Shanshan: The Value Proposition of Fashion Headhunting

At the Boao Forum for Asia 2012, Zheng Yonggang, chairman of Shanshan's Board of Directors, remarked at the roundtable meeting of private entrepreneurs again: “As an investment institution, if you only specialize, this is definitely wrong. Private companies There is no real access threshold, so you can only diversify."

The appearance of such a high-profile statement in such high-end official forums has clearly made it possible for the manufacturing industry in the past to be involved in diversification and to be more confident. However, if this position is understood as the willingness of Shanshan to abandon the halo of the fashion community and define it as a capital animal of the investment community in the east and the west, it is clear that there is a suspicion that it is out of context—for the apparel industry. Zheng Yonggang mentioned in numerous occasions that the “compassion” of the apparel industry cannot be fully covered. At the end of March 2012, at the China Clothing & Accessories Fair (CHIC) 2012, Shanshan took a booth of nearly 700 square meters and took the “multi-brand, internationalization” camp again to make a debut. It released the heart of the fir trees and did not withdraw from the apparel sector. Instead, It will strengthen the strategic intent of the strategic operation of the clothing sector.

Recently, the reporter interviewed Li Qiming, vice president of Shanshan Co., Ltd., which also confirmed and revealed the strategic development trend of Shanshan in the new stage of development, creating a distinct hierarchy of clothing brands and arranging consumer segments. For this company that wants to create itself as a "China General Trading Company" like Japan's Itochu, the way of Shanshan's exploration is more like a lively experimental experiment. It is a long-term pursuit for Chinese apparel companies. The road has an unusual symbolic meaning.

Role Orientation in Multi-brand Street View

It is not difficult to see that, as a frequent guest of CHIC, Shanshan hopes that this debut will inadvertently reveal a “situational sensation” and a “combination sensation” that are on Fifth Avenue in New York. With the “Street View” as the context, Shanshan Group has fully exhibited the nine brands under its operation. The theme of “Integrating Multiculturalism and Enjoying Global Fashion” is vivid. This can not be reminiscent of last March's Shanshan "rebranding" move. The change of Shanshan clothing indicates that the formal launch of the new brand strategy of Shanshan Enterprises and the comprehensive promotion of the “integrated dissemination” strategy. However, according to Li Qiming, vice president of Shanshan Co., Ltd., compared to the massive appearance of the Big Mac in the past, this time, Shanshan wants to express it, which is concise and profound.

First of all, it is the formation of “differentiated positioning” with brands similar to external ones. In an interview with reporters, Li Qiming stated that “many brands rely on single-products to create relatively differentiated competition, but with the re-development of the company’s scale, large and complete product line coverage has allowed companies to gradually fall into a new round. The homogenized state of operation, the original star single product effect will be weakened." Li Qiming believes that "at this time, to shape new differentiated competition, we need to reposition the company's new core value, around this core positioning to achieve Value extension.” Second, it is to form a “division of positioning” within its own brand echelon. Li Qiming believes that “there is no position in size, in the Shanshan brand echelon, from high to low, from niche to the public, from classic to leisure and outdoor, each brand's target audience should be very clear, clear positioning of the premises In order to achieve a stable 'footprint' in the relative saturation of market competition, we take the example of several international brands currently operating in Shanshan. Although all of them are all “faces of the ocean”, they all have different colors. Different uniqueness has formed a certain dislocation in the hearts of consumers. From Paris
The Francessco Smalto brand is known for its “Aristocratic Temperament” that adheres to the complete Haute Couture menswear product line; MarcoAzzali Menswear is mainly aimed at the apparel market with strong business sense; LUBIAM combines the classic Italian style with the modern sense of the washing process; Le Coq Sportif, the sports brand from France, is different from the general sports and sports brands, and pays attention to conveying the idea of ​​exercising in order to reflect their own lifestyles and impressions.

In Li Qiming's view, the “secondary subdivision” of product positioning is an important development proposition that Shanshan is facing during the “second venture”—it is not only an active expression of this old-fashioned brand’s “going to age”, but also In the past, the role of "Saishan suit, not too cool" was returned and the new transcendence.

