China is a huge market for sports brands. According to the report released by Kearney Management Consulting Company, it is estimated that by 2025, the size of China's outdoor sports market will be close to 600 billion yuan, which will steadily maintain a growth rate of about 13%.

Here is full of opportunities, the huge market contains a lot of energy, but here is also full of challenges, the military must compete, has always fought fiercely.

When people's attention is focused on the rise of international giants and domestic products, there is also a kind of brand that has found its own survival path in the gap. Compared with the century-old Adidas and the world's number one sports brand Nike Inc, overseas sports brands such as Anderma, Arthur, Lululemon and Allbird are up-and-comers, but in the eyes of Chinese consumers, they are not household names like Anta and Li Ning Co. Ltd..

In the gap, overseas second-tier sports brands have their own unique way of survival. According to the data published by EuromonitorIn 2021, Anderma ranked fourth and Skage ranked fifth among the top 10 global sports brands in market share, followed by Lululemon, Colombia and Arthur.

How did they grow up under Adineke's monopoly on the industry and gradually erode the territory of the former? In the Chinese market, how do they grow and grow in the gap? what is the situation now?

From functionality to FashionThen to the concept of environmental protection.

The hundred-year history of sports shoes has experienced the change from function to fashion.

The concept of sneakers emerged in the 19th century. But the early sports are less, people's requirements for sports shoes are not high, as long as breathable and comfortable, rubber-soled canvas shoes are the earliest mainstream. The earliest popular sports brand in the United States is Converse, which was established in 1908. Many of the NBA's ancient stars, such as Chamberlain, played in Converse's high-top canvas shoes.

Until the middle of the 20th century, with the popularity and development of sports, sports brands also ushered in the first wave of the most exciting part in the real sense. At that time, Germany and the United States were at the forefront of the world's sports shoes and clothing industry. Founded by Puma in 1948, Adidas, which has produced sneakers for more than 20 years in 1949, and Nike Inc's predecessor, Blue Ribbon Sports Company, was established in 1964.

In the 1990s, there was a wave of brand creation in the field of sports shoes and clothing. Domestic brands Li Ning Co. Ltd. and Anta were founded in 1990 and 1991 respectively. Abroad, Skage was founded in 1992 and Anderma in 1996. The entry of competitors began to challenge the absolute monopoly position of Adidas and Nike Inc in the industry.

In this process, with the ultimate pursuit of functionality of sports brands, category differentiation has become the mainstream of the industry.Basketball shoes have special needs for elasticity and ankle protection, while football shoes have higher and higher requirements for anti-skid and frivolity. In the process of pursuing professional functional progress, major sports brands have gradually established their own differentiation advantages and technical advantages.

Although Adidas and Nike Inc set up super barriers during this period, they did not lock up the opportunity completely. There are still many brands that have stepped on the needs of consumers in the field of segmentation and found opportunities for enterprise development.

Adidas is good at football, Nike Inc is "dominant" in basketball, while running, a sport with a broader mass base, has emerged from a Japanese company known as Arthur, the "king of running shoes of the world".

If you are interested in fashion, I am sure you have heard of another brand: Shizuka Tiger. In fact, Guizuhu and Arthur are a family.

In 1950, retired Japanese military officer Yoshihiro Kozuka founded Onitsuka Tiger Ghost Co., Ltd., which is the predecessor of Arthur. At first, Guizuhu produced basketball shoes, but the effect was not good. Later, it turned to the research and development of running shoes, and by virtue of the spread effect of the Olympic Games, it was well known at one stroke.

At the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, Finnish athlete Lasse V é n won the 10,000-meter championship. after winning the award, he held high his running shoes and ran on the field to celebrate, allowing him to enter everyone's field of vision. Since then, Guizuzuka Tiger has added shock absorption technology to the sole and launched the famous Ghost Tiger Cortez series of running shoes. After this running shoe was sold to the United States, it was targeted by the founder of Nike Inc, and after changing a Logo, it became the more familiar "Nike Inc Agan shoes".

