On September 8, 2021, Putian Shoe Collective Trademark participated in the exhibition of China International Investment and Trade Fair held by Xiamen . (Photo provided by the interviewee)
"Putian Shoes" graphic collective trademark recently obtained registration by National Intellectual Property Office . This "PT" letter pattern composed of shoelaces means that Putian shoes have a unified brand logo. Half a month before the collective trademark of
was approved, Lin Yong arranged for the company to launch a promotional video called "Putian Shoes, Come to Really". The question at the beginning of the film: "Do you know Putian shoes?" The young girl who was interviewed blurted out: "High imitation shoes, infringement."
Lin Yong is a native of Putian. He used to work in Guotou Group , a subsidiary of Putian State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. A year ago, the Putian Municipal Government began to prepare the Putian Shoe Collective Trademark. Guotou Group established two new companies for trademark operation and management, and he was transferred to be the person in charge.
Lin Yong specially chose to launch a promotional video on March 15, 2022, hoping to clear the name of Putian shoes on "Holiday". Putian is known as the "shoe capital". Official information shows that Putian currently has more than 4,000 footwear-related companies, with an annual output of nearly 1.4 billion pairs of shoes and an annual output value of more than 110 billion yuan.
is also the "fake shoes capital". " China Consumer News " reported that in January 2021 alone, more than 38,000 pairs of counterfeit brand shoes were seized.
"We actually want to use the time node of 3.15 to convey to the society a voice that we are doing original creations and that we want to transform." Lin Yong told the Southern Weekend reporter.
"It won't work until it's not changed"
After the Putian shoe collective trademark was approved, Chen Yinghong's shoe company became one of the first 16 companies to be authorized to use. Chen Yinghong is 50 years old this year. He entered Putian shoe industry at the age of 17. In 2007, he founded his own brand Clorts. He is one of the earliest shoe vendors in Putian to independently create brands.
Lin Yong introduced that Putian shoes collective trademark adopts the "1+N" operation model, the "Putian Shoes" brand is 1, and the local shoe company's own brand is N. Shoe companies can apply for the use of the "Putian Shoes" trademark free of charge, and this collective trademark drives the shoe companies to create their own brands.
In Putian, there are not many brands like Clorts. Putian's shoe industry started with OEM. As early as the late 1980s, Putian County Shoe Tank Factory began to produce brands such as Nike and Adidas.
1989, Chen Yinghong entered the Nike OEM factory in Putian to work as a shoemaker. More than 30 years have passed, and the shoe companies in Putian are still doing OEM business.
"Now, no sports brand listed in China does not have a factory in Putian. A pair of shoes that are priced at tens of thousands of yuan are also produced in Putian." Chen Yinghong told the Southern Weekend reporter that there are more than 4,000 shoe companies in Putian now, and 99% are still mainly engaged in OEM OEM.
In 2015, Yu Guomin, a native of Putian, returned to his hometown and founded his own shoe brand under the name of Putian area code "0594". He told Southern Weekend reporters that the profit margin of OEM factories is between 5% and 7%, while that of brand owners can reach 30%. "Production and manufacturing are the end of the entire ecosystem, and the profits are the thinnest."
But Putian people have been making gold in this business with meager profits. Lin Yong said that among the more than 4,000 shoe companies in Putian, only 11 or 12 truly own independent brands are on the first list of collective trademarks of Putian shoes.
In 1997, the Asian financial crisis broke out, the foreign trade shoe industry suffered a heavy blow, and OEM orders dropped sharply. Quanzhou Jinjiang City, 110 kilometers apart, also does branded shoes OEM. Under the impact, it began to seek transformation and gave birth to a series of independent brands such as Anta .
OEM industry has also given birth to counterfeit shoes. With the production and manufacturing capabilities of OEM for big brands, Putian shoe companies can produce shoes that are fake and real, and can sell them at high prices if they are labeled with famous brands. People who engage in counterfeit shoes are called "Amao" in Putian and have become another synonym for Putian shoes.
For most foundries, the living space is getting smaller and smaller. Yu Guomin said that OEM shoes have no pricing capabilities in the production and manufacturing process. The current raw material costs and labor costs continue to rise, and the profit margin of OEM factories is constantly being compressed. "Do you know how pitiful a pair of shoes is now? A pair of shoes makes 30 cents."
competition from outside is becoming increasingly fierce.In recent years, Southeast Asian countries are attracting OEM order transfer with lower costs, and the rise of domestic independent brands such as Jinjiang , Wenzhou and Guangdong also poses a threat to Putian shoes. "We are seeking to survive in the cracks, and we cannot remain unchanged," said Yu Guomin.
transformation is not easy
Putian shoe companies, which are seeking change, have begun to try to build independent brands, and this is not easy.
