Text | Bai Jiajia
Just now, Xtep's character completely collapsed.
According to the latest survey results of the Beijing Half Marathon, Xtep violated the sportsmanship of fair play by allowing "pacemakers to participate as invited athletes" in violation of regulations.
Xtep later issued an apology statement saying that it was "a mistake made by the relevant staff in the registration process", and of course it did not announce the results of the relevant internal inspection and processing.
There are comments on the Internet: Xtep, who may have deep pockets, still thinks that he has the "ability to make money", so there is no need to take this punishment seriously.
Can the fluttering word "mistake" float past the most "ugly" scene in the history of Chinese marathons in the eyes of netizens?
On April 14, when He Jie crossed the finish line of the northern half of the marathon and won the championship at the urging of black athletes, even the audience and online netizens felt ashamed, and commented that "this is the most humiliating day of the Chinese marathon", "It was almost three black people who carried He Jie across the finish line in a sedan chair." ”
This kind of scene that violates the spirit of competitive sportsmanship even made the commentator who hosted the CCTV broadcast speechless for a while.
The Beijing Half Marathon is one of the most prestigious marathons in the country. Where did Xtep get the courage to "protect" the champion, and what prompted it to take risks in front of hundreds of millions of spectators?
The answer isn't complicated.
The reason for "taking risks" is that on the one hand, it is because of the company's marathon strategy, and the other deeper reason is the "playing with fire" caused by fierce market competition and growth anxiety.
1. A game that has been "manipulated".
"It's better not to do it. ”
This is the sentiment of many runners after the Beijing Half Marathon, especially when they see the final sprint of the race.
After entering the sprint stage, the black runner who was originally in the lead first discussed for a while, and then ran behind He Jie in a uniform manner, and kept giving him gestures to win the championship.
This generous scene made everyone realize that this was a "rigged" game.
At that time, insiders pointed out that He Jie was a signed athlete of Xtep, and the three black men were also wearing Xtep running shoes. "Anyone who has run the race can see that these three black men are the pacemakers prepared by Xtep Ho Jie. ”
In fact, a very unusual thing happened before the start of the game.
Two days before the start of the competition, on April 12, Jia Orenga, a signed player of Chinese Jordan, arrived in Beijing and suddenly found that he had been disqualified.
The organizing committee then announced that the sponsor (Xtep) had communicated with Jia Orirenjia on April 9 and obtained the consent of the other party before notifying the organizing committee of the disqualification.
And Jaorenga's description clearly proves that someone is "lying".
Holding a marathon is indeed a golden business, and there are at least 10 sponsors for a marathon, ranging from tens of millions to millions of sponsors.
But it's still essentially a sporting event, and it's a notoriously open event where amateurs can compete alongside professional athletes.
Erecting barriers in order for contracted runners to achieve good results may not be what a marathon should be.
At that time, He Jie did not say anything after winning the championship, but said: "This is a high-quality training session. ”
And this is the source of disappointment and even anger among netizens.
2. The marathon strategy of the sword going sideways
Why is Xtep so obsessed with letting its contracted players continue to win rankings in competitions, and even break records?
Sports brands naturally need star athletes, and star athletes need to keep performing.
When Xtep athletes cross the finish line with cheers, it also means that the brand's sales and prestige will reach a new peak.
Therefore, since its first foray into the marathon in 2007, Xtep has been sparing no effort to associate itself with the "champion" and "record-breaking".
Whether it was He Jie's Chinese marathon record at the Wuxi Marathon last month, or several of his other contracted athletes breaking records at the Fukuoka Marathon, many of the articles celebrating the athletes' outstanding results highlighted the credit of the Xtep running shoes on their feet.
This set of brand marketing strategies has indeed brought Xtep a splash of wealth.
Xtep's just-released 2023 financial report shows that the revenue of the footwear business reached 8.172 billion yuan, accounting for 58% of the total revenue.
Ding Shuibo, Chairman and CEO of Xtep Group, said, "Our industry-leading position in the running sector continues to drive the Group's business growth. Xtep has surpassed international and domestic brands in many marathons in Chinese mainland, and occupies a leading position in wearing rate. ”
To further prove itself as the preferred choice of athletes and enthusiasts, it also lists a set of data:
In the 2023 major marathon events in Chinese mainland, Xtep running shoes topped the list among all runners and runners who broke three (within three hours), and ranked first among international and domestic brands. In the recently concluded 2024 Xiamen Marathon, Xtep continued its outstanding performance, maintaining its leading position in wearing rate, reaching 41.8% and 43.8% among all runners and breaking three runners, respectively.
