Brand building in the sports goods industry

Speaker: Ms. Feng Huanhuan, Head of Product Development of Decathlon Group, a well-known French sportswear brand

As an international buyer, my views may be somewhat different from Mr. Li and Mr. Pei. Then I will introduce our brand first, and start the speech from our Decathlon Group. First of all, our group name is Oxylane. Our group has a purpose to create passion and desire to provide the most extensive public with the joy of sports. Our customer base is the public, and our purpose is to provide the joy of sports. This is also in line with what Mr. Pei said. Our group is Founded in Lille, France in 1976, it was a mass retailer of sports equipment and casual clothing. By 1986, we found it inconvenient in the process of cooperating with other brands, so we had our own manufacturing company and We have our own brand and started production. We established an Asian office in 1988, entered China in 1992, established our own brand in 1996, moved our Asian headquarters from Hong Kong to Shanghai in 2003, and officially changed our name to Oxylane in 2008. It's continued as the name of our store. Now our achievements are already the No. 1 sports brand in Europe and No. 2 in the world. This is one of our organizational charts, but it will look special and will be different from some other sports brands. Our core is a research and development department, surrounded by a technology brand, and then in the third circle around the technology brand is our passion brand, which is a terminal brand, and then a retail, That is our retail carrier. In this organizational structure, we see that our core part is still our research and development, and our most extensive part is one of our retail carriers.

Then our human resources now has 42,000 employees worldwide, from 60 nationalities, distributed in 300 positions, and every year we recruit 3,000 people internationally, and in France, we recruit 1 At the same time, we provide good training to each employee, and there are 500,000 class hours a year. Next is our R&D, our R&D is the second largest R&D department in Europe, it has 63 R&D personnel, 8 in-house laboratories, then 40 laboratory partners, 150 will be launched every year at the headquarters in France new project. Our R&D center is located in a place closest to customers, that is, a place closest to consumers. In Lille, France, we have the R&D center of Domyos, which is our R&D brand, and Inesis and Qquechua are ours. For outdoor sports, Tribord is located on the seaside of France, the southernmost part of France. It is also for the fastest application and use of products, so this R&D center is established on a seaside in France. As for production, we have production bases in 16 countries around the world, accounting for 13.6 in Asia. This is the number in 2009, and there may be some changes now.

For logistics, we have 4,000 employees and 45,000 containers are transported every year. Next, our retail model is our carrier. Decathlon store is one of our largest carriers. It has a scale of 4,000, 6,000 and 8,000 square meters. There are now 43 stores in China. The second is the Koodza store, which is one of our discount stores, and the third is our online sales, etc., etc. We will have many other retail models, but in China now, Decathlon is the main one. Next this is a photo of a retail store. Our retail stores are more than 4,000 square meters. The sales performance was 6.3 billion euros in 2009 and 7 billion euros in 10 years. It can be said that the growth is quite fast, with an increase of 30%. We have our own foundation, which is 95 Decathlon volunteers, benefiting 20,000 people. We will introduce Decathlon here in general. I want to introduce it here. You may have a very three-dimensional understanding of Decathlon in your heart.

Problems and pressures faced by terminal brand building

Next, I would like to talk about why Decathlon can become a good brand and what kind of work it has done. First of all, how to understand a good terminal brand, I think it is like this, at the bottom of the pyramid must be employees, there is an excellent management team and excellent employees, and there is a healthy sales channel on top of this, so that his products It can be sold in different fields, and the above is the unique brand purpose, which I introduced at the beginning. The most important thing is the approval of end customers. My customers agree with me, and then my brand can be released.

