Author: Quiet, Editor: Jia Xin, Title Image from: Visual China
In 1979, the French costume designer Pierre Cardin came to Beijing to hold the first fashion exhibition of a foreign brand in China's history, and the streets of China at that time were full of army green dress.
The campaign was like a cannonball, blowing open another door for Chinese to recognize clothing.
Before and after this, some garment factories in Chinese mainland began to emerge, and soon, a young man named Gao Dekang earned the first bucket of gold for entrepreneurship by processing. A few years later, he created the Bosideng brand.
After decades of development, Bosideng has gradually gained a foothold in the Chinese market, and Gao Dekang is eager to try on the way to the world, on the one hand, it continues to raise prices, intending to benchmark the world's first-line down jacket brands such as Canada Goose and Mengkehu, on the one hand, it has played the world's best-selling Slogan in 72 countries.
Going to the high-end and going international is undoubtedly one of the successful paths of every local company. But at the factual level, is it really as Bosideng said to the outside world: best-selling in the world's 72 countries? To become a Canada Goose, what other paths does Bosideng have to go? This article will try to answer them one by one.
First, how much moisture does the "best-selling 72 countries" have?
In general, brands will be deeply associated with a word or sentence, trying to create a situation or label themselves, so as to achieve the purpose of positive brand communication.
For example, McDonald's is "happy", carbonated drinks are "cool", Nike is "just do it", Li Ning is "China Li Ning", and Bosideng is "best-selling in 72 countries around the world".
From the perspective of "selling well in 72 countries in the world", Bosideng is telling a story of brand internationalization. As a local brand, this story is undoubtedly something that Chinese proud of.
The "Bosideng" brand was inspired by its OEM "Houston" brand, named after another, more famous American city, Boston. We can't help but guess that Bosideng, which is selling well in 72 countries today, must have sold its products to the place where its brand name originated.
However, when I consulted Bosideng's annual report announcement and other information, I found nothing.
First of all, Bosideng's 2020/21 financial annual report (April 1, 2020 - March 31, 2021) does not mention export business data, and the retail network by region is also all major regions in the country.
Only in the expression of the OEM processing business, it is mentioned that at the beginning of 2020, due to the impact of the new crown epidemic in Europe and the United States, some customer orders were cancelled or delayed.
The market capitalization list further searched for three overseas business expansions officially announced by Bosideng.
"In 1999, Bosideng became the first Chinese clothing brand to enter the Swiss market." There is no update on the entry into the Swiss market except for a report by the Guangming Daily on 31 December 1999.
"In 2011, the Bosideng flagship store opened in the Oxford Fashion District in London, England". According to media reports, the store was closed in early 2017, and similarly, the earnings report did not mention London's sales data.
"In 2014, Bosideng entered the United States, and the Union Square store in Manhattan, New York opened." According to media interviews, Bosideng entered the United States through multi-brand menswear store Rothman's sales. Specific sales data is still not disclosed in the financial report.
Looking at the older prospectus, the prospectus shows that Shanghai Kangbo International Trading Company, whose only main business activity is "export down jacket products", was acquired by Shanghai Bingjie in 2007. The company was deregistered in July 2015.
At the same time, according to the description of the OEM processing business in Bosideng's prospectus, "OEM processed products are exported to countries such as the United States and Japan". At the same time, the prospectus also said that the OEM business is to be able to keep up with the latest international fashion trends and international quality control standards, so as to facilitate future overseas expansion plans.
Based on this, we speculate that the so-called "best-selling global 72 countries", of which international sales will not be mainly OEM business?
For the story of "selling well in 72 countries around the world", such speculation is undoubtedly disappointing.
In addition, according to the Bosideng annual report, its European business income (including rental income) accounts for less than 1% of the overall business net profit, if the above speculation is not accurate, the actual 72 countries are the European business income part, then, from the data disclosed in the annual report, the definition of best-selling may be debatable.
Compared with the "best-selling 72 countries in the world" that Bosideng could not verify, Canada Goose is simple and direct. According to Canada Goose's 2020/2021 fiscal year report, Revenue from Canada accounts for 24% of total revenue, 25% in the U.S., 29% in Asia, and 21.9% in Europe and other regions.
Whether it is from the origin of Bosideng's name or its "best-selling global 72 countries" slogan, everywhere reflects the yearning for international recognition, but the degree of international recognition from the data seems that it can not be reflected for the time being.
