reporter | Chen Qirui
editor | Lou Qinqin
Although the Tokyo Olympics has ended, the Olympic marketing of various brands has not stopped.
html On August 18, Septwolves announced at the strategic conference that it signed Su Bingtian as its spokesperson.Su Bingtian quickly became the darling of various brands after breaking the Asian record in the men's 100-meter semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics and setting a record for Asian athletes to enter the Olympic 100-meter flying finals. Currently, Su Bingtian’s new endorsement brands include Xiaomi and GAC Trumpchi . Septwolves is his first fashion endorsement collaboration.
Septwolves is not the only fashion brand to use Olympic champions for marketing purposes. During the Olympic Games, Estee Lauder cooperated with synchronized swimming champion Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen to promote DW long-lasting makeup foundation. Prior to this, Olympic diving champion Wu Minxia and freestyle skiing athlete Gu Ailing had also cooperated with Estee Lauder.
In fact, fashion brands have always favored cooperation with sports stars. Sports events can mobilize the attention of different groups of society. Sports stars, who are the focus of events, are natural traffic gathering points.
In addition to Estee Lauder, Gu Ailing currently has cooperative relationships with Tiffany and Victoria's Secret . Famous tennis players Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams are brand ambassadors for Louis Vuitton and Stuart Weitzman respectively, while Uniqlo ’s cooperation with Roger Federer has brought huge traffic to the brand.
But in China, collaborations between sports stars and local fashion brands are uncommon. On the one hand, under the fierce competition between Chinese and foreign sports brands, famous sports stars have been "carved up". On the other hand, due to various constraints, there are not many brands that sports stars can choose from.
In addition, the domestic Internet traffic distribution mechanism is not conducive to sports stars. Jiemian Fashion once reported that fans of traffic stars will promote their idols, create topics, and refresh the popularity. In return, traffic stars must frequently interact with fans, including releasing new songs and launching new movies and TV series. The operating model of
is quite different from the work rhythm and image of sports stars. If a brand aims to gain traffic in the short term, then sports stars with high signing fees are definitely not the best choice. But in addition to traffic, the relatively stable and positive image of sports stars can help the brand's mid- to long-term development.
This is one of the reasons why the Septwolves signed Su Bingtian, who is in a period of transformation. What's more, Su Bingtian's current traffic is not lower than that of any traffic star, which can also meet the brand exposure needs of the Septwolves in the short term.
Today, the Seven Wolves need exposure more than ever.
During a period when China's fashion market was blank, Septwolves quickly opened up the market with innovative products such as color-changing jackets and double-sided jackets, which played an enlightening role in Chinese fashion consumption. In 2004, Septwolves was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange , and in 2015 it set its own highest market value record of 24.9 billion yuan. At that time, the number of stores nationwide also exceeded 4,000.
But it was also around 2015 that the older generation of local fashion brands began to decline collectively. They began to shrink rapidly after reaching the peak of their market value. For Septwolves, there is a disconnect between the tough guy image it promotes and the diversified aesthetics pursued by young consumers. The diversification of overseas brands and Taobao brands has further diverted Septwolves’ customer base.
It’s not like the Seven Wolves haven’t tried to transform, but their huge size has held them back.
2020 financial report data shows that Septwolves inventory increased by 6.14% compared with the previous year, of which the inventory balance for more than 3 years increased by 15.17%. Inventory turnover days were 192 days, 6 days more than 186 days in 2019, but this number was 114 days in 2012. For comparison, the inventory turnover days of Lilang men's in 2020 was 168 days, but in 2019 before the epidemic, it was 111 days, and the turnover efficiency was better than that of Septwolves.
Factors such as insufficient youth, low turnover efficiency and aging marketing model have made Septwolves increasingly passive in the fiercely competitive clothing market.Affected by the epidemic, Septwolves' net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies and net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses fell by 39.83% and 57.94% respectively in 2020. This is the first time that its net profit has experienced negative growth in its 17 years since its listing.
In order to reverse the decline and increase exposure, the Seven Wolves have recently increased their focus on online marketing.
Jiemian Fashion previously reported that Li Shujun and Septwolves Chairman Zhou Shaoxiong had personally performed live broadcasts respectively, and sales in the live broadcast room had reached tens of millions. However, its online strategy was not timely. Brands such as Peacebird , Li Ning and other brands had rapidly transformed based on street trends a few years ago, and paid more attention to the influence of online channels and social media.
But on March 9, Septwolves issued a statement stating that Li Shujun announced her resignation due to personal reasons. Before joining Septwolves, Li Shujun served as a senior executive at Alibaba . Her departure shows, to a certain extent, that Qipi has made limited progress in digital transformation. The announcement of Su Bingtian as the spokesperson this time will undoubtedly bring a question mark to how much help it can bring to the development of the Seven Wolves.
Affected by the epidemic, Septwolves' net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies and net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses fell by 39.83% and 57.94% respectively in 2020. This is the first time that its net profit has experienced negative growth in its 17 years since its listing.In order to reverse the decline and increase exposure, the Seven Wolves have recently increased their focus on online marketing.
Jiemian Fashion previously reported that Li Shujun and Septwolves Chairman Zhou Shaoxiong had personally performed live broadcasts respectively, and sales in the live broadcast room had reached tens of millions. However, its online strategy was not timely. Brands such as Peacebird , Li Ning and other brands had rapidly transformed based on street trends a few years ago, and paid more attention to the influence of online channels and social media.
But on March 9, Septwolves issued a statement stating that Li Shujun announced her resignation due to personal reasons. Before joining Septwolves, Li Shujun served as a senior executive at Alibaba . Her departure shows, to a certain extent, that Qipi has made limited progress in digital transformation. The announcement of Su Bingtian as the spokesperson this time will undoubtedly bring a question mark to how much help it can bring to the development of the Seven Wolves.