In 1977, Guizuhu founded Arthur Asics after a series of acquisitions and mergers. The name comes from a Latin word, Anima Sana In Corpore Sano, which means that the spirit resides in a strong body.In 1992, Arthur was designated as the sponsor of running shoes for the Barcelona Olympic Games, thus establishing the title of king of running shoes.

Adidas and Nike Inc two major brands have failed to break through the field, how does Arthur do it? The key is still technology.In the eighties of last century, Arthur introduced GEL shock absorber.The texture of this material is similar to that of jelly. It is said that if an egg is dropped from a height of six or seven meters, it will not break. In today's more popular terms, it is the "sense of stepping on shit".

With the help of this technology, Arthur launched its core product line, Gel-Kayano, and Billy Fischer, Arthur's global partner manager, proudly said in an interview with GQ: "you can close your eyes and choose any product from Kayano 10 to 14, it's great. "Kayano series has been launched for more than 30 years, and it is still the main product of Arthur.

If we say that the category differentiation brought about by the pursuit of functionality is the first large-scale competition in the field of sports shoes and clothing, as the brands in various subdivided fields gradually gain a firm foothold and expand their territory, the dividend space left to the newcomers will be infinitely compressed, and the competition between brands has become more and more fierce.

In such an industry background, brands have also begun the second wave of competition-the pursuit of fashion.

Since it's not easy to expand in professional sports, you might as well grab the cake you wear every day. Still take Arthur as an example. Arthur now has two sub-brands, Tiger Touch and AsicsTiger, in which AsicsTiger is no longer functional, but sports fashion (Sportstyle). It can also be clearly seen from the official website of Arthur's brand that professional sports (Sports) and sports fashion (Sportstyle) are divided into two categories in product classification.

Guizuhu, once the predecessor of Arthur, declared its independence from the Arthur brand in 2019. Now open the official website, it is difficult to see the shadow of professional movement, no matter from the website visual design or product form, Guizuzuka tiger is more like a trend shoe style. Shizuka Tiger, who locates the trend, has also co-signed with brands in other fields many times to deepen their impression of the high-end trend. in 2020, they were co-named with luxury brand Valentino.

Arthur's hard work in the field of sports and fashion can also be seen from the financial report. The company also divides its business into five parts: running shoes, core sports (tennis, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, etc.), sports fashion, clothing and equipment, and Guizuhu. In the first half of 2022, its core sports business income was 23.5 billion yen, sports fashion income was 18.5 billion yen, and Shizuka tiger's income was 19.6 billion yen. Combined with the latter two, the scale of income has actually exceeded that of professional sports.

After decades of development, the field of sports shoes and clothing has formed a situation of "two super and more powerful":Giant enterprises dominate in all directions, while other brands take the lead in their respective subdivisions.It seems that the pattern of this field has been established, and it seems that it is difficult for new people to rise.

But this is not the case. The rise of Lululemon has pinpointed the rise of the fitness trend and made a heavy splash in the market that has not caused waves for a long time, while there is a newer brand that takes a different approach and innovates the sports brand in concept.

In 2016, Allbirds was born. Unlike the usual routines and labels of other sports brands, Allbirds opens the market through the concept of public welfare and environmental protection.

Just in autumn, "Zhenjian" came to Shanghai Xingye Taiguhui Shopping Center, where the first Allbirds store in Asia is located. Unlike Adidas and Nike Inc, with huge visual pictures of their endorsement stars hanging conspicuously in the store, the first feeling of the Allbirds store is refreshing. The store takes nature's rammed earth material as the main element, and creates a unique surface texture by changing the texture of the template, showing a natural decorative background.

The visual design of the store is highly consistent with its products aesthetically, with no conspicuous Logo and no fancy color matching.The simple and generous design combines the versatile style of commuting, daily leisure and sports-what the American media call the fashion aesthetics of Allbirds.