Then the topic we are discussing today is about brands. Why do you want to promote a brand in China, including Mr. Pei and everyone here? I think everyone has a common reason, and I will list them here. Now, the first point is that the profit margin of building a terminal brand will be higher than that of manufacturing; the second point is to have a global development plan, not necessarily in China, but also in the world. What is the basis of development? I want to have a brand of my own, so I need to build it up; the third may be vertical long-term development. If I only do manufacturing, for example, if my various costs have increased, or my resources have been exhausted, then I will What is the future of manufacturing. So based on these three points, it may be necessary to build a brand. At the same time, there may also be some pressures, such as the strategic shift of production companies, such as India and South Asia, they have become a dark horse and become our competitors. On this basis, should we make some strategic shifts? It is the pressure of competition in the same industry. The competition among our peers in the manufacturing industry is quite fierce. So should I withdraw and establish my own brand? This is the common purpose and reason for everyone. If we talk about building a brand, what trump cards do we have now? I think there are four types, one is the continuous expansion of the domestic consumer market, the second is the continuous improvement of the consumption level, and the next is the continuous professionalization of the management team, coupled with the government, the mayor is also present today, It is some support from the government, so these points are the trump cards we have in our hands.

Since we want to build a terminal brand, what functional departments are there, from our Decathlon analysis, the first is to have high-level decision-making, which is a must; the second is that R&D and design are the core departments; the third is The first is product procurement. Decathlon will have its own brand of product procurement, which also belongs to product procurement; the fourth is logistics and transportation, followed by marketing, and then channel expansion. I think marketing and channel expansion must be Separate, followed by quality assurance and customer service, which are indispensable departments. Now that we have established a brand, we also have a trump card and a purpose. What pressures will we have next? Let's see, shall we? The first is to say what we sell, the market positioning of our products and its sales model, whether we can determine it accurately, whether we can determine it scientifically and accurately, this is a difficult point; the second point is that our channel Fast laying, that is to say where we sell, this may require a lot of investment, contacts, etc. This is a difficulty for us; the third point is how to sell, then whether our marketing department has the strength to Do marketing, then its a positioning is suitable? How do we sell is just like what Li Ning said just now. He may imitate at first, and then he has his own ideas. How can it be sold and how can it be accurately determined? This is a difficult point; the next one is the supply of products. The integrity and order of the chain is when to sell. For example, Decathlon, since I am a terminal brand, where do I purchase and sell, this is to be laid in advance, I must not only lay the channels but also lay the product supply chain. In addition, we must have a professional marketing team, as well as the dissemination of brand culture, that is, advertising, and who will sell this piece.

Next is a pressure for us. On the one hand, the competition in the same industry is very fierce. For example, we already have many sports brands, and there are already many domestic brands, and foreign brands are coming to squeeze this market. How can we defeat these brands? , to enter such a market, this competition is under great pressure; there is a lot of investment in the early stage, including advertising investment, channel laying, etc.; the third point is how to grasp customer loyalty, how to attract customers The fourth point is that some sales channels are not so perfect, which may add some pressure to each competing brand; the fifth point is that in fact, there is still a certain gap between our domestic R&D and design level and foreign countries, so How do I get my products abroad, it's also a pressure.

So with so much pressure, are we really ready to be a terminal brand? The terminal brand I emphasize here is the product brand. Now I want to lead everyone to change their thinking. In addition to the terminal product brand, do we have other ways to build other brands? Let us now review one of our purposes for establishing a terminal brand. The good direction is high profit margins, global development planning, and long-term development planning. The pressure is the strategic shift of production enterprises and the competitive pressure of the same industry. Let's take a look at the solutions. If the profit is high, can the technology content of the product be improved to increase its high profit? With the uniqueness of this product in the market, other manufacturers and I will not have a competitive edge. Of course, I can improve my high profit margin. Then the next step is to talk about the global development plan. Not only can we build a global brand, but we can also build a global production base. Long-term development planning is to establish a sustainable product supply chain, and long-term development planning can also be achieved. For the strategic transfer of production enterprises, we can transfer different functional departments. For example, the production department is located in other places, but the R&D department is still here, so we can achieve a good strategic transfer. There is also the pressure of competition in the same industry. I highlighted that it is to create a production-oriented corporate brand. So what kind of brand is this?

