The Rise Of Chinese Sports Clothing Brand Brought By Olympic Games

On a summer day in the early 1980s, on the special railway line from Beijing to Shanghai, among the passengers with Chinese faces, several European men were particularly attractive.

One of the men in sunglasses is Phil Knight, the founder of Nike.

At that time, in the U.S. domestic market, Nike just countered Adidas. With more than one billion people, China is regarded as the next hot land by Phil Knight.

　　 Phil Knight's vision has been rewarded with amazing results. Many years later, Nike became the absolute king of China's sportswear market.

At the same time, in Jinjiang, Putian and other places along the southeast coast, the new forces of Chinese sportswear were still in a dormant period.

Of course, compared with Nike, they are more "humble" than they are. Since the late 1980s, thousands of small workshops and shoe factories have been scattered in Wubian port of Jinjiang. Anta, Tebu, Jordan and 361 degrees were all born here.

　　 Although it started early, in the years after that, the players in Fujian had no leader and played small games. The momentum was crushed by the global giants, and then went through a long period of catching up.

Until the last two years, the watershed turned to, the market completely changed, Chinese head players, gradually occupied the C position.

Even the wall street journal can't help but remind us that Nike and Adi "should be careful in China" and be careful to be overtaken by Chinese players.

The financial report is more convincing.

On March 21, the latest quarterly financial report disclosed by Nike showed that its net profit fell by 4%, while in the last quarter, its revenue in China even fell by 24% year-on-year, while the sales of Adidas in China fell by 16% and 15% respectively in Q2 and Q3 in 21 years.

However, Chinese brands have reversed the trend. Anta's revenue in 2021 increased by 39% year-on-year, and its net profit increased by 50% year-on-year. Both revenue and profit surpassed Adidas; Coincidentally, Li Ning's revenue increased by 56% year-on-year, and its net profit increased by 136%; In addition, Tebu's net profit increased by 77.1% year on year; wait.

With the rise of domestic brands, e-commerce platforms, which have been boosting the tide of new countries, are also happy to see their success. For example, since entering pinduoduo, the largest single month sales of the official flagship store of the designer brand mark Huafei has exceeded 15 million yuan.

"In the past 30 years, the traditional manufacturing industry has completed the transformation from made in China to Chinese brand. The current national hot trend is undoubtedly a great opportunity for domestic brands to achieve overtaking in corners," said the project leader of Duoduo xinguochao.

　　 Now, under the joint efforts of multiple factors, after 50 years of ups and downs of domestic sports brands, the big reversal of the upper position is finally late.

one

　　 Started from the grass and Mang, OEM Shanzhai

What few people know is that Nike, like sunrise, was only the agent of Japanese brand guizuka tiger in the early stage of entrepreneurship.

　　 The development of Chinese sports brand began with OEM, export and imitation. Most of the entrepreneurs in Jinjiang experienced this stage.

Special step is one of them. In 1987, Ding Shuibo, 17, washed his feet and went ashore. He joined the tide of starting a business in a small workshop called "every family lights up and every household smokes".

At first, this company named "Sanxing" (the predecessor of Tebu) was mainly engaged in OEM. OEM products were sold to more than 40 countries and regions in the world. However, the "Sanxing" brand was unknown and unknown. Putian shoes, 110 kilometers away from Jinjiang, have been famous for their "high imitation shoes" for many years.

　　 The only advantage of the above-mentioned thousands of OEM factories is "low price". If there is no brand, there will be no right to speak. Either they will endure the loss margin and profit as thin as a blade, or they will take the risk of counterfeiting. The only way to solve the prisoner's dilemma is "brand".

The first domestic player to wake up is Li Ning.

Compared with the poor Grass-roots Youth, Li Ning, as the prince of gymnastics, is used to the world and its brand awareness germinates earlier.

In 1990, just two years after its establishment, Li Ning clothing company became the sponsor of the Asian Games, winning the host of the torch relay of the Asian Games with more than 2 million yuan.

