On the eve of the Spring Festival in 20 14, a new store was almost quietly opened in Shanghai Meiluo City, which was being renovated, and the sign "Victoria's Secret" was hung on the door.

In the public comments, many people's first reaction is surprise-this brand that has been bought countless times before has finally entered China. However, when people rushed into the store, they found that everything was completely different from what they imagined.

Although pink and black are the main colors, the overall store design does not give people a dazzling feeling, and even the cheap film photo frames purchased from nearby IKEA are hung in an eye-catching position.

But the price of almost everything in the store is three to five times higher than the price of the brand in North America. A pair of underwear that costs about 50 yuan is priced at more than 2,000 yuan in this store, and even a pair of underwear needs 480 yuan. "Compared with foreign prices, the words' how fast people are stupid' flashed in my mind!" There is a comment written like this.

More farce, Tammy Roberts Myers, a spokeswoman for Limited Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret, said in an e-mail statement that the store in China was not officially authorized by the brand, and he repeatedly stressed that Victoria's Secret had no officially authorized store in China except Hongkong.

However, if you Google casually, you will see that Victoria's secret stores have been opened in high-end shopping centers in Beijing Yintai Plaza, Shenzhen and even Taiyuan in recent years, and some of them have been opened with the help of stars and models, and there have been many media reports.

These stores are run by a franchisee named Shanghai Max Investment Management Company. The person in charge of Max Company told CBN Weekly that they are the general agent of Victoria's Secret in China.

Actually, Victoria's secret and Max's lawsuit have been going on for two years. This is a tortuous story of an international brand entering the China market.

The reason is that in 2006, Victoria's Secret encountered operational difficulties, and the total inventory backlog was $6,543.8 +0.5 billion. In order to clear these stocks, they authorized AFB to sell in 90 countries, including China.

In 2007, a hardware-born boss successfully obtained a batch of products worth $5 million from AFB in the name of Shanghai Jintian Clothing Company through personal relationship, which was also recognized by Victoria's secret.

Due to the lack of retail experience, Jintian initially sold underwear to department stores in second-and third-tier cities, and soon failed. It was not until 20 12 that international brands were taken over by Max company that they were able to reopen decent stores in high-end business districts in Shanghai and Beijing.

Max previously owned the agency rights of several overseas fashion brands in China, including Ash. According to Ren Ningning, Marketing Director of Maisi Company, the sales right contract signed by AFB and Jintian did not stipulate a specific time limit.

However, this behavior of opening a shop without authorization attracted Victoria's secret attention, and the two sides launched a lawsuit. According to the judgment made by Shanghai No.2 Intermediate People's Court in April 20 13, Jintian was judged as unfair competition, but it did not constitute infringement of the exclusive right to use a registered trademark.

"We bought so many goods that I can't think of any other way to sell them except to open a shop." Ren Ningning said. Max will sue Victoria's secret again in the near future to defend his rights.

"Dealers are divided into authorized and unauthorized situations. If you advertise yourself as a franchisee or general distributor without authorization, it is false propaganda. This is too common in China. However, it can also be seen that Victoria has certain problems in the secret management of channels. " Intellectual property lawyer of Shanghai Dabang Law Firm especially told CBN Weekly.

Of course, ordinary consumers can't see the complicated ownership dispute behind a store. People just think it's "very different" from Victoria's secret.

In fact, from the moment Limited Brands signed a $5 million sales order with Jintian in 2007, everything about Victoria's secret in China was out of the control of the US headquarters. For Victoria's secret, this is undoubtedly a major decision-making mistake.

The brand's previous success was largely attributed to its unique marketing strategy.

Since 2000, Alexandre De Betak, a French designer who makes fashion shows for Dior, Macquarie and other luxury goods, has started to design a huge party-style fashion show for this underwear brand every year-there are both hot supermodels and the most popular singers of the year, which is comparable to a variety show with superstars.