In 2017, Huang Fengchun, who had been in the industrial business for two or three years, began to transform into his own brand Sorofen, and the main problem he faced was his lack of design capabilities.
Huang Fengchun told Southern Weekend reporters that his shoes are mainly sold to the United States and Middle East , and is the only company in Putian that sells its own brand abroad. Since the overseas market is stricter in copyright protection and higher requirements for brand originality, once there are traces of plagiarism, "it will definitely be lost to death at that time."
In order to meet market requirements, Huang Fengchun chose to hire a design team from the United States and Russia.
Chen Yinghong spared no expense to do original creation. In 2007, he brought 80 million yuan from Guangzhou to Putian to start a business. Over the past decade, he has invested several hundred million yuan in brand building, and once was on the verge of bankruptcy due to a broken capital chain. "To build an independent brand requires investment in various aspects such as market and R&D, and the requirements for funds are much greater than those of OEM factories." When
first started building a brand in 2007, he offered a high design fee of 3 million yuan a year and hired a Korean designer to design 50 shoes. At that time, the design fee for a shoe on the market was mostly several thousand yuan.
is also called "Putian's 'traitor'" because it seems alternative in , an OEM company. At that time, even the government did not pay attention to the construction of independent brands, believing that OEM could make money immediately and quickly drive GDP. "Treat the independent brand like a jackal, and stick it with a lot of negative energy."
's own shoes were made. Chen Yinghong found that similar products soon appeared on the market, including some well-known outdoor shoe brands, and also launched shoe models similar to him.
In 2014, in order to expand the scale, Chen Yinghong borrowed nearly 40 million yuan from the bank through "mutual insurance". In Putian, mutual insurance is a common way for enterprises to borrow from banks. Different companies guarantee each other. If one of them cannot repay the money, the repayment responsibility shall be borne by the guarantor.
Then, due to a mutual insurance company running away, Chen Yinghong suffered huge debts and broke his capital chain. More than 100 shoe stores opened in Northeast China and Europe had to be closed.
lacks sufficient financial strength, Chen Yinghong cannot sell the shoes completely by himself after they are designed. Thousands of original designs are sold to foreign brands, and he provides services from research and development to production for these brands. This ODM model accounts for the majority of Chen Yinghong's annual revenue, and the revenue contributed by independent brands only accounts for 20%.
Many shoe companies that have started to build independent brands are also at the primary level and cannot get rid of the shadow of counterfeiting.
Lin Yong introduced that if we look at whether to apply for an independent trademark, Putian currently has more than 100 brands. However, most of the product designs of these brands are slightly modified based on big brands. Although the trademarks of big brands are not directly used, the product similarity is very high and it is called "public version shoes".
"If you go to Anfu Market , there are many such stores. For example, the world-renowned brand Newbalance ( Newbalance ), there are several companies in Anfu registered similar trademarks. These brands are officially registered, and they cannot be said to be imitation brands, but the shoes in the store are very similar to Newbalance." Lin Yong said.
Anfu Market is a trading center for Putian shoes. Lin Yong said that there are now many public version shoes with independent brands on the Anfu market, and many Putian shoes sold on e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, , JD.com, , and the same shoes are also available.
"Transformation is actually difficult." Lin Yong admitted that building an independent brand not only requires multiple investments, but also faces inventory pressure. The brand needs to have a sufficiently rich SKU, and different models and colors must be equipped with certain stocks."So many styles, how much money do you have to bet there? If all these shoes are OK, what should I do if they can't be sold?"
government endorsement
In the promotional video of "Putian Shoes, Come to Really", Chen Junjie, deputy director of Putian Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, introduced that in April 2021, the bureau took the lead in soliciting the collective trademark logo of Putian shoes from the whole society, and was committed to creating the first collective trademark named after a city in the country.
also began at that time. Lin Yong took office and served as chairman and executive director of the two newly established companies of Guotou Group, respectively, responsible for the operation of Putian Shoe Collective Trademark.
