Bimai's first running shoes were sold to consumers at the end of June last year. At present, Bimai's products have expanded from running shoes and clothing to running accessories and equipment, which are sold on Bimai's website and third-party e-commerce channels, with offline stores in Wuhan and Beijing, and a running experience center in Beijing Chaoyang Park.
Zhang Zhiyong, 48, keeps a good complexion.
This may be related to his recent frequent participation in running activities. At the end of March, Zhang Zhiyong completed the second marathon in his life-Wuxi Marathon.
It has been almost four years since I left Li Ning Company, but Zhang Zhiyong has been paying close attention to this company. After all, he has more than 20 years of working experience here, from an ordinary employee to a CEO position. He and Li Ning have also kept close contact. Not long ago, they also made an appointment to have a meal in Shunyi and exchange some sports industry topics.
In 1980s, Zhang Zhiyong, who was born in Xinjiang and grew up in Shanghai, came to Beijing to study in capital university of economics and business. During his study, he came into contact with foreign brands of sports shoes in Li Sheng Sporting Goods Store in Wangfujing. "I had the concept of sports shoes for the first time. If I remember correctly, a pair of shoes seemed to be three or four hundred dollars at that time, and our monthly living expenses were only one hundred dollars. "
At that time, Zhang Zhiyong couldn't imagine that Li Ning could reach the door of annual sales of10 billion, let alone imagine that so many companies, talents and capital would emerge in today's sports industry. Looking back, Zhang Zhiyong said with emotion: "Sometimes, the imagination is really pale."
Li Ning's 20-year career has witnessed achievements and controversies.
1992 After graduating from university, Zhang Zhiyong joined Li Ning Sporting Goods Company and held a financial position. "I remember 12 employees of the company." Zhang Zhiyong said.
Li Ning Company has just started, with a small number of employees. Zhang Zhiyong has many opportunities to communicate with Li Ning himself, covering channels and products. Zhang Zhiyong told Lazy Bear Sports that Li Ning has a good grasp of the core elements of sports such as sportsmanship and has special feelings for athletes.
Zhang Zhiyong, a financial background, is highly sensitive to numbers. In his view, the written description will make people have different understandings, but the figures are objective and fair, and the business trends and changes of the company can be clearly seen through the figures. Zhang Zhiyong was promoted quickly, and became the chief financial officer of Li Ning from 65438 to 0999.
In the early days, under the control of Chen Yihong, Li Ning Company had a smooth journey, with annual sales of nearly 654.38 billion yuan. However, external factors such as financial crisis and macro-adjustment have hindered the development of Li Ning. 200 1, Chen Yihong resigned and Zhang Zhiyong became the general manager of Li Ning Company. Two years later, Li Ning's annual sales exceeded 65.438 billion yuan. In June 2004, Li Ning Company was listed in Hong Kong, and Zhang Zhiyong became the CEO and executive director.
"There are many capable people, but for various reasons, Mr. Li Ning chose me. This is trust, thanks to Mr. Li Ning. " Zhang Zhiyong expressed his gratitude for this.
During Zhang Zhiyong's administration, he constantly tried and explored the business and mode, leading the company to make rapid progress in the number of stores, brand matrix, multi-category layout, internationalization and other dimensions. By the end of 20 10, Li Ning had more than 7,900 stores in China, and had the right to operate Double Happiness, AIGLE (French outdoor brand) and Lotto (Italian sports and leisure brand) in China. Through the two-pronged strategy of agency and self-management, Li Ning has also opened stores in China, Hongkong, Singapore, Spain, the United States and other countries and regions.
20 10 is the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Li Ning Company. Zhang Zhiyong launched the strategy of brand remolding, and made major adjustments to brand DNA, target population and product positioning. The new slogan is "Make The Change", and the new logo abstracts Li Ning's original "Li Ning Crossing" action. This year, Li Ning's turnover reached the peak of 9.4785 billion yuan.