Since 200 1, this annual big show has been broadcast live on American TV channel ABC, and now it has become one of the most watched programs in the United States.

This show not only made many models popular, but also made Victoria's Secret a dreamy, fashionable and sexy iconic brand. As the brand describes on its website, it provides a "sexy, meaningful and forever young" lifestyle for women.

More attractive than fashion shows are their approachable prices and frequent discounts. In terms of market positioning, Victoria's secret has always insisted on middle-class women.

There are many styles of underwear products, which are divided into near 10 series according to styles and functions, and the prices range from 20 dollars to 75 dollars.

In order to cultivate young consumers, it launched a cheaper and lovely pink series for college girls, and even got a discount when presenting a student ID card at checkout. If customers use exclusive membership cards, they can often get various discounts and gifts.

This product strategy has enabled Victoria's Secret to have thousands of stores in the North American market, all over the major shopping centers. Whenever the Christmas discount season comes, many female customers in downtown streets will carry huge pink Victoria's secret shopping bags.

In 20 12, Victoria's secret sales exceeded $6 billion, and its operating profit reached $ 10 billion. On the basis of underwear, Victoria's Secret has developed a series of derivatives such as makeup, skin care products, accessories and clothing.

However, the success of the North American market has always made this company uninterested in the international market.

At the board meeting in 2000, its management announced that it would not go anywhere except the United States. It was not until 20 10 that we decided to open a store in Canada, and then we opened three direct stores in Britain. It was not until two years later that it began to expand in other international markets through distributors.

But it decided to license underwear and derivative products to dealers completely separately. Except for the Middle East market, there is no dealer authorized for underwear products at present. For example, Valiram Group, a luxury goods agent, can only sell cosmetics and accessories and some discount underwear products in Malaysian and China stores.

This is bound to disappoint Asian consumers. After all, underwear is the core product of Victoria's secret. Khalid Rouissi, executive director of Valiram Group in Hong Kong and Macau, said in an interview on 20 13 that this is because of the size of underwear.

"China women and American women have different bodies, so it may not be appropriate to sell underwear products directly from the American market to Asia." Rouissi said. However, people's enthusiasm for buying Victoria's Secret on Taobao makes this reason seem far-fetched.

Max, on the other hand, has acquired underwear products that are extremely scarce outside the North American market. They think that even if the price is set at will, some people will be willing to buy it, and they don't need to spend too much time on store design and marketing. They opened the door almost immediately, hoping to make a profit as soon as possible by using this golden signboard.

Besides Milla City, according to Ren Ningning, in 20 14 years, franchisees will also open Victoria's secret stores in Chongqing, Changsha, Chengdu, Wuhan and Xiamen.

The biggest requirement for franchisees in these areas is not to have experience in fashion brand operation, but to be able to obtain shops over 300 square meters in the first-line business circle of the city, so many franchisees are in the real estate industry. In addition, in a certain area, they can also choose to open a shop anywhere.

This eventually led to the uneven experience of these franchise stores. In addition to the price completely beyond the reasonable range, due to the limitation of supply, shops in China can't get the latest and best products, and the display standards are not uniform.

Many franchisees even let models walk in underwear under the banner of Victoria's Secret at auto shows and nightclubs. In contrast, Victoria's secret store opened by Valiram Group in Hong Kong is much better.

Like American stores, four stores in Hong Kong were designed by designer Edwin Hoffman, and each store was equipped with Victoria's secret iconic giant angel wings. Five pairs of discount underwear at 298 yuan are very popular.

As the limited brand group gradually realized the importance of China market, they began to take remedial measures in recent two years. According to the spokesman, in addition to taking legal measures to solve the licensing problem, the company expects to open the first Victoria's secret cosmetics and accessories store in Chinese mainland through Valiram Group in 20 14.

Victoria's Secret really needs to take action to repair its reputation and image in China before more and more franchisees let the situation get out of control. (Source: China Business News Weekly)