Second, the new story: rising and decreasing dimensions
The proposal of the new Slogan stems from the failure of the old strategy, which starts with the diversification of Bosideng.
In order to get rid of the seasonality of down jacket sales and the uncertainty of the industry to see the sky eating. Bosideng has been trying to introduce non-seasonal apparel products and diversified product portfolios to improve profitability. In the 2009 fiscal year annual report, Bosideng proposed to implement the development strategy of "four-season products" in order to change the single-quarter product model.
It can be seen that Bosideng's various attempts to diversify its business only allowed revenue to recover briefly, and then fell into the downturn again, and if you look at it from a profit point of view, its net profit margin quickly slipped, falling from 18% to less than 3%.
By the time Bosideng was still caught up in the non-down business looking for a way out, the down jacket track had changed dramatically.
International down jacket brands such as Canada Goose and Mengkeshu have entered the Chinese market with goose down clothes that impact fashion week, and fashionable geese have quickly gained a foothold in the bloated and rustic Chinese down jacket market.
In the midst of internal and external troubles, Bosideng returned to the down jacket track with two stories, one is a bottom-up upgrade to get rid of the earthy taste, and the other is a top-down dimensionality reduction.
First, the story of a fashion brand that caters to pop culture.
First of all, Bosideng has cooperated with many internationally renowned designers to launch designer joint models to enhance the brand's fashion, of which the cooperation with the former Creative Director of Hermès has attracted the most attention.
Second, cross-border cooperation, the launch of Marvel series, Star Wars series, etc., to cater to popular culture. At the same time, participate in the international fashion week to drive the marketing of the topic of the show. Also, a group of celebrities appeared on social media wearing pictures of Bosideng.
Second, the story of luxury brands full of top technology.
In 2019, Bosideng held the "Summit Series Conference" in Shanghai, and in an atmosphere full of scientific and technological elements, launched seven down jackets of the Peak Climbing Series named after the world-famous peak: 5800 yuan for the Craterse Touchdown, 6800 yuan for Annapurna, 7800 yuan for The Trisul, 7800 yuan for The Pumori Peak, 8800 yuan for the Meru, 9800 yuan for the Zhuo Aoyou Peak, and 11800 yuan for the Everest model.
In November 2021, the Summit 2.0 series was launched. Bosideng said that the Dengfeng 2.0 series uses aviation material technology in the field of clothing, using intelligent temperature regulation materials similar to the Mars rover Zhurong. It has also added the "Beidou Positioning Search and Rescue System", one of the world's three major satellite navigation systems, which can accurately and intelligently locate and provide professional security protection for the wearer.
Obviously, Bosideng's top technology down jacket is aimed at special groups.
After the setting of "high-end" and "technology" is stabilized, the next stage is likely to penetrate downward from the sense of technology and carry out dimensionality reduction strikes.
These two stories of Bosideng inevitably remind people of Canada Goose.
Canada Goose began to meet the unique needs of scientists at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, custom coats for the first Canadian to climb Mount Everest, supporting activities such as Arctic expeditions, and later Canada Goose gradually became the standard equipment of polar personnel.
After entering the 21st century, Canada Goose has appeared frequently in movies and magazines, and has gradually become popular with the blessing of a number of Hollywood stars.
Both bosideng stories have the shadow of a Canada goose in their paths. If Bosideng can become a Canada goose, it can get out of the down jacket industry.
But, international, technological and fashionable, can Bosideng's new image conveyed to the outside world stand?
3. Is the story successful?
With the propaganda offensive of the media, Bosideng quickly went out of the circle and entered the vision of young people. Weibo, Douyin, Little Red Book, everywhere you can see the figure of young people wearing Bosideng.
At the same time, Bosideng's income has increased significantly. Revenue in fiscal 2018 increased by 30% compared with fiscal year 2017, and by fiscal year 2019, it directly broke through the 10 billion mark. Revenue in the first half of fiscal 2021 was 5.39 billion, up 16% year-on-year.
Gross margin also improved significantly, from 46.4% in FY2018 to 53.1% in FY2019.
Revenue, gross margin, net profit margin, in a good situation, Bosideng's inventory turnover has slowed down.