The buyer's requirements for the supplier

Speaking of this, let's first talk about the buyer's measurement standard for the supplier, and how the supplier can reflect this value and meet the supplier's requirements It must be quality, the second is social responsibility, the third is technical level, efficiency management system and service, these are a common requirement and measurement standard for buyers, and there is innovation. How does the supplier do it? In terms of quality, a complete quality system can be established. Now manufacturers are doing ISO9000 or even higher quality certification. Social responsibility We must comply with the human rights protection standards of international human rights organizations, which is what we usually call human rights audits. The factory can establish such a complete level by cooperating with buyers. The technical level is the technical team that hopes that the supplier has R&D capabilities. And advanced equipment, which is also a manifestation of the supplier's value. Next is efficiency management. We can work with the factory to establish some methods of continuous improvement management of operation and production. In terms of service, suppliers can do quick response and flexible production. Innovation is to hope that suppliers have the ability to innovate and design independently. I think it is up to us to do ODM or OEM with customers. If our innovation is strong enough, then we can do ODM with different customers.

Next, how we choose suppliers at Oxylane is that every buyer needs price, delivery time and quality, one is production capacity and the other is management level. Capacity is the scale of our suppliers or long-term planning. Whether your investment is only in this small area, I will keep it or continue to expand, or will add some other areas. For us, long-term cooperation is a very important conditions of. The second point is the management level. I think each supplier's own management system will be different. The so-called management level is whether our suppliers can manage their own sustainable development, not a short-term one. I think High-level management must be a management that cooperates with customers for a long time and then develops itself. The last requirement is our long-term plan.

Various management modes of emerging manufacturing industries

Next, I would like to share with you some management modes of emerging manufacturing industries. It focuses on ODM, and has its own R&D team. Its selling point is that I have my own design. I don't need to add another design team. I can help you with the design. The efficiency-improving type will do some business operations to improve its efficiency and reduce its unit cost. Then there is the capacity-oriented type, which means that the plate is large, the scale is large, and there is a large amount of goods that can help you distribute the goods. The next step is energy saving and environmental protection. There are various measures to do some energy saving things, which is a necessary condition for sustainable development. There is also a supply chain solution service type, which provides solutions, that is, if you give me a product, I can provide you with finished products, and I can provide you with a series of supply chains. Next is the technology-led type, which is to engage in research and development. Only I can do this in the market, and only I have it. There is also a management system injection type. This type of enterprise pays great attention to various management systems. After you go to his factory, you will know that all management is in the process. After a new person comes in, even for a day, I know What should I do, what position am I in, and who my upstream and downstream are, this is a supplier with a very well-established management system.

Let's now take a look at different types of suppliers like these, which point and which stage of the supply chain he fits into. The first is to start with raw materials. He is suitable for technology-oriented type, that is, to engage in R&D on raw materials. This is also the most important point for us to engage in intellectual property rights in the future. The second point is to go to semi-finished products. It can also be technology-led, management system, energy saving and environmental protection, because here we are more familiar with the textile industry. I can say an example is fabrics. In fabrics, we have a lot of new Products, there are many suppliers in China who will recommend some new fabrics to me, which other suppliers do not have. We will fully contract and purchase from here, and at the same time, we will give him a better price, which is this market. It is also a very beneficial development for suppliers that we have a part temporarily. The management system injection type can improve its efficiency and increase its production capacity through management. Energy saving and environmental protection. For example, semi-finished products have the greatest impact on the environment. During the production of some parts and some fabrics, there will be more links that pollute the environment. At this time, it is a sustainable development concept to be energy-saving and environmentally friendly. For the finished product assembly, the first must be to improve the efficiency, and the second is the production-oriented type. The fourth point is that in terms of trade, my factory has its own trade department, which can provide a complete supply chain and complete design services. This is its selling point.

I think the brand of the future manufacturing industry is like this. The higher the self-management level of an enterprise, the stronger its competitiveness. At the same time, it is also a brand of the enterprise itself, so my point of view is that everyone can Different stages of the supply chain to find their own positioning, to find their own brand, these are some of my views, share with you, where is your own brand positioning, I will talk about it here, thank you!

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