ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
Sportswear brand Li-Ning’s success inspires veteran Chinese brands to chase after youth demographic
After Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning returned to the catwalks of New York Fashion Week for the second time ever on February 12, the appearance quickly became a hot topic of discussion on social media in China. Several years ago, Li-Ning probably never dared imagine that its products could become so popular among young people in China. However, not only has the company found great success with this demographic, it has also pushed many older Chinese brands to explore new paths to young people’s hearts.
Bumps along the way
The company gets its name from Li Ning, the pride of China. With 14 gold medals at world-class gymnastic competitions, three of them Olympic gold medals, he earned himself the title “Prince of Gymnastics.” Chinese people still talk about the moving scene when he lit the torch at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. After retiring from gymnastics, Li founded the sportswear brand in 1990, becoming not only a legend in sports but also in business.
Due to the positive influence of the Beijing Olympic Games, Li-Ning sales reached an all-time high of 9.47 billion yuan ($1.397 billion) and a net profit of 1.10 billion yuan in 2010, according to the company’s financial reports. At this key point, Li-Ning took aim at China’s Post-1990 demographic by changing its decade-old slogan “Anything is Possible” to “Make the Change.” However, this move didn’t strike the chord the company wanted for its rebranding. Li-Ning lost older customers, but failed to immediately gain younger customers. In 2012, losses for the company reached 1.97 billion yuan.
Realizing its mistake, the company began reusing the old slogan in 2015, which is also the first year it became profitable again. According to a report from Chinese magazine New Marketing, since then Li-Ning has focused more on digital marketing to make its products closer to street culture.
On February 2, 2018, Li-Ning made its first appearance at New York Fashion Week, grabbing the attention of the audience with clothing in reds and yellows, the colors of Chinese National Flag, and big Chinese characters that said “China Li Ning.”
The theme of the show was xing, which means go or walk in Chinese, but also has the additional meaning of “we can do it.” Featuring urban and outdoor clothing with strong Chinese elements, the show, which had numerous celebrities from China and the US in attendance, lifted Li-Ning to new heights.
Pattern of success
Li-Ning’s success during New York Fashion Week inspired many older Chinese brands, who began seeking ways to reignite their dying brands. For instance, in September 2018, candy company White Rabbit and time-honored Shanghai cosmetic brand Maxam teamed up to produce a lipstick that looked and tasted like traditional milk candy. According to
Maxam’s official website, the first batch of this lipstick, 960 in all, sold out in just two seconds on online retailer T-Mall.
Another example of an unusual alliance was that between bug repellent maker Liushen and Rio cocktail.
In the summer of 2018, these two companies co-produced a special cocktail drink, the green color of which reminded consumers of Liushen’s mosquito repellent. While consumers were a bit hesitant to try it at first, this minty mixture of lemon, lime and grapefruit soon proved to be a great success.
Nong Fu Spring, a bottled water and beverage company, chose a different way to attract younger customers. Instead of coming out with a new product, it invited an overseas design company to produce new packaging featuring the four seasons of the Changbai Mountains, where the company gets its spring water. Additionally, the company joined with popular Chinese smartphone game Onmyoji and the Palace Museum to produce a limited series of water bottles. These new marketing methods helped push sales of Nong Fu Spring bottled water to new heights.
No easy solution
The past year has seen numerous new marketing pushes by different Chinese brands. However, while there have been some successes, each of these brands face a similar dilemma.
On the one hand, cooperation between brands can help increase sales for a time, but on the other hand, joining forces with another company may end up diluting the value of a particular brand. According to analysts, the foundation of any brand is the product, not marketing partners.
For instance, the perfume produced by Luzhou Laojiao, a Chinese liquor company, quickly disappeared after becoming a hit on social media for several weeks.
If long-time Chinese brands want to see success over the long-term revolutionizing their internal organization, products, industrial chain and retail sales is more important that any success they may see on social media. Analysts note that while brand marketing has its place in the scheme of things, how to consolidate its influence is still a problem.