Montagut: A distant and welcoming brand

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About Montagut: The Montparnasse Paris, France, founded in 1880, is currently a multinational corporation with billions of dollars in assets and has achieved great development in the global market, especially in Asia and China in the past few years. Montagut is the best in Paris' fashion industry, and it is popular around the world with its simple, romantic design, traditional craftsmanship and unique style. The unique "bright silk" series of products is the special feature of Montagut, and it is also its most important business content.

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The history of Montagut: As early as the 16th century, the King of France decided to try sericulture and silk production in the Mont Saint-Sauveur region of Montgomery, a tradition that has lasted for centuries. In 1880, Gertrude Tinland, the ancestor of Montagut’s owner, set up a silk factory, and the business passed down. In 1925, the founder of Montagut, George Tinland, founded a knitting factory. He was the first. Engaged in the management of Montagut's underwear and stockings; in 1950, his son-in-law Leo Goss bought the knitting factory. Today, Montagut is still a private company controlled by the Gao Shi family.

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Montagut's China Road: In 1971, Hongkong Montagut Far East Ltd. was formally established, which laid the position of Montagut's brand in Hong Kong and China market; in 1979, Montagut's “bright silk” series of garments entered the mainland Chinese market for the first time; in 1999, Montagut Established liaison offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou, China, and established two regional agents in Jiangsu Province and Guangdong Province to represent and distribute all of Montagut's domestic clothing collections. Since 2000, Montagut has been operating in China. Re-strict selection of high-quality licensees to produce Montagut franchise products.

To bring up the brand “Montagut”, many people will have a distant and intimate feeling. This is because Montagut is one of the earliest international apparel brands that entered the mainland market after China's reform and opening up. In that year, the impact of the Montagut brand on Chinese consumer apparel fashion is undoubtedly far-reaching and enormous. In a blink of an eye, more than two decades later, many top international brands have entered the room and entered the Chinese people's fashion life, but the name Montagut has not been forgotten, and Montagut's business in China is also working hard. Next, ushered in another spring.

By Montagut's opportunity to hold a men's and women's fashion show in spring and summer of 2004 in Shanghai, the author interviewed Mr. Yan Nood, director of advertising and communications at Montagut Far East Co., Ltd., and asked him to talk about Montagut's China road to this French classic brand.

The secret of Montagut's success

Lies in its strategy of quality and steady development

At the beginning of the interview, the author proposed a very general question: What is the secret of success for Montagut's market in China for many years?

Mr. Yan Nood attributed the success to two points - the quality of Montagut's products and the strategy of the company's steady development. “If there are several elements to summarize Montagut, it is a family-owned company that produces knitted products in France and attaches great importance to quality. Montagut was born in 1880 and began to open up overseas markets in the 1960s, first in the Middle East, The United States, and then arrived in Asia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, China and other places. Its success first comes from quality, which is Montagut's long-term commitment in Europe. Consumers are smart, they will compare the quality of the product, the same T-shirts, whether they will be deformed and faded after washing are all their concerns, and our unique bright silk craftsmanship is very good in these areas.The second is our strategy for steady development, because Montagut is a family business, more traditional and Being stable, unlike some listed companies’ clothing brands, they are under pressure from investors, over-pursuing profits, and expanding rapidly, thereby ignoring the demand for quality. We do not pursue speed, but focus on long-term development and cooperation. What business philosophy is, this is our business philosophy."

China is not a market but many markets

The 25-year-old China road has made Montagut more qualified to comment on the development path of an international brand after entering the local market. “We have been exploring, understanding and adapting to the Chinese market. The Chinese market is too big. For us, China is not a 'one' market but a number of markets, from the South to the North, from the coastal areas to the Mainland. People’s culture The background, economic conditions, and aesthetic concepts are very different. We cannot use a model to deal with the entire Chinese market, and it is even less likely that we will copy our business philosophy in Europe."

Mr. Yannold later made a presentation on the evolution of Montagut in the Chinese market: “An interesting phenomenon is that when we enter the Japanese market, it is the brand of women, and when we enter the Chinese market, it is entirely a male brand. Image: Since 1979, when China was just reforming and opening up, the demand for designer clothes was mainly concentrated on male consumers in big cities, so at that time, 100% of the products we launched in the Chinese market were men's. With the development, our female products have started to increase, and today it has accounted for about 20%, and the cosmetics of the Montagut series are also on the market.On the other hand, when we first entered the Chinese mainland market, we only sold in big cities such as Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai. Now that we have already entered many small and medium-sized cities, this is because the spending power of Chinese customers has increased.Our designers come to China each year to directly touch the Chinese market and design products that meet the needs of Chinese customers. In the design of the belt buckle, a lot of shiny embellishments and metallic luster elements were added. This models sold in Europe is not, but in line with the tastes of Chinese consumers. "

We welcome competition but not with counterfeit products

With the massive entry of international brands and the rapid rise of national brands, the competition and challenges faced by Montagut are undoubtedly enormous. At least, it is not one of the limited international brands in the minds of Chinese people more than two decades ago.

