renewed the contract with the IOC to become the official sportswear supplier for the next four years; Joining hands with UNHCR to support education and sports programmes to empower forcibly displaced children and adolescents; Signed a contract with Ethiopia's "long-distance running legend" Bekele to jointly open the "Plateau C Plan"... Last week, the ANTA brand made a lot of moves.
Anta newly signed running spokesperson Beckelle.
Intensive action directly refers to the internationalization of the ANTA brand. In this autumn, ANTA pressed the international fast-forward button.
01 The seeds of internationalization planted by the Olympics
"The renewal of ANTA's contract with the IOC is an honor, a responsibility, and the cornerstone of ANTA's future brand strategy. This is a testimony of ANTA's internationalization, behind the rapid development of China's sports industry and the cultural confidence of Chinese sports brands. A few days ago, at the signing ceremony between ANTA and the International Olympic Committee, Ding Shizhong, chairman of the board of directors of ANTA Group, said.
The cooperation with the Olympic Games, an international big IP, has made ANTA win a high reputation among foreign consumers.
During the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics last year, ANTA brand spokesperson Gu Ailing took a selfie in the dormitory of the Olympic Village and took a video of the ANTA down jacket fashion show "became popular" on foreign social media such as Facebook and TikTok, which also led to a spontaneous spread of the ANTA brand abroad.
"Starting from the Chinese Olympic Committee to the Chinese national team, Anta is the strongest domestic brand in terms of Olympic IP relevance." Ren Huitao, head of Fujian Sports Industry Research Institute, said that with the help of the big IP of the Olympics, it is more helpful for the exploration of the ANTA brand on the road of internationalization.
And that's what it turns out. In the professional competitive product weightlifting shoes, with the strong performance of the Chinese national weightlifting team, many national athletes also pay attention to ANTA weightlifting shoes. Today, athletes from many powerhouses in weightlifting countries, including Pakistan, have also begun to wear ANTA weightlifting shoes.
As the spokesperson of the ANTA brand, Lu Xiaojun, a weightlifter of the Chinese national team and an Olympic weightlifting champion, has long been highly known in the North American fitness circle and is known as the "god of war". And videos such as Lu Xiaojun's training have been played millions of times, which has also led to the fire of ANTA weightlifting products.
Anta is also clearly aware of the propagation effect of Olympic IP. In 2019, ANTA reached its first cooperation with the International Olympic Committee. Today, ANTA continues to be the IOC's official sportswear supplier for the next four years, with a contract until 2027.
Anta said that ANTA will continue to promote the implementation process of brand globalization strategy, and is committed to becoming the world's leading sporting goods group, making ANTA China a world ANTA.
Last week, ANTA announced that it officially announced the signing of Ethiopian long-distance runner and Olympic champion Kennesha Bekele as its running spokesperson, and began cooperation with the high-altitude professional running training base "Kenenisa ResortandSportCenter" founded by it to launch ANTA Running Africa's "Plateau C Plan".
This is also the first endorsement signed by ANTA in the African market.
02 Identification with values
The cooperation with the IOC is a positive move by ANTA in terms of endorsement by international institutions, and the first time to join hands with UNHCR is a new beginning.
"I believe that Chinese companies can not only become global leaders in the business sector, but also contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals." Lai Shixian, Executive Director, Co-CEO of ANTA Group and Chairman of the Sustainable Development Committee, said that participating in global humanitarian assistance is ANTA Group's social responsibility as a corporate citizen. ANTA will actively promote the equity of basic education and physical education for young people around the world, and make unremitting efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind.
It is reported that in this global strategic cooperation with UNHCR, ANTA Group hopes to support nearly 300,000 forcibly displaced teenagers in Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America and other regions to return to school by 2025 through humanitarian assistance such as donations of funds, sports facilities and equipment.
Taking public welfare projects to pave the way for brand internationalization, in the view of Zhang Qing, founder of Key Way, is a beneficial exploration of the internationalization of the ANTA brand.
"Brand globalization starts with the ambition of the brand itself." Zhang Qing said that although it is a long-term goal, "it is very important to take this step to eat the meal bite by bite, and perhaps this small step will be a big step for Anta to become a truly international brand in the future." "In addition to the problems of the commercial contract itself, cultural identity and values are unstable factors that brand internationalization needs to face. Public welfare, green environmental protection, etc. are common values recognized by consumers at home and abroad.
Not only from the level of public welfare, in July this year, Anta signed NBA superstar Kyrie Irving also attracted the attention of fans around the world. As the Chief Creative Officer of ANTA, in the new cooperation model, ANTA fully respects multiple cultural values, which has also become an important part of the cooperation between the two sides.
On February 1 this year, ANTA Group established the Southeast Asia Business Unit while adjusting its organizational structure.
For ANTA, compared with the North American market, the Southeast Asian market has a large base of Chinese. Regardless of geographical location or cultural attributes, Southeast Asia is the beginning of ANTA's overseas cultural recognition and then exploration of business success.
In fact, since the beginning of this year, ANTA's globalization strategy has been steadily advanced, expanding its market layout in Southeast Asia, and has launched direct retail business in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and other countries, and the cooperation between ANTA and SM Group has also laid the foundation for the brand's layout in Southeast Asia.
03 Risk of uncertainty
Back in 2008, under the strong influence of the Beijing Olympic Games, Chinese brands Li Ning and Anta launched their internationalization strategies almost simultaneously, and the proportion of international business revenue once increased from zero to 3%.
However, at the time, international business was not something that domestic sports brands could afford to operate. The final result is also known to everyone: since 2011, Li Ning has fallen into operational difficulties, its international business has not been expanded, and its domestic business has also taken a sharp turn; Anta also put away the brand's heart to go overseas.
Today, although today's ANTA Group has achieved the international operation of the group through acquisition, this is more like the result of local operation of foreign brands in China, rather than the result of international operation, and the internationalization of ANTA's main brand has not progressed.
There is more than one dimension to internationalization. Zhang Qing said that the internationalization of sports brands is divided into three layers, namely the internationalization of enterprises, the internationalization of brands and the internationalization of the market. "The internationalization of enterprises refers to the internationalization of business philosophy and talent structure. At this level, Anta and Li Ning have done well. ”
Today, rising domestic brands have set their sights on the latter two levels.
But these are still the weaknesses of Anta and Li Ning - in horizontal comparison, the internationalization process of Anta's main brand is still in its infancy, and it is simply incomparable with Nike, which accounts for 18% of the world and Adi, which accounts for 10% of the world. In 2022, ANTA did not release international business revenue data; The proportion of international business of Li Ning and 361 degrees is not high, 1.77% and 1.8% respectively.
In the cooperation with Owen, the promotion of the landing of ANTA channels in the North American market was also written into it.
For ANTA, the unfamiliar North American market has no channels, brand awareness, value identity, and diverse cultures are all challenges. Anta needs to adapt to different markets and consumer needs.
Challenges and opportunities coexist. Zhang Qing also said that in the field of sports, most people have a "greatest common divisor" understanding of sportsmanship and sports value. "In the international market, seeking common ground while reserving differences is a very important principle, and it is also a good prerequisite for avoiding risks in future cooperation." Let brands and foreign consumers focus on the love of sports and like this 'greatest common divisor'. ”
(Reporter Ke Guoli, Dong Yanjun)
Source: Jinjiang Economic News