What best embodies the concept of the Allbirds brand is the materials of its products, Merino wool from New Zealand, eucalyptus from South Africa and sugar cane from Brazil, which are the raw materials of Allbirds products. Among them, wool series save 60% of energy than using synthetic materials, while eucalyptus series save 95% of water resources and cut carbon emissions by half. Shoe boxes are also mostly made from recycled cardboard.

Eric, president of Allbirds's global operations, said sustainability was a very important part of Allbirds: "We decided to be a Carbon Neutral company. "

In terms of crowd positioning, Allbirds no longer starts with athletes, and the ones who really win the popularity of this brand are the venture capital elite from Silicon Valley. Alphabet Inc-CL C co-founder Larry Page, Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Keller Russell, famous actress Emma Watson and even former US President Barack Obama are all Allbirds fans.

Allbirds's investor list is equally star-studded, with the most famous being Oscar-winning actor Leonardo. When Allbirds launched on Nasdaq in November 2021, its shares soared more than 92% on its first day of trading. Allbirds's revenue is still expanding, with net income rising 15% to $78.174 million in the first half of 2022.

By combing the development process of sports brands, we can see thatThis seemingly monolithic, highly concentrated field, still at different time nodes, will emerge some unique brands.People's sports life is developing, and there will still be new opportunities in this field in the future.

Break through the Chinese market

Of course, whether it is an old brand or a new brand, the Chinese market is a battlefield that they must not ignore or even focus on hard work.

But for these second-tier brands, it is even more difficult for them to become bigger and stronger in the Chinese market than in Europe and the United States. Adidas and Nike Inc needless to say, the former has been in China for 25 years, and the latter has been rooted here for more than 40 years, relying on a strong brand and a deep-rooted dealer system. Firmly occupy the top of the pyramid of China's sports consumer market.

At the same time, domestic brands have also experienced a period of development from opening the market with a performance-to-price ratio to making a brand premium. Anta now has more market share than Adidas in China.

To survive in a gap is the most appropriate way to describe the situation of second-tier international sports brands in China.

An employee who works for an international sports brand told True Detective that Adidas and Nike Inc earn a large part of their income in China from dealers (Franchise). Although they are also in direct marketing, it is difficult to change completely. "these two brands have been in China for too long"-a phrase that represents the heritage of the two brands, but also means that it is not easy for elephants to turn around.

And this is the opportunity for newcomers to enter the Chinese market.

At the beginning of the establishment of the brand, Allbirds chose the direct marketing model, that is, DTC, which is often said in the industry, without any wholesaler channel, directly facing consumers.The advantage of the DTC model is that the brand can save channel costs and increase the iterative ability of the product, which is more quickly reflected in the product reform by obtaining data directly from the user.As Eric once said, "our first woolen shoes, which have been changed nearly 30 times in more than three years, are also our classic style." such a high frequency of improved products is bound to be supported by a large number of user research.

Allbirds began its global layout after it opened its first overseas direct store in London in 2018. Allbirds entered China in April 2019, opening its first store in Asia at Taiguhui, Shanghai, and then in Sanlitun, Beijing. Entering China, Allbirds chose to sign a contract with Hong Kong Swire Group to enter Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu respectively.

In addition to offline direct stores, Allbirds has also moved into China's e-commerce platforms and social media platforms. Tim Brown, founder of the brand, said in an interview that one of the principles Allbirds chooses to enter social or e-commerce platforms is that it needs to communicate directly with customers. Whether it is offline stores or online channels, direct communication with users is one of the biggest demands of the brand.

According to Brand Planet, Erick learned from Shanghai store employees that some customers would buy shoes in different colors and ask if other colors had been added. To this end, one feedback from Erick to the San Francisco headquarters is that the Chinese market needs to be "always new", new products or new colors to meet consumer expectations.

From the experience of Allbirds, it also leads to another important thing that overseas brands must do to enter China-integration.

