chinese market.

From 2000-2014 years, China's outdoor sports

Through the stage of enlightenment, barbaric growth and vicious competition, the market is uneven in brand, inventory backlog, many brands have seen sales decline, and Columbia is no exception.

The company's annual report has pointed out more than once that the growth of China's market is weak. This situation did not reverse until 2014, and the brand returned to growth.

Horizontal comparison of Columbia's development in the global market, China's Latin American and Asia Pacific market area is not the fastest growing brand market, and even in the past two years continued to decline in revenue.

China, Greater China and Asia have become the fastest growing brands of comprehensive sports brands such as Nike and Adidas.

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But in the field of outdoor sports brand, this has not been completely waken up.

But this silence is the space and potential in the brand's eyes.

"Inside Columbia, China is already the most important market in the world besides the United States."

Zhu Guangxian is very determined about China's position in the global development of the brand. "China is also the focus of investment."

Zhu Guangxian predicts that by 2020, China's outdoor sports will usher in an outbreak.

Before that, Columbia may need to wait for the initiative.