When talking about the name change plan, Zhang Zhiyong explained to Lazy Bear Sports, "Although I have always been a professional manager, I have always positioned myself as an entrepreneur, because many things I do are based on entrepreneurs. 20 10 began to make a new brand advertising language, including the change of product line. In fact, the risk is very high, and professional managers may not necessarily do it. But if you see some obvious problems, you have to do it. From the long-term development of a brand, an entrepreneur will definitely do this, because he will not consider short-term operation, but look at how to operate in the long run. This is very important. "
"As long as any brand has been doing it for twenty or thirty years, it will definitely encounter the problem of brand aging." This is also the reason why Zhang Zhiyong took the initiative to change. "At that time, I especially wanted to transfer our main audience to the younger side. Mr. Li Ning is also very supportive of our team's decision. "
It backfired. The surge in operating costs leads to the high retail price of products, and the lack of control over retail terminals brought about by the business model of joining dealers ... A series of complicated reasons lead to the backlog of Li Ning's inventory, the decline in product cost performance, and the loss of competitiveness in the third-and fourth-tier markets, with complaints from retailers and consumers. Although Li Ning has re-integrated retailers and operators since then, the sword of Damocles has always hung over his head because of inventory problems.
"I divide some problems into two categories, one is cyclical and the other is the turning point of the trend."
In Zhang Zhiyong's view, inventory is a cyclical problem. The industrial chain of shoes and clothing is long, and it takes a long time to respond from design and production to terminal retail.
"In addition, by 2009 and 20 10, the sporting goods industry in China has reached a turning point." Zhang Zhiyong took the distribution link as an example to illustrate. "the turnover of retail stores has begun to match all the costs they bear. Many single-store profits have declined and discounts have increased. This is actually due to the back-end problems of the industry, including the sharp rise in labor costs. These are turning points. "
These problems are particularly prominent here in Li Ning Company. 20 1 1 year, Li Ning's annual revenue was 8.929 billion yuan, down by 5.8% compared with the previous year, and its net profit plummeted by 65. 19% to only 386 million yuan, ranking among the top five domestic sporting goods brands (Anta, Xtep, 36 1 degree, and.
For a time, Li Ning's voice came and went. In the face of declining performance, many senior executives of Li Ning Company have left their posts one after another.
During the 20 12 Spring Festival, Li Ning laid off nearly 30% of its staff. Under heavy pressure, Zhang Zhiyong also resigned as CEO of Li Ning Company in July this year.
Looking back, Zhang Zhiyong told Lazy Bear Sports that Li Ning Company is the leader of domestic sports brands and needs to take the lead. "Li Ning's renaming is an exploration of changes in business trends and the status quo of its own brand. Looking back today, this process may be subject to ability, experience, knowledge and environment, but I think this sense of mission and the feeling of letting all of us try are really good. " Zhang Zhiyong said.
"It takes time, place and people to do one thing. Everyone has their own limitations and experience is wealth. " Jasmine Zhang, a former employee of Li Ning and now the CEO of Kaiwei Sports Consulting Company, commented.
"I am a more open-minded person and will not be entangled in the past." Zhang Zhiyong said.
Keep up with sports changes in China and build Bimai brand.
After leaving office, Zhang Zhiyong almost disappeared. There is little news about him except that he became an independent non-executive director of Qianbaidu in June 20 12 and resigned as a non-executive director of Li Ning in June 20 14.
"After leaving Li Ning Company, I had a rest for a while. At that time, some questions were not thought clearly. " Zhang Zhiyong said he was looking for the right time to come back.
20 14 10 the State Council No.46 was officially released. With the introduction of the policy, the sports industry has changed rapidly, sports investment institutions and entrepreneurial projects have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, the copyright and IP prices of sports events are high and in short supply, and almost all aspects of the sports industry such as clubs, venues, sports media and intermediaries are changing.
A group of company executives either joined sports startups or started their own businesses, including Zhang Xiangdong, the former president of Jiubang Digital (3G Portal) who joined 700BIKE as a co-founder, and Yan Qiang, the former deputy editor-in-chief of Netease Portal who founded Secco Football, was in charge of the VIP bird IPO project in the investment bank, and now he has founded Wang Yihe, who is slim.