According to the "Bosideng Income Situation" chart, it can be seen that Bosideng's income is basically concentrated in the interim report of each fiscal year, and the corresponding date is from October 1 to March 31, which basically matches the sales cycle of down jackets. As a result, inventory turnover across fiscal years is slower.
Pulling the long-term axis, from 2018, Bosideng's inventory turnover days have shown an overall upward trend, that is to say, inventory turnover has slowed down as a whole.
Further dismantling its inventory composition, at the end of September 2019, Bosideng's raw materials were 1.131 billion yuan, while at the end of March 2019, this figure was 510 million yuan, an increase of 122%.
By the end of March 2020, bosideng had the highest value of manufactured goods in its inventory, at 2.264 billion yuan.
Comprehensive revenue growth and above inventory situation data analysis, it can be considered that the revenue in fiscal 2019 exceeded the 10 billion mark, gross profit margin and net profit margin have increased significantly, giving Bosideng confidence and higher expectations for the market.
Therefore, in the first half of 2019, Bosideng began to actively purchase raw materials, looking forward to the sale of down jackets in the winter of 2019, and the income can increase significantly, but the epidemic has disrupted the rhythm and there is a large backlog of finished products.
These manufactured goods were slowly digested in the subsequent time, and by the middle of fiscal 2022, that is, at the end of September 2021, manufactured goods will recover again.
While the finished products remain high, Bosideng re-walked the old road of hoarding raw materials, considering that the price of the down market rose sharply in the second half of this year, it can be considered to stabilize the cost, and it also shows that Bosideng once again "bets" on winter sales.
Overall, Bosideng's new story has been effective, but it has also encountered a new bottleneck. In the income of the better, luxury goods may not play a large role.
Bosideng Tmall Ship Store shows that the sales of down jackets of more than 4,000 yuan have not exceeded 100. Even Xiao Zhan's windbreaker down jacket is priced at 5990 yuan, the monthly sales of the Tmall flagship store show 58 pieces, and the WeChat Mini Program store only has 9 comments.
So why is the story of Bosideng luxury brands uninterested?
First, brand perception is difficult to change.
The long-term story background of "Bosideng" old domestic products, as well as the "rustic" sales stores throughout the country, the impression left in the minds of consumers is difficult to subvert in a short period of time.
In general, brands are usually easy to be backward compatible and difficult to upward compatible.
Compared with rebuilding the brand, investing in the original mature brand is the fastest way to achieve results, but the historical shackles of the original brand are also difficult to remove. In the past four years, it has not been easy for Bosideng to enter the mid-to-high-end market from a people-friendly brand. To top the first-line high-end brands, the logic of which is still debatable.
In addition, the pricing gap of Bosideng's main brand "Bosideng" products is too large, and consumers' cognition of the brand will affect the price, and the recognition of the price will in turn affect the brand impression.
Second, international recognition cannot be reflected.
The above two speculations on "best-selling in 72 countries around the world" can show that the international influence of the Bosideng brand is small, if the international sales are actually OEM business, then it can be said that the "Bosideng" brand has not been successfully exported overseas, even if it is not, the volume can not be said to be best-selling.
Removing the shackles, impacting the high end, and going global, Bosideng still has a long way to go.
IV. Conclusion
The story of Bosideng is like a microcosm of many local Chinese brands.
From being well known to Chinese to the influx of fashionable foreign brands into China, local brands have become synonymous with soil. Then, with the improvement of international status, patriotic sentiment, and the rise of domestic products, Chinese consumers have begun to embrace local brands again. As soon as the price of local brands rose, Chinese consumers began to shout iq tax and cut leeks.
Compared with foreign brands, in the face of local brands, the heart of Chinese consumers is simply nine twists and eighteen bends: "Boiling, and uneasy, will he be better, or worse?" ”
Speaking of Bosideng, whether it is named from the beginning of its establishment or from the slogan of selling well in 72 countries around the world, there is a kind of dark poke "foreign moon is rounder feeling".
Nowadays, Bosideng firmly takes the high-end route and confronts first-line down jacket brands such as Canada Goose and Mengkehu, but at present we have not seen how Bosideng has told the story of "The Chinese Moon is also round".
bibliography:
[1] From Rise to Rout: A Decade of Chinese Local Brands, Liu Ge
[2] "Bosideng, who has become expensive and high-end, is still on the road of "catching up" with the blockbuster" Damo Finance