In recent years, the seven wolves have gradually declined, the stock price has been depressed for a long time, the market value has evaporated by more than 20 billion, more than 2,000 stores have been closed, and the debt is as high as 3 billion. Why is the "men's clothing giant" that has been on fire for 30 years no longer beautiful?
Quanzhou, Fujian is the frontier of China's foreign exchange. Before the founding of New China, Quanzhou people went to Nanyang to make a living and took the lead in contacting suits and sewing machines. In 1980s, under the call of the policy of "three supplements" (processing with supplied materials, processing with samples, assembling with supplied parts, and compensation trade), Quanzhou became a concentrated place for overseas brand OEMs, with Shishi and Jinjiang as typical representatives, forming a grand occasion for every household to make clothes.
At the same time, Quanzhou also founded a large number of clothing brands, which became the cradle of private clothing brands in China. The hot clothing business in Jinjiang has inspired many people's adventurous spirit, and Zhou Shaoxiong is one of them.
1990, quit the iron rice bowl in the system, started a business together with Zhou and his two brothers and four high school students, and established Henglong Garment Company. Because the entrepreneurial team consists of seven people, he named his clothing brand "Seven Wolves".
Thanks to the efforts of Zhou Shaoxiong team, Seven Wolves have successively launched a variety of best-selling products, signed celebrity spokespersons, the sales volume has been rising, and the number of stores has been increasing, becoming the representative brand of Fujian clothing.
In 2004, Seven Wolves was listed on Shenzhen Stock Exchange, becoming the first listed men's wear enterprise in China. Eight years later, Seven Wolves reached its peak, and its annual revenue exceeded 3.5 billion yuan, which was 13 times higher than when it was first listed. There are more than 4,000 stores nationwide, with a market value of 25.4 billion yuan.
What are the secrets of the Seven Wolves from the obscure small clothing factory to the "king of men's clothing" that is now popular all over the country?
It is important to find the following points.
First, product innovation: from small factory to "the king of jackets"
At the beginning of its establishment, the seven wolves were unknown, and the founding team had no money to advertise and decided to study clothing products. Soon after, the seven wolves introduced the "color-changing jacket", which will change subtly with the light and observation angle, which is very cool. After the product went on the market, the response was good.
After that, the seven wolves successively introduced detachable coats, cotton-padded clothes, classic collar plaid coats and "double-sided coats" and other products. These products are very popular after being listed, and their sales volume and reputation are all in Qi Fei. Seven wolves have been the champion of jacket market for 22 consecutive years, and are called "the king of jackets".
From now on, the seven wolves at that time had a lot of user thinking. Jackets and cotton-padded clothes are thick and inconvenient to wash, and it is not good to wash too many clothes. The split coat and cotton coat can be washed separately, which solves the pain point of consumers' difficulty in washing clothes.
Generally speaking, the product line logic of Seven Wolves is divided into three steps:
The first step: enter the men's wear market through jackets, and use differentiation to create a single product explosion and become a category representative brand.
Step 2: Focus on brand positioning and user portraits, gain in-depth insight into the user needs of jacket categories, continuously upgrade iterative jacket products, and form a good business cycle model.
Step 3: Expand clothing categories other than outerwear, such as socks, underwear and other products, enrich product lines and expand market share.
Before 2008, in the factory era, brands produced clothes and then sold them to dealers and agents. Then they sell them to customers. This model is called "big wholesale model" by the industry, and the seven wolves are no exception.
At that time, channels were very important for clothing brands, and the competition between channels was fierce. All channels need differentiated products. If an enterprise has many products and models, but each product is 70 points and 75 points, it is actually difficult to attract the attention of the channel. Taking clothing as an example, only by introducing exquisite and unique clothing products can enterprises win the favor of channel parties.
Second, marketing: event marketing+celebrity endorsement+charity
The product is 1 and the marketing is 0. With good products, marketing is also very important. The marketing of Seven Wolves is mainly divided into the following three points:
① Event marketing
With the best-selling products, the seven wolves were targeted by some small clothing factories when they just stepped on the right track. These small clothing factories copied the seven wolves, and their fake clothes appeared in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The reputation accumulated by the seven wolves was greatly impacted by these fakes, which caused huge economic losses to the seven wolves.