This is the starting point for Chinese sports players to create a "brand". Since then, in 1992, 1996 and 2000, Li Ning successively sponsored the Chinese Olympic delegation, which was quite popular for a time.

Under the effect of advertising, Li Ning has gained a lot. In 2002, Li Ning's income has approached the 1 billion mark, ranking firmly as the "industry's first brother".

Other players in the industry, however, are ten years behind Li Ning, who was conscious in 1990.

　　 After 2000, Fengshui took turns, and finally it was the turn of Jinjiang players.

Anta invited Kong Linghui, Tebu to find Xie Tingfeng, derhui invited Jay Chou, hi Delong went to Guo Fucheng, and Jinlaike chose Wang Nan and Zhang Yining... However, the almost identical "spokesperson" strategy is not so much brand building as advertising.

In addition to inviting top class as spokesmen, another strategy of industry players is to impersonate "foreign brand". Whether it is the westernized name of Delphi, Jinlaike, metsbawi, or Jordan brand that has been rubbing against NBA star Jordan, it is difficult to clear the suspicion.

　　 At that time, although there were many Chinese sports brand players and the obvious spokesmen invited were well-known, Nike and Adidas were far behind in terms of brand influence, price positioning and market share.

An industry report released by Euromonitor International at that time revealed part of the truth: in 2007, the top five players in China's sporting goods market were Nike, Adidas, Li Ning, Anta and kappa, and three of the top five Chinese and foreign brands were occupied by foreign investors, and the top two were all invested by foreign investors.

The next year's Beijing Olympic Games also became the most desolate moment for Chinese sports brands.

At that time, Adidas became a sponsor of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Li Ning, who was unwilling to accept it, once tried to lead the way to the secluded world. By sponsoring the clothes of major sports commentators in China, the invisible Olympic marketing was finally stopped.

Of course, Adidas, who won the official praise status, did not pay attention to Chinese brands at all. A Wall Street Journal report explained that Adidas is doing this for PK Nike.

Ding Shizhong, founder of Anta, still resents the Beijing Olympic Games after nearly a decade. "The equipment of the Chinese delegation was used by foreign brands at that time. As a Chinese sports brand, how sad and regretful it is!"

　　 There are silent sales volume, there are products without brand pain, Chinese manufacturers all taste.

two

　　 Out of the besieged city, the rise of the national tide

　　 From the success of Beijing's bid for the Olympic Games in 2001 to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, it is the outbreak period of Chinese sports brands.

Under the boom, opening stores can make money, and high growth has become the norm. Today, toubo, a Hong Kong Stock Exchange listed company with a market value of more than HK $40 billion, is one of Nike's agents.

　　 However, the upsurge of attention and the outbreak of sales volume brought about by the Beijing Olympic Games covered up the shortcomings of Chinese players in terms of products, brands, channels and so on.

At that time, Chinese brands mainly adopted the wholesale mode, and the chain of goods was "brand dealer end user". The advantage of this was that the channel network was quickly laid with low cost and high leverage, which was suitable for making quick money in the short term.

　　 However, the short board is also obvious. First, the brand is divorced from the terminal market and user demand, leading to blind product delivery. Second, because the terminal demand can not be estimated, superstitious about the "Olympic effect", a large number of goods are pressed to the channel, resulting in high inventory and paralysis of sales network.

Li Ning of the great leap forward was the first victim.

At the end of June 2012, Li Ning's inventory was as high as 3.638 billion yuan, almost equal to the income of 3.83 billion yuan in the same period. This batch of inventory has been digested until around 2016.

Not only Li Ning, after the Olympic Games, Jinjiang Sports brand, also in the high volume, fell into the mire of unsalable.

In 2011, hongxingerke was suspended. In 2016, peak was delisted. In May 2017, hind dragon declared bankruptcy. At the end of the same year, many assets of Delphi were listed for mortgage auction.

　　 At a time when Chinese players are in deep trouble, Nike and Adidas, who have experienced the storm, are not "hot headed". With the scientific management of channels and the superposition of brand advantages, they take the opportunity to expand their territory again.