For the competition, Mr. Yan nord showed an open and welcoming attitude: "Competitiveness is a good thing. We welcome competition and yearn for competition. Montagut's products now cover many areas and can be said to be in addition to bright silk products in other areas. We all have strong competitors. We respect every competitor and learn from them to learn from each other."

Of course, oral attention does not indicate the problem. Montagut’s advertising investment and promotion in the Chinese market proves that they actively participate in the competition. It is understood that Montagut's annual investment in the distribution and promotion of Montagut's brand market is not less than 20 million Hong Kong dollars, and they will use 3% to 5% of profits in the Chinese market for product promotion every year. It is necessary to hold fashion conferences in Shanghai, Beijing and other places to develop and occupy the mainland market. Montagut's advertisements can be used to advertise Montagut's advertisements on more than 20 TV stations, including the China Central Television, print media, and outdoor light boxes. This year, Montagut will also serve as a sponsor of the Olympic Games and cooperate with the timetable of the Olympic Games to conduct a large number of brand promotion.

“Asia is Montagut's most important overseas market, and China is Montagut's most important market in Asia.” Mr. Yan Nood commented on the importance of the Chinese market for Montagut.

However, the long history in China has also brought many imitation counterfeiters to Montagut. To date, Montagut Corporation and Montagut Far East Ltd. have filed suits in Hong Kong against more than 40 companies respectively, accusing them of infringing their registered trademark rights. At the beginning of 2004, Montagut just won a trademark lawsuit in Shanghai and won a compensation of 500,000 yuan.

Mr. Yan Nood made a speech and talked about the problem of counterfeit products: "We welcome competition, but we do not compete with counterfeit products. We firmly oppose counterfeit products and take a series of measures to resist and prevent them." Mr. Yannault showed the reporter the latest anti-counterfeiting mark of Montagut. In the future, each Montagut product will have a security certificate, using the high-tech manufacturing process of the euro. At the same time, Montagut will also open a telephone authentication hotline for the security code. Help consumers identify counterfeit Montagut products. “We would also like to thank the Chinese government. They have done a lot of work in cracking down on counterfeit products and have made great progress. Of course, this is not completely successful overnight. Like our brand development, cracking down on counterfeit products requires step-by-step progress. go ahead."

Selecting partners is the key to franchising

Since 2000, Montagut has adjusted its development strategy in the Chinese market, withdrew all its production and distribution rights for all products in the Chinese market, and embarked on a franchise road. All Montagut products distributors and retailers are required to obtain direct authorization from Montagut Far East Ltd. to sell Montagut products. So far, Montagut's cashmere sweaters, leather belts, bedding, socks and underwear, children's wear, make-up and body beauty products have found domestic distributors. In the retail industry, Montagut has established more than 2,500 sales outlets nationwide and opened 17 flagship stores.

Talking about the concept of franchising, Mr. Yan Nood has a great experience: “When we select our partners, we especially look at their experience and influence in this field. The distributors we choose are all related fields. Leading companies, such as our cashmere sweaters, chose the famous Chinese bamboo company as the general agent, and our leather goods agent is also a Taiwanese company with extensive experience in leather goods agents. , more than part of the commission. Montagut is responsible for providing advertising, training and product design."

Whether the company and the agent can cooperate closely and harmoniously is the key to success. For this, Mr. Yan Nood made an image metaphor for marriage: “The franchise is like a marriage. It comes from different regions and the two parties with different cultural backgrounds come together. In the course of cooperation, conflicts and conflicts arise. It is inevitable that both contractual constraints, mutual understanding, flexibility, and the principle of mutual benefit, for the sake of each other, allow the other party to profit, not just to maximize their own interests, if the bride or groom is too greedy, This marriage is bound to fail."

The reporter then asked him if he had any suggestions for the new investors to choose their own brands or to join the franchise industry. Mr. Yan Nood recommended the latter without hesitation: “For new investors who do not have industry experience, choose to join the franchise. The operation is undoubtedly a shortcut, without having to open a factory, a relatively small investment can get greater returns, wait until accumulating experience in the industry, familiar with the market, establish a sales channel for the product, and then create your own brand. , Choosing the right partner is the key to entering the franchise business.Some companies, for the sake of profit, are expanding rapidly, only paying for the franchise fee, and for franchisees, besides the brand, almost nothing is provided. When it comes to things, choosing a company such as Montagut can not only learn the business philosophy of the company, but also can be supported by advertising, training, and design, which will be beneficial to the future development in the same field. Is a family business, we are concerned about long-term cooperation, not the immediate short Interest. "Mr. Yan Nordisk lost no time in Montagut made as a promotion, however, set aside in terms of brand, is preparing for his advice into the franchising industry, investors, very useful reference value.