Champions and enthusiasts alike wear Xtep and it looks like it's really the go-to in the marathon world.
If you really think so, there is a good chance that you will fall into the "trap" of these sports brands.
In the running circle, "buying feet" has become one of the main means for major brands to improve their wearing rate data.
Specifically, it is to give athletes money, buy their "feet", and require that they must wear the corresponding brand of shoes during the competition.
In the report "Foot Buying Battle in the Marathon" released by "Lazy Bear Sports" in June last year, it was mentioned that at last year's Seoul Marathon, Dong Guojian, a member of the Chinese track and field team, wore Xtep because Xtep "bought feet" from the Athletics Association.
The wearing rate data handed over by Xtep in the financial report is likely to be mixed with the moisture of "buying feet".
This way of thinking that wants results rather than processes may be the reason for the comical scene staged in the Beijing Half Marathon.
As a sports brand, it is understandable to enhance its influence and brand power by signing up to sponsor elite athletes. But the outcome of sports competition is uncertain after all, and no matter how good the player is, it is inevitably affected by the state, and the "Jedi comeback" is the charm of sports.
As a result, some sponsors who are eager for quick success believe that instead of gambling, it is better to directly spend money to help players buy first.
Clearly, this mindset of putting the cart before the horse has run counter to the spirit of sportsmanship.
As a well-known sports brand in China, Xtep needs to withdraw from this "wrong path" as soon as possible and reduce "mistakes", even if it is not easy to do this right now.
3. Can you still find your original intention in anxiety?
Objectively speaking, Xtep has not had a good time in the past two years, and the inventory crisis caused by shrinking demand is bringing the growth of the footwear business on which it depends to a standstill.
According to the 2023 financial report data, Xtep's inventory turnover time has remained high in the past year.
In the third quarter of last year, the retail discount level of Xtep's main brand was 7 to 7.5 discounts, and the inventory turnover time was about 4.5 months. At the end of the year, although it dropped to about 90 days, it was still higher than the 60 days of Li Ning, and it was also higher than in previous years. That is, supply is still greater than consumer demand.
The imbalance between supply and demand has directly led to the stagnation of the growth of Xtep's footwear business.
Although the footwear business hit a new high in 2023, the revenue growth rate was only 5.3%, which was not only significantly behind the apparel business of 20.6%, but also a certain gap compared with the group's overall revenue growth rate of 10.9%.
Although the inventory backlog caused by shrinking demand is not only a problem faced by Xtep, in the past few years, discount promotions have also been the norm for international sports brands such as Adidas and Nike.
But the running shoe track where Xtep is located, the competition is more fierce than in other fields.
Foreign brands such as ASICS have devoted more attention to the Chinese market. Local brands such as Anta and Li Ning have also stepped up their efforts to lay out the running shoe track. Niche running shoe brands such as Ang Pao and Hoka One One have also begun to emerge.
By pricing, Xtep's 1,000-yuan high-end running shoes will meet the resistance of niche brands such as Hoka, Angpao, and Salomon. The part below 1,000 yuan is likely to be involved in price wars with brands such as Peak and Hongxing Erke, and cost performance is the strength of the latter based on the market.
The market is obviously not optimistic about Xtep's competitiveness, and its share price has fallen from HK$14.6 per share in July 2022 to HK$4.75 per share today, and the market value has evaporated by more than 26 billion.
From this point of view, Xtep's "mistake" in signing up the pacemaker as a guest athlete in the northern half marathon is actually a "rush to the doctor" under the dual pressure of the market and valuation.
In the end, although I don't know if netizens will buy Xtep's "mistake" statement, I still hope that Xtep will come up with more solid evidence to prove its innocence.
From the perspective of enterprises, if a sports brand does not even respect sportsmanship, how can it convince consumers that it will develop better products in a down-to-earth manner? It may only be a matter of time before it loses users.
Starting from the country, Chinese brands are in a critical period of going global, and every move must be won in the open.