Li Ning used to be the king of authentic Chinese sports fashion brands, but today, this "national tide brother" has fallen to the end of coveting privatization. Let's go back to the source and analyze the past and present of Li Ning.
As China's first domestic brand to sponsor the Asian Games, Li Ning's start is undoubtedly advantageous. In the environment of scarcity of domestic brands, Li Ning is in short supply, and the factory capacity is completely unable to meet the market demand. Even if it was later overtaken by Nike and Adidas, it was still able to rely on its continuous performance growth and sit firmly in the top spot of domestic sports brands for a long time.
But just after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Olympic frenzy receded. Seasoned international brands are keenly aware of the cooling of the market and are selling their goods at discounts. In contrast, Li Ning failed to brake in time, but instead wanted to seek transformation, and directly stepped on the accelerator of "high-end + younger", starting a disastrous marketing war.
Have you noticed that Li Ning is the "national tide brand" that wore a "tomato scrambled egg" color scheme and made a cool appearance at New York Fashion Week! That's right, the big show in 2018 was the pioneering work of Li Ning's transformation into a "national tide" route. Subsequently, sub-brands such as "China Li Ning" and "Li Ning 1990" sprung up, and the product line was also fully adjusted to the high-end, and the price rose sharply.
Although Li Ning's series of operations won the brand a "national fashion style", it also greatly reduced the personal experience of the general public - soon, consumers accused Li Ning of deviating from its original intention at the high-end, and the product positioning was also fluctuating.
The most laughable thing is that Li Ning is constantly raising prices and discounting frantically, and the entire brand image seems to be dismantling itself in a self-contradictory way. Consumers have finally made up their minds: "I understand everything, and I believe that the genuine product is only about 200 yuan, and you can buy it at this price." "
But I also have some staunch Li Ning fans around me, and they say that although Li Ning's business methods are not very good, the professionalism and scientific and technological content of the products are still worthy of recognition. However, the reality is that Li Ning's investment in research and development in recent years is much lower than that of its peers, and many professional athletes have also been injured due to wearing Li Ning shoes during competitions.
In my impression of Li Ning, this brand always seems to be hovering between product power and marketing power, and suddenly I am focused on marketing and advertising, and suddenly I finally remember the importance of research and development. With the blessing of marketing power, the brand has indeed won some exposure, but it has always been difficult to make a breakthrough in product power, which will naturally affect the brand image in turn.
Now it seems that the once "anything is possible" sports brand was torn between fashion and professionalism, failed to grasp the opportunity, and finally fell off the altar.
But I also hope that Li Ning can re-find its own positioning in the future, focus on polishing its product strength, carefully manage professional sports and related fields, and exchange patience and perseverance for consumers' recognition of quality. Only in this way can the former "king of the national tide" reshape the myth and scale new heights.