Business Sense of "Global Fashion Headhunting"

When asked during the interview about “What is New Shanshan?” Li Qiming’s answer is very simple – what Shanshan wants to do is “a integrator and arranger of global resources” in each group. This is particularly true between business segments, especially in the apparel industry segment. This answer, to a certain extent, confirms the previous observations of the Shanshan by the media: “The Shanshan Empire, now established by Zheng Yonggang, is deeply rooted. The relationship between assets is the most basic of Shanshan enterprises. Production relations.” In this type of trading company organization that blends the three basic elements of state-owned enterprises, Ningbo merchants’ culture, and private investment, the bond of capital has become the traditionally purely traditional manufacturing enterprise of Shanshan, and turned to The important sign of the transformation of the comprehensive brand operation platform - a clear sense of the target investment, coupled with the strength and skill of investment, is an important strategy for Shanshan to balance its own large-scale development and connotative development.

“For the apparel sector, the bond of capital links makes today’s Shanshan more like a headhunting for a global fashion brand.” Li Qiming believes that this is also Shanshan’s interpretation of the “peak strategy”: in the next stage, Shanshan will Continue to choose the opportunity to cooperate with top international brands and establish Shanshan’s position as a benchmark in the high-end fashion business district. Moreover, these international top brands must be "commercial" rather than those high-end and over-diverse luxury brands. According to reports, Smalto's China product positioning is a three-pronged approach. Top-level haute couture, high-grade ready-to-wear, and stylish casual wear are subdivided into Smalto, Smalto ready-to-wear, and Smaltoby. In the future, Smalto will be divided into Smalto top store/flagship store with custom-made and first-line product portfolio, Smalto first-line product and Smaltoby second-tier product portfolio, and Smaltoby products, combined with Smalto first-line product portfolio. . “Smalto will continue to expand the quantifiable commercial space while guaranteeing the scarcity of value.” Li Qiming commented on the expansion route of Smalto's Chinese fashion map - “It is possible to separate and merge into the same brand spirit. Retreat, based on its own resource advantages and the actual market demand, to achieve partial product line innovation."

Forces the "value magnetic field" of clothing industry

There have been comments from the media that: In 2011, Zheng Yonggang proposed to create a goal of 100 billion yuan of "Chinese trading companies." However, observing his layout and a series of actions during the past year, he will find that Zheng Yonggang's development path is “not just the development of a diversified industry” but “already on the road to a unique industrial capitalization”. Then, in this Chinese-style trading company involved in the clothing, energy, finance, investment, metals and other industries, what is the position of the "clothing" section of Shanshan? In the stage of filtering out the virtual economic bubble and realizing the new round of rising tide of realizing value return, where will the Shanshan clothing go? For the clothing industry that has long been labeled as "traditional", how will it design a non-traditional industrial capitalization path?

According to Li Qiming, after the Spring Festival in 2012, Zheng Yonggang summoned the senior executives of Shanshan to hold an internal strategic analysis meeting, re-emphasizing the position of the main clothing industry as the “base industry” of the group. Zheng Yonggang also highlighted the current relationship among the Group's internal investment in the three major sectors, new energy and fashion industry. Based on the "strong correlation" between investment and fashion industry, the company will continue to deepen the "value integration" of the internal resources of the group and strengthen the "cooperation" between the investment sector and the fashion sector. It is worth noting that Zheng Yonggang changed the traditional expression of the “garment industry” to “fashion industry”, which actually paved the way for the cross-border extension of the Shanshan clothing sector itself. In September last year, Shanshan's first outlet project, “Suiping Outlet Square”, operated for two months and a good starting point of turnover of 50 million yuan, which could be considered as a branch of Shanshan clothing. Extend your antennae to the signals of fashion commercial real estate. It is understood that after the success of the first Outlets, Shanshan will continue to cooperate with Mitsui and replicate Outlets to the whole country, striving for 15 to 20 outlets within the country within 10 years. As a result, the connotation of industrial capitalization has a new solution. Based on the market opportunities of consumption upgrading, the integration of brand economy and circulation channel capital will inevitably break through the limitations of inherent commercial channels and release the joint force of 1+1>2.

If it is possible to achieve horizontal flow of resources and common value-added within the group, it can be considered a wise move of “flood and water does not flow outside people”. Shanshan Group will continue to create and make a contribution to the “valuable magnetic field” of garment industry, continue to integrate resources, and continue to radiate value. Only the formation of a balance between scale effect and premium ability, forging a “Fashion Brand Dream Team” dominated by Chinese companies, is the favorable proof that it really sat on the top spot in the apparel industry.