According to the third-party data, in the domestic sportswear market, the market share of Nike and Adidas will be 25.6% and 17.4% respectively in 2020, ranking top 2.

　　 The high share of Nike ADI also has something to do with consumers' high view of imported brands.

AI Guoyong, the founder of Macondo, shares this feeling.

Before 2015, when he ran in Orson Park, more than 80% of his running friends wore imported shoes. "At that time, when buying running equipment, few people would consider domestic brands," he told financial stories. He also bought a pair of imported MLB running shoes.

　　 However, in the past three or four years, with the young generation of cultural self-confidence occupying the main floor of consumption, the trend of new countries has become increasingly popular, and domestic products have become a new favorite. According to 2021 Guochao search big data, the attention of Chinese brands has increased from 45% in 2016 to 75% in 2021.

Young people are the main force of the new trend.

"2022 Duoduo new national trend consumption report" released by pinduoduo shows that the post-90s group accounts for more than 31%, becoming the backbone of domestic goods consumption; After 2000, the young generation's enthusiasm for domestic products continued to rise, and the proportion of groups increased to 16%.

Shen Huadong, vice president of Tebu group and general manager of e-commerce, also experienced this change.

He believes that the new wave of nations is also constantly iterating. Stage 1.0 focuses on the aesthetic level, which is reflected in the popularity of Hanfu culture, the popularity of traditional IP such as the Forbidden City, and the popularity of national fashion elements in the consumer industry.

The popularity of young Chinese users also makes Chinese brands more confident.

Liu Wangsheng, general manager of Dafu Feiyue, asked the designer that "to let consumers recognize the leap logo at a glance, the two bars plus pinyin must be conspicuous".

At the same time, Li Ning's "Chinese character" culture, Samma's clasp, Gu ailing Anta skiing match suit's dragon symbol, etc., are all impressive.

In 2021, the new Guochao has evolved from the aesthetic stage to the cultural level, "it's really believing, not just looking good". Buying Guochao's domestic products is no longer the novelty seeking and novelty seeking of young people, but has become the mainstream habit.

In the 2021 Xiamen marathon, Shen Huadong found a surprise scene - at least 70% of the runners wore domestic running shoes such as special steps.

In addition to popular brands, some niche designer brands also take off. For example, in pinduoduo's live studio, mark Huafei displayed the legends of Shanhaijing, the Chinese auspicious animal and sheep Zun, and Song Jiang, a "timely rain" and other national fashion clothing, attracting 1.41 million people to watch and praise.

　　 The rise of the new wave also depends on external forces, such as the changes in Sino US relations in the last two years, and the cotton incident in Xinjiang last year, etc. - in that month, the sales of Nike on e-commerce platforms plummeted by 60% compared with the same period last year, and that of Adidas dropped by nearly 80%.

Today, although Nike and Adidas are still at the top of the list in terms of market share, their market shares are both declining. At the same time, in some segments, Chinese brands occupy the top of the list. For example, in the sportswear market, Anta sports has reached 22.3% in 2020, surpassing Nike and Adidas.

　　 It can be said that this counter attack tour can be called the opposite journey of supply and demand - on the demand side, consumers' prejudice towards domestic products from the tide to the high, and the supply side should also upgrade accordingly.

three

　　 Counter attack, triple assist

　　 In the past three or four years, Chinese sports clothing brands have regained their lost territory. Is it a storm or a long-term trend?

The answer is probably the latter.

　　 Compared with Nike and Adidas, the high performance price ratio of domestic brands and the omni channel layout of online and offline can fully understand the dividend of the whole market.

In the early years, Chinese sports brands generally believed that the first tier cities in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou were the consumption highlands. For example, Ding Shizhong's first stop at the beginning of his business was to take 600 pairs of his own shoes and make a living in Beijing.

In the current new national trend, the youth of small towns are the main force. In the past year, the order volume of domestic products on pinduoduo platform has increased significantly in the second and third tier cities. Among them, Jinan, Ningbo, Dongguan, Nanchang, Xiamen, Shenyang, Changsha, Wuxi and other second tier and third tier cities account for 39% of the total, which is more than the sum of first tier and new tier cities, becoming a new driving force for the rise of domestic products. In addition, in the consumption of new domestic goods, the group of young people in small towns accounts for 17%.

