Domestic brands compete for the title of "Basketball Shoe King", anta, Li Ning, Xtep who is stronger

China Business Daily (reporter Jie Yuxing) The domestic basketball shoe market has recently staged a major play - the three major sports brands Anta, Li Ning and Xtep have successively released new high-end basketball shoes. Whether in terms of technology content or marketing, the above brands have opened up full horsepower and competed around the title of domestic "basketball shoe king". In the eyes of industry insiders, the strength of domestic brand products continues to strengthen, and the current high-end basketball shoes have also been recognized by consumers, but it will take time to reach a level that can compete with international brands.

Basketball shoes are equipped with new technology for cushioning

On September 29, Xtep's new basketball shoe series XTEP JLIN2 was officially released. Compared with the XTEP JLIN1, the biggest difference of this series of basketball shoes is that the midsole is equipped with a new X-TEPBOOOM system, which is composed of a large area of carbon plates and special explosion rebound technology. The system provides a soft bouncy feel and reduces the weight of the shoe body, increasing the torsion resistance while providing propulsion power.

In addition, the series of shoes also added two TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer rubber) on the outside of the midsole and heel, which not only enriched the elements of the shoe body, but also enhanced the protection of the user.

ANTA also recently launched Thompson's seventh-generation signature basketball shoe - KT7. The basketball shoe uses ANTA's latest nitrogen technology. It is understood that nitrogen technology makes the resilience of KT7 improve compared with KT6. ANTA also uses smart S.A.M, a smart shock absorption technology, which, combined with the 3D FLOW system, can continuously strengthen the support performance and cushioning ability of the shoe body.

In addition, the shoes are also environmentally friendly. Zhu Shuanghong, senior director of shoe procurement at ANTA Group, said at the ANTA Innovation and Technology Conference held on September 27 that compared with the previous foaming technology that uses greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, ANTA Nitrogen Technology uses nitrogen foaming to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which is also a practical action taken by ANTA in response to the national "carbon neutrality" related advocacy.

In terms of appearance design, Zheng Yongxian, senior director of ANTA basketball design and KT7 designer, said that KT7 is inspired by the Song Dynasty painter Ma Yuan's "Twelve Water Diagrams", integrates the philosophy of "water is invisible and has everything" into the design of the shoe body, and expresses the product characteristics of KT7 "born for the court and created for the top combat basketball" through the concept of "rapids".

It is understood that ANTA hopes that the new nitrogen technology can be applied to more sports products and promote the full coverage of multiple product categories. Cai Zhiben, senior director of anta brand shoe innovation management center, said that nitrogen technology is only used in basketball and running related products. In the future, nitrogen technology will be used in the comprehensive training series, life series and skateboard series. "By 2025, we hope to use nitrogen technology in more than 75% of ANTA brand products."

Li Ning recently launched Wade's Way 9 Unlimited Edition "Moment" and "Test R1" basketball shoes, priced at 1699 yuan and 1599 yuan respectively. It is understood that Li Ning's "Yi Technology" was applied to the series of basketball shoes for the first time, and "Yi Technology" can make its cushioning rebound effect more obvious.

It is worth noting that the appearance of the above two shoes is also quite unique, Wade Way 9 Unlimited Edition "Moment" is based on the birthday of the famous American male basketball player Dwyane Wade, and the upper is hand-painted graffiti elements, blending street fashion and sportsmanship. Velcro from Wade's childhood photographs are glued to the upper and heels; the zippers of the shoes are engraved with Wade's daughter's name.

The outer upper of the "Test R1" is made of transparent material. The upper retains many elements related to the development of industrial products, such as shoe name, number, and barcode, creating a unique industrial design style.

Celebrity influencer marketing "spares no effort"

In terms of marketing, the three major brands are also "each showing its own magic". For example, ANTA is making consumers aware of KT7 and its new technologies by hosting an innovation and technology conference. "In the future, the Innovation and Technology Conference will continue to be held and become an important IP of ANTA." Cai Zhiben told the China Business Daily reporter.

"What people used to see more was the big show of clothing display. This is the first time that ANTA has released innovative technology with science and technology as the core. In addition, ANTA hopes to release such a big show every September and October in the future, releasing the latest technology of each year. Zhu Chenye, vice president of the ANTA brand and chief marketing officer of the ANTA brand, told the China Business Daily reporter.

It is reported that in order to communicate more smoothly with young consumers and enhance the influence of the brand among young consumers, ANTA also carefully designed the virtual host "Xiao Nitrogen", and she led many brand spokespersons of ANTA to appear.

Zhu Chenye introduced that in addition to the spokesperson Wang Yibo to warm up and drain the product, ANTA also invited athletes who performed very well at the Tokyo Olympic Games. "We considered that the National Games had just ended and some athletes were tight on time, so we took the online connection method to let these Olympic athletes appear in the live broadcast room and talk about how nitrogen technology can help them perform better in their daily training from the professional perspective of athletes."

Jeremy Lin, the spokesperson of Xtep, has continuously posted photos of XTEP JLIN2 on social media to create momentum for the product, and introduced XTEP JLIN2 to consumers through live broadcasting. He said the team had already designed the shoe in September last year and had spent months trying it on, and he had tried it on for nearly half a year. During the design period, the team tried a lot of materials, this time the material is much better than the XTEP JLIN2, and the rebound and actual combat experience are also very good, I hope the fans can like it. In addition, XTEP JLIN3 is already under discussion.

Li Ning also made the most of the influence of his spokesman Dwyane Wade. It is reported that Dwyane Wade often shows Li Ning's basketball shoes on social media, or forwards the latest developments and works of Li Ning designer Zhou Shijie. Although there is no very detailed product introduction, Dwyane Wade's picture has still aroused many fans to retweet and like. In addition, the China Business Daily reporter found on social media that many sneaker bloggers and Internet celebrities posted reviews of Wade's Way 9 unlimited editions of "moment" and "R1" basketball shoes, which triggered widespread discussion among consumers, which also increased the heat of the product.

How far domestic basketball shoes are from the high-end market

It is not difficult to see that domestic brands have made great efforts in basketball shoes, and the price is constantly approaching thousands of yuan, such as ANTA's KT7 price of 999 yuan, Xtep's XTEP JLIN2 series is 799-899 yuan. And Li Ning's Wade Way 9 Unlimited Edition "Moment" and "Test R1" directly exceeded 1,000 yuan and reached more than 1599 yuan.

Some industry analysts told the China Business Daily reporter that domestic basketball shoes have made great progress compared with before, regardless of technology content or marketing methods. In the past, domestic brands were more willing to invest resources in stores or make more substantial discounts, relying on cheap prices to attract consumers, and invested very little in scientific research. Now the scientific research awareness of domestic brands is getting stronger and stronger.

However, compared with the research and development investment of foreign sports brands, the progress space of domestic brands is still very large. Cai Zhiben frankly said that the brand still needs to correctly judge the current level of innovation. "From a sports brand's point of view, we must not claim that our current level of innovation (on an international scale) is high. However, our goal is very ambitious, and we are now demanding ourselves with high standards, from 'catching up' and 'leveling' to 'catching up', ANTA has carried out a very detailed strategic plan in five years. ”

He said that ANTA hopes that future products can compete with foreign brands in terms of performance, and can represent the country's internationalization in sports science research and innovation.

The above-mentioned analysts said that foreign brands such as Adidas were founded earlier, have the advantage of accumulating time, and the accumulation of relevant sports data is more comprehensive, and it will take a certain amount of time for domestic brands to catch up and compete with international brands. "I hope that consumers will treat domestic brands with a more inclusive and open attitude."