Adidas sports and leisure encounter grassroots business

"Adidas has already taken back the operating rights of the clover and plans to run its own store." Recently, a Shanghai-based Adidas dealer said. This is exactly the time since the introduction of clover officially into the Chinese market. Adidas's positioning of high-end clover sports brand in the Chinese market has become increasingly mediocre.

The responsible person of Shanghai Baiying Sports & Leisure Products Co., Ltd. confirmed to the reporter that Adidas had withdrawn the company's right to operate the clover brand. At present, the company's clover franchise in Shanghai has been used for other purposes. The company hires sales personnel. Currently it has been placed in other footwear brand stores where the company is acting.

Adidas's intention to direct the Shamrock brand has become clear. Some dealers disclosed that after the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Adidas started its rights-based action against the Shamrock brand. According to Adidas insiders at that time, it will be fully recovered as a direct-operated store from 2009 onwards. Adidas will employ sales personnel and the company will train its corporate culture and product knowledge on its own.

The above-mentioned distributors stated that after the large-scale sports meeting, the sales of related sports brands will quickly enter a downhill period. Adidas should have a strategic contraction of its brand in consideration of its 2009 performance.

According to Yang Dajun, senior industry expert and general manager of UTA Management Group Greater China, although adidas Global has recently presented investors with a beautiful financial “answer sheet”, it cannot conceal its concerns about the company’s profitability in the coming years. In the current background of the global economic environment is not improving, Adidas is likely to compress some brands that are not yet profitable and make long-term plans for the brand.

In his opinion, this is a very natural strategic adjustment. Since then, clover's direct-operated stores will not focus on profitability, but will continue to maintain continuity in the Chinese market, and then choose the right market opportunities to re-build the brand.

Dai Chunhua, chief consultant of Baichuandao Consulting Co., Ltd., believes that Adidas may currently choose the following two paths: One is the company’s direct operation; the other is the company’s participation in the national distributors, and the company’s confidence in the dealer’s accuracy After the brand's output, it will be handed over to the dealer.

Among adidas' domestic product series, sports performance series is the most common brand, and the market positioning is a classic professional sports brand, which also accounts for the vast majority of the company's performance. The positioning of clover is more fashionable and higher than the sports performance series. Another Y3 brand, out of the concept of sports, the main fashion, positioning as a luxury family, is currently relatively rare in the domestic market.

"Under the dealer's 'shanzhai version' promotion, clover's brand awareness among Chinese consumers has become increasingly mediocre." Dai Chunhua said that clover is a high-end sports brand positioning fashion, but in the Chinese market, some dealers The grassroots operation mode has made the difference between the brand and the Adidas brand disappear.

She said that the current channel mechanism of the apparel industry has revealed a huge flaw, that is, the brand operator has lost the management and supervision of the sales channel system, and the so-called management supervision methods and means are reference. Therefore, once the inventory pressure is a little larger, dealers will discount the price of the brand without regard to the needs of the brand. Or in order to save money, it is impermissible for brands to cooperate in branding and marketing. At least in the mind of most dealers, helping brand companies to promote and brand is not their own job.

"Under the similar brand positioning, what is the price of selling clover on the main brand of Adidas 30% or even 50%?" Yang Dazhao asked the reporter.

As Adidas, brand communication and service experience are the company's most important. However, in the eyes of distributors, product profitability is the sole purpose. Short-term discounts and promotions are the starting point for this purpose. At present, most dealers are also representing seven or eight brands at the same time. It is obviously unrealistic to expect distributors to take care of a brand individually. At least so far, it is difficult for the two sides to meet their interests.