"About 20 14, I feel that some things have an answer." Zhang Zhiyong said. According to the statistics of journalists, from June 20 15 to March 20 16, there were 257 investment and financing events in China sports industry, with a total amount of17.4 billion yuan.
"From 20 15 to now, it is a big change that I have never seen in my sports career for more than 20 years. In the past, it was a business model centered on sports equipment, which was closest to the needs of users. Now the entire sports value chain has undergone such great changes, which has never happened before. " Zhang Zhiyong pointed out that capital is an accelerator.
At the same time, the per capita GDP of the mainland continues to rise, and the acceleration of consumption upgrading has also brought the sports industry to the node of rise and outbreak. Because, according to the experience of European and American countries, when the per capita GDP reaches 8000 dollars, physical fitness will become the pillar industry of the national economy. In 20 13 and 20 14 years, the per capita GDP of China was $6,767 and $7,575 respectively.
"Consumption upgrades will inevitably bring product upgrades." Zhang Zhiyong believes that "in a country as big as China, after the consumption upgrade, the value of market segments will be stimulated, which is no longer the traditional basketball, running and other markets."
Zhang Zhiyong plunged into the entrepreneurial tide. Bimai, the internet sports brand he founded, opened on February 2, 20 15, starting with running.
"Now everyone is talking about starting a business. Becoming a brand of Bimai is the continuation of my career. Because I have seen more trend changes and want to explore with new models. " Zhang Zhiyong said, "I am a curious person. I have opportunities in this field. Why not give it a try? The process is more important than the result. "
"Zhang Zhiyong's advantage lies in his accumulated experience in leading Li Ning from about 654.38+billion to nearly 654.38+billion, and his mastery of the rules of sports shoes and clothing industry." Ma Gang, an independent observer of the sporting goods industry, pointed out to Lazy Bear Sports, "But there is a big difference between being a good brand from 0 to 1 and being a big brand from 1 to N."
After starting a business, Zhang Zhiyong began to try running. For more than a year, he has completed two marathons. In addition, he began to use more and more Internet products and services such as e-commerce.
In Zhang Zhiyong's view, technological changes have brought about changes in consumers' lifestyles, which in turn have affected changes in business models. Among them, new technologies such as chip technology, 4G transmission, cloud technology and big data have shortened the communication path between brands and products and users, thus changing a series of business links such as communication, marketing, promotion and interaction.
Bimai's first running shoes were sold to consumers at the end of June last year. At present, Bimai's products have expanded from running shoes and clothing to running accessories and equipment, which are sold on Bimai's website and third-party e-commerce channels, with offline stores in Wuhan and Beijing, and a running experience center in Beijing Chaoyang Park.
On May 18 China Sports Industry Cross-border Summit, Zhang Zhiyong said, "There is no obvious LOGO on our products, most companies will put it in front, our LOGO will be placed on the side, and the LOGO of our shoes will be hidden inside. It doesn't have to represent anyone, as long as it suits you. This is our philosophy and is in line with the trend of future consumers. "
Zhang Zhiyong told reporters that there will be some changes in the trend of sports equipment. "The first is the quality brought by consumption upgrading. Most people will choose quality things more and more. The second core is market segmentation because everyone's lifestyle will become more and more different. "
Bimai now has a team of nearly 50 people, in addition to some traditional industries, there are young talents in the fields of Internet and IT. All employees in the company are runners. "In our business model, we can extract three core DNA: sports, technology and the Internet." Zhang Zhiyong said.
"If there is no accident, we should all be able to make tens of millions of annual income." Zhang Zhiyong said that Bimai's main shareholders are him, management and external friends, and he has not considered financing for the time being. "There are no financial investors, because we have enough cash flow in all aspects, and there is no need to carry out our own strategy first. I am still very cautious about taking money, because everyone has a different foothold. "
According to Zhang Zhiyong's plan, Bimai will enter more subdivided fields, such as ice and snow projects, when the running products gradually mature.
In the way of realizing cash, Bimai plans to make products first, and then gradually extend to services. "Our requirements for realization are very high, because China consumers are still willing to pay for physical products, and the realization of services will take some time." Zhang Zhiyong said.
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