Asics No Longer Chase The Millennial Generation'S Return To Professional Sports.

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary establishment of the value brand, Asics, a Japanese sports product group, set up a new marketing strategy: gradually returning the strategic focus from the pursuit of the millennial generation of consumers to the professional running foundation of Arthur.

At the end of 2017, Asics reached a cooperation agreement with the US DJ, record producer and fashion designer Steve Aoki, and launched "I MOVE ME" marketing activities (the latter had 8 million 400 thousand fans on Twitter and 7 million 300 thousand fans on Instagram). Asics said at the time that the cooperation was designed to set the tone for Asics's new brand image and concept, expressing itself through cultural and sports collisions and attracting young consumers from non runners.

However, Sarah Bishop, vice president of Asics marketing, recently said: "although the brand and Steve Aoki are still good friends, they will not continue to cooperate. We are returning to the foundation of running.

To better convey Asics's new marketing strategy, Sarah Bishop will cooperate with Gene McCarthy, a senior industry veteran. The latter has 21 years of experience in Nike, Under Armour and other brands, and joined Asics USA three years ago as president and chief executive officer.

Gene McCarthy said: "cooperation with Steve Aoki is part of the company's expansion of its brand and wider audience, so we have appointed Steve Aoki with a cultural influence. But our goal is to regain the first market share of running shoes. I will organize and build a world-class team, including the new vice president of sales who will be joined in April.

Gene McCarthy said: "running culture has a natural connection with the Asics brand. We hope to win the market share. We have done it in the past and we have the ability to achieve this goal again. "

According to NPD, an American consulting firm, the US sports brand Brooks currently occupies the largest market share in running category, reaching 23%. Asics declined to disclose the market share of its own brand.

In November 2018, according to reports, net sales in the first 9 months of Asics fiscal year fell 4.7% to 295 billion 680 million yen, operating profit fell 37.1% to 15 billion 360 million yen, and net profit fell 47.55% to 8 billion 288 million yen over the same period of 2018 years. Among them, the Americas market sales fell 17.8% to 67 billion 670 million yen compared to the same period. The US Department suffered a loss of 958 million yen due to sales slump and higher cost of sales.

To reverse the situation, Asics revised its five-year strategic plan, while focusing on the US market performance, accelerating the growth of the Chinese market, developing digital business, and trying to turn the garment business into a profitable growth business. Asics regards the US market as a key priority area, and launches new running shoes such as Gel-Kayano 25, HyperGel and Gel-Nimbus 21.

Sarah Bishop said: "this year, many models of these traditional running shoes have been updated in color and shoe type. Asics, the US company is also strengthening its cooperation with elite runners such as Emma Bates, Allie Kieffer and Olympian Deena Kastor, trying to get them to talk to consumers groups, of which women account for 60%. At the end of the first quarter of this year, the brand will launch an initiative based on female empowerment.

In addition, Asics will continue to sponsor the world's largest concert entertainment company Live Nation, becoming the exclusive footwear sponsor for specific venues and festivals in the United States and Canada. However, Asics will no longer sponsor the New York marathon. The cooperation between the two sides has lasted for 25 years. In 2018, the cooperation agreement was concluded. The sponsors are now replaced by New Balance.

But this does not mean that Asics is ready to completely detached from the way of life. When asked about the performance share of branded product business and lifestyle business, Gene McCarthy pointed out: "all our products are functional products, but consumers will choose to wear them as lifestyle products."

Sarah Bishop added: "we will continue to cooperate with excellent creative personages such as Kiko Kostadinov, London designer. They have redesigned some core shoes of the Asics brand."