This may explain why the new domestic brands have flocked into the market covering the whole market. In the past year, the number of new Guochao brands entering the platform increased by more than 270% year on year, and 327 brands with more than 100 million emerged. Here, brands can quickly connect with the sinking groups of the third and fourth lines.

　　 Who can grasp the sinking market, who can win the growth of the basic plate, will be able to eat through the overall dividend. At present, in this single competition, domestic brands with high cost performance and full coverage will win the first round.

Secondly, e-commerce entered the market to assist in the rise of Guochao and domestic products.

A few years ago, the e-commerce platform focused on "consumption upgrading" and focused on import brands, but pinduoduo was an exception. The platform positioning focusing on cost performance has always been in favor of Guochao and domestic products.

Just in the middle of March, pinduoduo officially launched the "2022 Duoduo new national tide" action. It plans to invest 10 billion yuan of "support resource package" and cooperate with more than 100 domestic brands to carry out a new mode of full link cooperation, so as to promote the digital upgrading of domestic brands in production, technology, data and management.

In fact, the positioning of sports brand for pinduoduo channel has also experienced a lot of changes.

In 2016, SEMAR, who settled in pinduoduo in 2016, only regarded pinduoduo as "online Ole, mainly clearing the tail goods". Lina Tan, the new retail director of SEMAR, admitted frankly.

But not long after that, SEMAR found that pinduoduo brought a lot of surprises. "Pinduoduo has a very low degree of overlap with other e-commerce platforms, bringing us new customers. Moreover, its consumer portrait is relatively young, which is exactly the group we want most."

Compared with foreign brands, domestic sports brands have taken several steps ahead in e-commerce layout.

For example, Anta's goal of e-commerce is that sales will account for more than 40% in 2025. In contrast, foreign brands such as Adidas are much more conservative - its e-commerce goal is to contribute 30% of its revenue by 2030.

　　 Nowadays, the online transfer of the whole consumer home is the general trend. Who first occupies the online home court will benefit first.

Take Ailey as an example. In 2020, it settled in pinduoduo. Since October last year, the sales volume of its official flagship store has increased by more than 260% for three consecutive months; The growth rate in November exceeded 425%.

　　 Third, supply chain upgrading, retail instead of wholesale, direct terminal insight trend.

Once upon a time, Nike and Adidas were at the forefront of consumer trends and market demand insights - which saved them from the high inventory trap.

However, in the past four or five years, domestic head sports brands have transformed from wholesale to retail, and then directly connected to consumers through e-commerce platforms. They are making up for the short board that is out of touch with the terminal, and even further.

SEMAR has benefited a lot. The consumption data and search data of the e-commerce platform provide a yardstick to capture known demand and insight into unknown demand.

"For example, we found that the search data of pinduoduo's Martin boots is very high. Although we don't sell Martin boots, we can launch matching schemes related to Martin boots, so as to promote sales," Lina Tan disclosed.

The above data can also provide guidance for the research and development of new products. In the past, the fashion brand was like a blind man feeling an elephant, and the failure rate of new products was as high as 95%, which led to the backlog of a large number of new products on the market. Now, with the help of data insight and trend guidance of the e-commerce platform, and superimposed on the digitalization of the production end, domestic brands can reverse the development of new products and realize the full link upgrade of the supply chain.

Compared with domestic brands that are flexible and changeable, international brands are relatively slow in upgrading new products during the epidemic period. Take Nike as an example. In 2021, Nike delayed the launch time of some new products, which eventually dragged down the performance.

　　 It can be seen that the belated counterattack of domestic sports brands is not a one-day fluctuation, but a trend promoted by multi-party efforts. All these are indispensable, such as the support of the new country tide, the diversion of mainstream user demand, the comprehensive assistance of e-commerce platform, and the supply side reform of domestic brands 。