The Under Armour Anderma brand, which was born in 1996, started as a sweat-absorbing cotton blazer, but what really made it famous was the signing of NBA superstar Stephen Curry.

In the 2014-15 season, Curry led Golden State Warriors to win the NBA championship, followed by the Anderma boots on his feet. In that year, Anderma's sales in North America surpassed Adidas to become the second brand after Nike Inc, and its share price increased more than twice as much as Nike Inc for three consecutive years.

Anderma entered China as early as 2011. In 2015, the founder of Anderma proposedIn the next 5-10 years, China will become the second largest proprietary market for Anderma. By its peak in 2021, the number of Anderma stores in China had reached 540.The situation of horse racing enclosure is obvious.

Opening a store is only the first step, and Anderma spares no effort to integrate into China's local sports culture.

The path chosen by Anderma is "community". Anderma has created a social platform UA STAR, which is divided into two major content sections. First, it can provide professional sports course content for sports enthusiasts gathered here to help them improve their sports performance in an all-round way. Second, Anderma will focus on holding offline events and successively launch offline community activities such as "UA STAR potential running", "National Fitness Carnival running" and Hangzhou "Lakeside Night running Challenge". Through online content and offline activities, this is a common way for Internet companies to build private groups that belong to brands.

In addition, Anderma continues to invest in the women's sports market. In September 2021, Anderma gathered 100 female movement leaders to hold a series of female theme activities entitled "sweating beautifully" in Chengdu. In the course of the event, Anderma not only provided professional functional training courses, but also held a women's "Mini Games", including one-mile running challenge, "Triathlon" interactive fun race and other events.

If you want to tap the Chinese women's sports market, it is also very important to find a suitable spokesman. Anderma chose Zhu Ting, the top star of the Chinese women's volleyball team, and Zhang Weili, an integrated combat athlete, as spokesmen. The two of them are well-deserved leaders of female athletes in the current Chinese sports world.

Women's sports is a big market, and Arthur is also involved in it. In March 2021, Arthur Group launched the first female fashion brand "UNOHA", including clothing and sneakers, extending to a wide range of life scenes such as going out and staying at home. The brand aims to reach 5 billion yen in sales in five years' time.

According to Chen Xiaotong, president of Arthur Group Greater China, "previously, we worked with Vivienne Westwood to strengthen the female market and improve brand awareness and design sense." "

If you want to integrate into the Chinese market, brands also need to have a deeper understanding of local sports, life and culture. Li Ning Co. Ltd. regained its vitality by virtue of its fashion strategy, and Anta also benefited a lot from its sub-brand Fila. All these prove that the trend of sports fluidization and daily life is also applicable in China.

Arthur Group has adopted a two-line model in China: the concept of Guizuzui Tiger Fashion shoes comes first, followed by Arthur ASICS's experience. In Beijing, the Guizuhu store has been set up in several important trendy business circles, such as Xidan Shopping Shop, Huamao and International Trade area. Walking into the buyer's store can be described as a "status symbol" for the trendy brand, while in the International Trade Mall, around the Guizuhu store, there are Armani and other brands, and the prices of shoes for the main products in the store range from 2000 yuan to 3000 yuan.

According to the lazy bear sports report, Guizuhu's flagship store in Huamao is the first flagship store in China since the brand's independence from Arthur, revealing high-end and trendy signals from store decoration to product display. The booth facing the entrance on the first floor houses shoes made independently by Arthur and his dedicated series designers, which are only available in flagship stores in Beijing and other cities and are priced much higher than other shoes.

To sum up, the updated sales model, more customized marketing operation, and more local product positioning are the main paths for overseas second-tier sports brands to compete in the Chinese market. The huge consumer population and the rapidly changing market wind give them the opportunity and possibility to catch up with the giants.

A hundred schools of thought contend, a hundred flowers contend for beauty. The jianghu of sports brands are still constantly injecting new energy and new ideas. The front wave is still rolling, the back wave momentum is unabated, the sports brand field, both traditional, but also full of vitality.