Qichacha shows that the two companies are Putian Mingpin Brand Management Co., Ltd. and Putian Shoe Brand Operation Service Co., Ltd. The former is 100% controlled by Putian Guotou Group, and the latter is a joint venture company. The former serves as the largest shareholder and holds 38.50% of the shares.
Lin Yong introduced that the common purpose of the two companies is to build an incubation platform for Putian Shoes’ independent brand. "Before the brand of a Putian shoe company is well-known, our Putian shoe collective trademark can provide government endorsement."
He said that the two companies will help shoe companies that join Putian shoe collective trademarks build sales channels, provide brand promotion, design and research and development services, and help the company grow its own brand. After the company's independent brand has enough influence, it can also break away from the Putian shoe collective trademark.
At present, before enterprises use Putian Shoes collective trademark, they need to apply to Putian Mingpin Brand Management Co., Ltd. for qualification review. There is no need to pay a fee when joining.
"In a more common sense, the government helps these brands sell shoes." Yu Guomin said that when he created his own shoe brand 0594, he also established the "Pumao supply chain platform " to provide upstream and downstream shoe companies with solutions from R&D, design and production to offline wholesale and retail and online live streaming. "What I do is very similar to the government."
However, at present, the Putao supply chain platform can achieve 200 million to 300 million yuan per year, and state-owned enterprises that operate Putao shoes collective trademarks are far from reaching. "Enterprises need to be profitable," said Yu Guomin.
Lin Yong admitted that in the past year since its establishment, the two collective trademark operating companies have invested more than 4 million yuan in total, and are still in a loss state. "Channel construction, brand promotion and R&D design are all in the investment stage and it takes a certain amount of time to monetize."
In the collective trademark operation of Putian Shoes, the sole proprietorship of Guotou Group , , holds management rights and does not aim for profit. The joint venture is responsible for performing specific operation and promotion affairs and has profit requirements. The
joint venture currently mainly obtains the difference in sales for local shoe companies through the Putian Shoe Flagship Store operated on JD.com and Tmall . "I only sold 300,000 to 400,000 yuan in several months of operation." Lin Yong said, "It is mainly to help shoe companies digest inventory."
Lin Yong imagined that with the development of Putian shoes collective trademarks, the company's future direction is to create a brand with shoe companies. The shoes jointly created will be equipped with two trademarks "Putian Shoes" and the company's independent brand, and the sales revenue will be divided by the company and shoe companies.
public version shoes can also be added to
Although Chen Yinghong and Huang Fengchun are both the first to join the Putian shoe collective trademark, as enterprises with independent brands and mature sales channels, collective trademarks can not provide much help to them.
"What we need more is the joining of the American (design) team." Huang Fengchun said.
Chen Yinghong believes that compared with Putian shoes collective trademarks, the sales orders that the government has helped him get are more direct. During the same period of preparing for the Putian Shoe Collective Trademark, the municipal government helped Putian shoe companies contact hundreds of thousands of pairs of shoes from central enterprises, and his company also won the bid for nearly 10 million yuan of orders. The government does not charge any fees for this batch of orders.
Lin Yong also hopes that enterprises with independent brands like Huang Fengchun and Chen Yinghong can play a guiding role and drive the brand development of shoe companies without brands or small brands. "In fact, small and medium-sized enterprises really need to use collective trademarks."
In order to take care of small and medium-sized enterprises, Putian Shoe Collective Trademark has relaxed the restrictions on enterprise scale, and small factories with one or two production lines can also apply. But many of the small and medium-sized shoe companies in Putian make public shoes. Regarding this type of shoe company, Lin Yong said that he would also allow them to join.
is more open to the public version of the shoes in Putian than counterfeit shoes that are directly labeled as big-name labels.
He also said that after companies that once made public shoes joined the Putian Shoes collective trademark, they will review their subsequent products to guide these companies to transform.
However, Lin Yong admitted that it is difficult to define public shoes unless they are professionals. For the review of products after public shoe companies join the collective trademark, specific standards have not yet been formulated. The company will establish a shoe expert database to be responsible for this matter.
Another problem is that the Putian shoe collective trademark is currently approved only by graphic trademarks, and the text trademark has not been approved. This means that the three words "Putian Shoes" cannot be used as trademarks yet. Lin Yong said that this has encountered a lot of trouble when communicating with major e-commerce brands to open a store. Due to this restriction, Putian Shoe Flagship Store has not been able to open on Douyin so far. He will continue to communicate and coordinate.
Southern Weekend reporter Wei Lincong
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