At that time, other partners were very angry when they heard the news. Only Zhou Shaoxiong is very calm. He said to everyone: "It seems that our opportunity has come, it is from them!"
Under the planning of Zhou Shaoxiong, the Seven Wolves launched a massive anti-counterfeiting campaign all over the country. In this anti-counterfeiting activity, Zhou Shaoxiong took the initiative to contact the news media and held a press conference, saying that the seven wolves would sue the counterfeiters one by one at all costs.
However, it is found that although the seven wolves won the case, the cost of safeguarding rights is far greater than the compensation, which is not worth the candle. Many people laugh at Zhou Shaoxiong's stupidity, saying that he spent a long time trying to do business at a loss. Others say that the seven wolves should not go to court for that compensation.
However, as a result, the seven wolves gained great fame, and they jumped from a small brand to a well-known brand, and their sales increased greatly. At that time, the monthly salary of civil servants was almost that of 45 yuan, and the jackets of Seven Wolves cost more than 100 yuan, which was still in hot sale and was once in short supply.
The "True and False Seven Wolves" anti-counterfeiting activity planned by Zhou Shaoxiong is a key link in the popularity of the Seven Wolves, and it is also a classic case of event marketing.
② celebrity endorsement
In 2002, Seven Wolves signed a contract with Chyi Chin, a popular singer in Taiwan Province Province, as the brand spokesperson. At that time, Chyi Chin became popular all over the country with the song Wolf, and its powerful influence further enhanced the popularity of the Seven Wolves. The following year, Real Madrid cf came to China, and the Seven Wolves were the only designated clothes for his trip to China. With the powerful influence of real Madrid stars, the seven wolves became famous again.
Since then, a group of male stars in China have become the image spokesmen of the Seven Wolves, such as Sun, Hu Jun, Zhang Hanyu, Wang Feng, Feng and Han Yu. The spokesmen of the seven wolves cover almost half of the tough guys in the entertainment circle. Their latest signing spokesperson is "Asian trapeze" Su.
Choosing the right spokesperson around product positioning and brand tonality can promote product sales, enhance brand image and expand user groups. Seven wolves used the celebrity effect of their spokesmen to create a unique image of a tough guy, which made their brand more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
3 actively do charity.
Since 2002, the seven wolves have donated money and materials to charity every year. In 2008, seven wolves donated 5 million yuan to Wenchuan for post-disaster reconstruction; After the outbreak of the epidemic, the seven wolves donated 5 million yuan in cash and materials to support Quanzhou's epidemic prevention line, regardless of operational difficulties. According to statistics, in the past 20 years, the seven wolves have donated nearly 100 charitable projects.
On the one hand, corporate philanthropy is a concrete manifestation of fulfilling social responsibilities; On the other hand, it can enhance the social image and popularity of enterprises, narrow the distance between enterprises and consumers, and enhance consumers' goodwill towards enterprises.
From 20 13, the revenue growth of seven wolves was weak, and 20 19 improved, exceeding the peak revenue, but the net profit of that year was halved compared with the peak. After the outbreak of the epidemic, seven wolves were hit, revenue fell again, and net profit showed negative growth for the first time.
Today, the market value of the seven wolves is 4 billion, which has evaporated by more than 20 billion compared with the peak period and accumulated foreign debts of 3 billion. The former "king of men's wear" is no longer grand. The reason is not only the seven wolves themselves, but also the influence of external factors.
First, brand aging
With the upgrading of consumption, consumers' aesthetics are gradually diversified and customer groups are diverted. However, the seven wolves still take the "tough guy" route, the brand image is aging, and the sales volume is declining. Jacket clothing accounts for less and less of the total revenue, only 10%, far lower than socks and underwear of the seven wolves.
In the final analysis, the decline of the seven wolves is that in the process of consumer iteration, the newly emerging young users have not been caught.
For the seven wolves, catching young people may be a proposition with congenital deficiency. Because from the beginning to the present, its consumer group positioning is not young people. The core consumers of the seven wolves are middle-aged men, even those who are slightly younger are in their thirties. With the aging of core consumer groups, young consumers have gradually become the main consumers, and the seven wolves are facing the crisis of user gap, and the brand vitality is slowly decreasing. In this case, the seven wolves can only try their best to keep the post-80 s to make up for the vacancy of consumers withdrawing from the post-60 s. "Brand rejuvenation" has become a hurdle that the seven wolves must cross.
