Do not do Chinese Nike to be the world's Li Ning

Indeed, Nikkei and Adidas are the two giants in the sporting goods category if they are compared in the world. Whether it is the sales revenue, the number and quality of signed stars, or even the advertising investment, it is far from the others. Competitors left behind. However, since these two brands entered China, they would have to start researching a Chinese-made local brand, because this brand controls the largest total sales volume in the Chinese sporting goods market. This brand is "Li Ning."

Li Ning, Brand> Personal

A few years ago, at the beginning of the 21st century, the "Li Ning" produced by China had already demonstrated its vitality and became the first local brand to successfully eat crabs in the category of sports goods in China. In the competition of Nike, Adidas, or foreign brands such as Reebok and Hummer, Li Ning still achieved such good results and had to be impressive. From a player who attracts the world's eyesight to a businessman who has attracted the world's attention, Li Ning's success has caused countless players to imagine the road to business, which has also directly triggered a brand name storm named after the player. However, judging from the market reaction, not all star brands can be as successful as Li Ning, even if their founders have the same unparalleled military exploits. What are the reasons?

Some experts once expressed that the greatest benefit of star branding is undoubtedly the rapid promotion of new brands, which is the so-called attention economy. However, complete brand equity is not just a matter of popularity, but also relates to morality. Cognition, brand association, and brand loyalty. However, most celebrity brands often neglected this part of the brand building. For example, “Mulu” wine is of high price, but there are still many people who think that their moral character can exceed “Wuliangye”. Therefore, since it is impossible to form a complete brand equity The brand will naturally pass away momentarily. It can be seen that, apart from the effect of the star itself, Li Ning’s victory on the one hand has benefited more from the gradual maturity of trade operations.

From the perspective of brand building, “Li Ning” established a development path that replaces individual reverence with brand connotation at the beginning of brand building. Putting aside too much glorious achievement in sports life does not say much about the pressure of the brand itself, and it is not conducive to giving the brand different connotations. This is why so many entrepreneurs either automatically or passively dress themselves up as a star, and the newcomers in the entertainment circle are eager to get a promotion rate, or even a familiar face, once the legendary figure, today’s business community. Star Li Ning gradually deliberately insisted on low-key, the reasons for the increasing distance between the public and the media.

After building his understanding of activities, perseverance, and seeking to become the basic of Li Ning's brand culture, Li Ning played more of a major shareholder and a chairman. Today's Li Ning brand has enveloped several major product lines such as basketball, football, and tennis supplies. Li Ning's professional team has given a deeper interpretation of the Li Ning brand and has given it a younger, more lively brand. . Perhaps, the triumphant injection of a sports concept into the brand is the key to Li Ning brand's wide-spread love for people and a geometric increase.

Embark on the road to professionalism

When referring to Nike, people would automatically think of basketball. When talking about Adidas, people think of themselves as involuntarily thinking about football. Specialization has brought about tremendous influence on the continuous deepening of sports brands. As the leader of the Chinese sporting goods brand, Li Ning also regards specialization as the first priority.

Since embarking on the road to professionalization, Li Ning has established its professional attributes as the foundation for its development, and regards its product development as a continuous record of innovation and record-setting. In 1998, the company established the first product design and development center for apparel and shoes of local companies, and became the first company to independently develop China's sporting goods company. In 1999, Li Ning cooperated with SAP to introduce the AFS clothing and shoe industry solution. China's first sporting goods company to implement ERP; in 2004, Li Ning and the Department of Human Sports Science of the Chinese University of Hong Kong cooperated to conduct sports biomechanics tests on the mechanical characteristics of sports shoes produced by Li Ning, and established a professional footer database , Data collection and analysis of the characteristics of professional sports, so as to further improve the product's professionalism and comfort; this year, Li Ning Company cooperated with foreign R & D institutions, in August 2004, Li Ning and Dr. Ned Fred-erick of Exeter R & D company in the United States They jointly committed to the research and development of the core skills of Li Ning's sports shoes. In October, they collaborated with DRD Design Office to design Li Ning sports shoes. On November 8, they Set up a research and development center in Hong Kong to focus on designing Li Ning brand apparel products.

Adhering to the theme of “tailor-made for the Orientals”, after the launch of each product of “Li Ning”, it has won a lot of domestic consumer preferences. Coupled with the fashion design with Chinese characteristics, such as "Li Ning" designed for the Chinese delegation to join the Olympic Games, "Splendid China" and so on, "Li Ning" has successfully shaped an Eastern fashion, Nike Air Yeezy.

Out of Asia, to the World

"Fighting out of Asia and going to the world" is a familiar word for most Chinese people. This phrase can be used to encourage Chinese men's football. The slogan has been widely used in China. Among the sports undertakings of this project, even some enterprises other than sports, Haier is undoubtedly doing a very good job in this respect.

In fact, Li Ning has already begun preparations for “going to the world”. In 2001, Li Ning’s first overseas image store was established in Santander, Spain; in September 2002, Li Ning Company provided a competition suit for the participation of the 14th World Women's Basketball Championship. In addition, “Li Ning” and distributors in overseas markets continued to promote the brand on the principle of mutual assistance and mutual benefit, funded the French gymnastics team, assisted the Czech gymnastics team, and assisted the Russian university student team. “Li Ning” continued to increase its sports marketing. The intensity and scope further accelerate the internationalization of the brand.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics held in the summer of 2004, in addition to assisting the Chinese delegation as always, the Li Ning brand was also present on foreign teams such as the Spanish Men's Basketball Team. This clearly demonstrates the victory of the internationalization of the Li Ning brand at a certain level. As the Chinese athletes wearing "Li Ning" stepped on the podium one after another, the brand value and connotation of "Li Ning" were fully reflected.

After the Olympics, some people joked that Olympic marketing is like betting. For example, McDonald's is betting on Guo Jingjing, An Liju on Tian Liang, Coca-Cola is on Liu Xiang, and “Li Ning” is always on the Chinese delegation, including the Spanish men’s basketball team. Dressed in "Li Ning" to overcome the Chinese men's basketball wearing Nike. Although some people in this country are quite upset about this, it is not a bad thing for people who care about the development of domestic brands such as Li Ning. Zhang Zhiyong, CEO of Li Ning Sports Products Co., Ltd. once said: “The internationalization of the brand and the internationalization of the market must be treated differently. The first is to shape the company into an international brand, followed by the consideration and expansion of the market internationalization.” The internationalization of the Li Ning brand has gradually taken shape. So, will the internationalization of the market be far behind?