"The design and shape of the related products this time have brought confusion and doubts to everyone, and we sincerely apologize."
(a new product caused by Li Ning)
This morning, in response to the controversy of the "White Feng Wu Qi" new product that continues to ferment, Li Ning finally issued an apology statement through his official microblog. According to Li Ning, the new product that has caused controversy in the outside world belongs to the "Dream Chasing" show product, with the theme of "flying", "drawing inspiration from pilot equipment and showing the dream of mankind to constantly explore the sky."
Regarding the "flying hat" that the most discussed outside world, Li Ning once again emphasized in his statement that "the design originated from ancient Chinese helmets, outdoor protective hats and cotton hats", which is highly consistent with the "hashi-shaped helmets" mentioned by Feng Ye, general manager of Li Ning's e-commerce, who was previously rumored on the Internet, in his circle of friends.
However, compared to Feng Ye's previous arrogant attitude, clamoring for "consumer education", the connotation "our consumers have less inherited Chinese culture and educational knowledge", "We should reflect on ourselves and avoid more misunderstandings in the process of correctly guiding consumers." Different from that, Li Ning said humbly in his apology statement, "I sincerely thank you for your valuable suggestions and opinions for us. We will humbly listen to various voices and feedbacks and make products that consumers recognize more."
should be said that Li Ning's apology this time came in a timely manner, and was able to face the controversy and respond to consumers' doubts. At least from the perspective of attitude, it has changed Feng Ye's previous arrogance of hard striking and even vowing to "educate consumers", humbly accept criticism from the outside world, and demonstrated the corporate responsibility of the light of domestic products. At the same time, it also avoided the painful lessons of Zhang Xiaoquan's kitchen knife and Haitian soy sauce.
(Li Ning's apology statement)
However, Li Ning's apology is more at the level of self-defense and less honest. You should know that the controversy over Li Ning's new product was caused by its resemblance to the "Japanese military caps of the invading Chinese", which was then regarded by the outside world as "deliberate provocation". Li Ning's response deliberately avoided "national sentiment", but just underestimated the problem as "the flying hat design that everyone discussed the most". This apology for changing the concept obviously did not meet the expectations of the outside world.
As the author said before, no matter whether the design inspiration of Li Ning's new product is "ancient helmet" or "Japanese military uniform", " is probably the only explanation of it cannot be in the hands of Feng Ye and Li Ning." The outside world cannot grasp Li Ning's design concept, but through the effects presented by Li Ning's products, value judgments that are inconsistent with Li Ning may be made.
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the effect of Li Ningjun’s new green product has at least objectively hurt the emotions of some Chinese people. Although most people do not believe that Li Ning, whose main market share is in the domestic market, will deliberately provoke national emotions, the consequences caused by the facts have already emerged. Li Ning is obsessed with the defense of speaking his own words, and it seems difficult to convince the public.
As a well-known brand, especially the light of domestic products like Li Ning, you should be wary of potential problems in product design concepts. If Li Ning can be prescient, there may not be this controversy. Even if someone has ulterior motives, he may not be able to catch the excuse of being picky. From this perspective, the problems that Li Ning himself exist in this controversy cannot be ignored. As some people said, perhaps in addition to the professional manager of , Li Ning needs more than the "chief content security officer".
(controversial remarks by Feng Ye, executive Feng Ye)
In addition, the remarks of Li Ning’s executive Feng Ye in the circle of friends may not represent Li Ning’s official attitude, but compared with the wording of Li Ning’s apology statement, Feng Ye and Li Ning have maintained a high degree of inspiration for product design, which is difficult to believe that Feng Ye’s remarks have nothing to do with Li Ning’s company, and Li Ning does not mention the secondary controversy caused by Feng Ye’s remarks and selectively ignore them, which is actually a manifestation of not being frank enough.
After all, compared with the aesthetic controversy of the product itself, what Feng Ye calls "consumer education" means that consumers are "uncultured", which obviously hurts consumers more deeply and has a greater impact on Li Ning's brand. It even triggers consumers' boycott of Li Ning's brand and deliberately ignores the controversy caused by Feng Ye. It can be said that Li Ning's apologizing statement was a major failure.
Of course, what tests the effectiveness of Li Ning’s apology is still market share. If you don’t realize it, the market will eventually teach you how to be a human being.