In fact, the seven wolves have already started to acquire young users. In 20 17, Seven Wolves spent 240 million yuan to acquire the controlling stake in karl lagerfeld, a French luxury brand with the same name as Galeries Lafayette, a famous fashion designer in China, and hatched and launched the Italian fashion brand "Wolf Totem" H and the brand "16N" for young people in an attempt to narrow the distance with young consumers.
In addition, the Seven Wolves also appeared at Shanghai Fashion Week, and launched a designer's joint name to create a national fashion style clothing; Live broadcast in cooperation with head anchors such as Viya; Cooperate with KOL to carry out "planting grass" marketing in Weibo and Xiaohongshu; As well as hunting, China Post, Hungry and other brands engaged in "cross-border joint name" clothing, but this series of actions has little effect.
Whether it can keep up with the changes of users is the key to the survival of enterprises. Brand rejuvenation is a necessary step for established enterprises.
Specifically: brand rejuvenation should do the following:
First, the products are younger. Go deep into the group of young users, gain insight into the needs of young users, gain the recognition of young people's psychological values, attitudes and lifestyles, and then design products.
The second is the younger appearance. Brand rejuvenation is not simply to design young packaging, but to be dynamic. Pay attention to the value economy of products. For young consumers, value is justice.
The third is the rejuvenation of marketing. That is, to communicate with young people in a way that young people like, we need to first find the circle that young people are keen on, understand what platform young people like, and then occupy the position of young people and integrate into the communication context of generation Z.
Brands, like products, have their own life cycle. Only by continuous rejuvenation and iteration can we maintain the vitality of the brand and not be abandoned by users.
Second, the new and old brands are attacked, and the seven wolves survive in the cracks.
Around 20 10, the rise of e-commerce has won the popularity of many online clothing brands, and online shopping has continuously impacted offline stores, resulting in a decline in sales of many offline brands, including the Seven Wolves. Starting from 20 13, the revenue of the seven wolves declined. In order not to let the performance continue to decline, the seven wolves expanded their clothing range to underwear and socks.
Not only that, the offline channel resources that the seven wolves are proud of are no longer advantages, but instead become invisible pressure with the rise of store rents. Seven wolves closed stores with poor profitability and loss of performance. Up to now, the total number of offline stores of the Seven Wolves is more than 1800, less than half of the peak period.
According to the data, up to now, there are more than 8 1 000 men's wear-related enterprises in China. Among them, there were nearly 10,000 newly registered enterprises in 20021year, with a growth rate of 14%. Under the attack of new and old brands, the life of the seven wolves is not easy.
In addition, foreign fast fashion brands such as Zara, H & ampm and Uniqlo have entered China in succession, constantly impacting local brands.
Under the attack of new and old men's wear brands at home and abroad, the seven wolves can only survive in the cracks. Coupled with the repeated epidemic, the development of the domestic men's wear market is also full of uncertainty, which makes the situation of the seven wolves worse.
Conclusion:
Users are changing all the time. In the face of changing users and changing markets, once and for all products and services are not enough. We must introduce the old and bring forth the new. Only in this way can the brand last forever.
Can the seven wolves find a way out in the internal and external troubles and create greater glories? Let's wait and see.
Reference article:
Business tip: From the king of sales to a large number of bankruptcies, how did the seven wolves go from peak to decline?
Bad finance and economics: the price-to-book ratio has fallen below 1 for a long time. Was there any investment value in the past?
Sharp knife finance: holding 4 billion asset currencies, the performance increased by 2.5 times. How did the "king of jackets" seven wolves do it in recent years?
Creating a new brand of domestic products will not only make an enterprise and change an industry, but also contribute to the economic development of China. Barnes Institute of New Domestic Products hopes to share its successful experience with more enterprises and help them upgrade their products and make new domestic products.
On 202 1, the barn launched a "paid column"-"Seize the new consumption bonus and create a new domestic explosion". 22 sections were updated in the 2022 edition, and 20 sections were updated in the 202 1 edition. Only two editions are accepted 1 time.