[Interview] Chunyazi Chunye, general manager of children's clothing Jiang Yuyu: Spring buds change concept

[Interview] Chunyazi Chunye, general manager of children's clothing Jiang Yuyu: Spring buds change concept

[Interview] Chunyazi Chunye, general manager of children's clothing Jiang Yuyu: Spring buds change concept

Chunzako was established in 1996. In the Ningbo area where processing and manufacturing are the mainstay, Chunzako has firmly established the road to brand development from the very beginning.

“In the beginning, the products of the spring buds were mainly sweaters. In the local market where the number of brands was not much at the time, the development of spring buds was very good.” Jiang Yuyu told reporters that at the time, the hair of spring buds. The sweater products have already been sold to the national market. At the best time of development, Chunzazi has 300 to 400 counters in shopping malls across the country.

The good development of the spring buds further strengthened the determination of Jiang Yuyu as a brand. In 1999, Chunzao made a full line of brands and expanded its product categories. Among them, the children's sweater products of Chunzhezi also made a high reputation in the national market. However, with the promotion of the Chunyezi brand strategy, Jiang Yuyu discovered that the prospects for brand development are not as optimistic as he imagined.

Ten year exam

“When I looked at the surrounding brands, I discovered that most of the brands that we started with us in the 1990s have now disappeared.” Jiang Yuyu believes that 10 years is a big test for brand enterprises, and many companies have been able to escape for 10 years. Life cycle. This is obviously related to the current status of the local apparel industry brand development.

For instance, Jiang Yuyu told reporters that in his view, branding is like holding a pot in the wild. Enterprises must continue to add firewood and boil the scent of something to attract passers-by to taste. The passers-by feel that the things they cook are delicious and they will continue to eat. If they are not good, they may leave. “And in this metaphor, the pot that is set up is the brand that the company operates. Firewood is money. In addition to the high cost of the enterprise support pot, there is not enough money to support it, and it is difficult for companies to make influence on the brand.” Jiang Yuyu said.

The profound understanding of brand development also allowed Jiang Yuyu to focus on controlling the development volume of the brand when he was developing spring buds, and did not carry out blind channel expansion.

"Being a brand must grasp the pace of its own development, control the market quota, and do not expand blindly. Otherwise, when the economy is not well developed and the market is depressed, companies will end up with too many stores," said Jiang Yuyu. The cautious attitude in brand development and channel strategy also makes Chunzazi more secure and long-term than the average company.

“Although the spring buds have been developed for 18 years, we don’t have a lot of shops. Once I think some stores are not operating very well, they will jump out in time. We are more concerned about the quality of the shops.” Jiang Yuyu told reporters, although The current number of shops for Chunzazi is small, but the company's cash flow and operating conditions are very stable, and the company's strength is still quite guaranteed.

Even so, Jiang Yuyu did not find a lot of security from the current state of development of Chunzao. In his view, with the economic development and changes in the channel environment, "the future of brand development will become increasingly variable."

Exit the mall

“With the development of e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, JD.com, and Dangdang, as well as the emergence of professional markets such as Sijiqing and Baima, the number of children's wear brands that have emerged in the past 10 years has increased.” Jiang Yuyu told reporters that the rapid development of diversified channels, The children's wear brand with malls as the main channel also poses a great threat.

In order to deal with the low-priced impact of online platforms, many shopping malls also continue to require companies to buy 200 yuan to send 200 yuan and other promotional activities to win the end consumer market, which in Jiang Yuyu looks like killing chickens.

"The model of cooperation between shopping malls and brands has not changed, but it has mandatory requirements for companies to conduct low-cost promotions. This further squeezes the profits that the company has left." Jiang Yuyu told reporters that according to his understanding of the situation, there are many Companies that use mall channels do not make money, not only in Ningbo, but also in first-tier cities such as Beijing.

“I have specialized in shopping malls in Beijing and Tianjin. In addition to the fixed three or four brands in most shopping malls, other clothing brands have also been adjusting.” In Jiang Yuyu’s view, the development of clothing companies in the shopping mall channels has become apparent. The bottleneck. “In many city shopping malls, the proportion of clothing continues to decline. Instead, there are many small commodities and food shops. In the future, this trend will become even more apparent.”

In this regard, Chunzai also adjusted its channel layout. “Our current channels are mainly store-based, and offline sales are stable,” said Jiang Yuyu.

The adjustment of the channel strategy is important, but Jiang Yuyu believes that the important reason that can support Chunzao’s development for many years is that the company’s “multiple legs” walk.

The turn of the crisis

As early as the spring bud brand development achieved initial results, in 2002, Chun Yazi began to develop industrial. “We buy land for ourselves and establish a processing factory. We are responsible for all aspects of production of clothing products from production to design. At present, our production base has more than 300 employees, and in addition to the production and processing of our own brand, we will also take orders from some OEMs. “Chen Pei Pei, deputy general manager and brand creative director of children's clothing, said.

However, at the time of the financial crisis in 2008, the survival conditions of Chunzazi's processing plants suffered great difficulties. "At that time, the number of foreign trade orders dropped sharply, which caused a great impact on our processing plants," said Jiang Yuyu.

The opportunity also appears at this time. “At the time, our local people’s congresses and the CPPCC proposed many opinions on the school uniforms. The leaders of the Ningbo education system proposed that Chunzazi should be responsible for the design and production of the school uniforms.” Jiang Yuyu admitted to the reporter that the price and profit of the school uniform were low, but the production requirements were low. In particular, the demand for fabrics is very high, so the average company is reluctant to enter this field. “But at that time, the situation of foreign trade was not good. Accepting school uniform orders at least could maintain the factory's production and operation. In view of this, I agreed at that time.”

The spring buds' experience in processing children's clothes for many years has enabled them to enter the field of student wear, which has greatly promoted the development of Ningbo school uniform industry. “At the time, many enterprises in Ningbo school uniforms were small enterprises with poor production qualifications. Although their school uniform production started early, but the product quality was low and the quality was poor.” Jiang Yuyu said that the insufficient competition in the industry has also given rise to After entering the school uniform industry, it soon achieved a good development.

With the support of a strong design team and processing plants, Chunyezi has become the largest enterprise in Ningbo student wear production. Its product style is dominated by the British style and Japanese and Korean styles, and has received a good response in the market. "Currently, one-third of Ningbo's school uniforms are made by Chunxuzzi, and most of the famous schools in Ningbo are also produced by Chunzao." Chen Peipei said.

Although the spring buds in the uniform production field have an absolutely obvious competitive advantage, Jiang Yuyu told reporters that Chunzai did not intend to monopolize the Ningbo uniform market. “We now focus on schools that focus on small-scale and more remote schools to let other companies do it.” Chen Peipei told reporters that this is mainly related to the school uniform's own product characteristics, uniform products need more follow-up services. For example, it is necessary to modify the number of school uniforms and other ancillary services." Therefore, too remote areas, spring buds are also difficult to take into account.

The deep cultivation in the field of school uniforms has also allowed Chunxue to develop rapidly in the student loading market in recent years. “At present, the sales of our school uniforms can account for 35% of the company’s total sales, and next year, our development center will also be placed on the development of the student loading market. We are also interested in expanding the kindergarten clothing market,” said Chen Peipei.

Although the profit of student equipment is limited, this does not shake the determination of the development of student equipment. “In China's economically volatile market environment, the children’s clothing market will continue its existing pattern and will not have much development. Although students’ equipment is not profitable, it’s a student’s just-needed product. Therefore, the school uniform product It will become an important driving force for the development of Chunzao in the future,” said Jiang Yuyu.