When it comes to Simmons, we all think of spring mattresses that are comfortable and easy to sleep on. In the early years, Simmons has always been synonymous with luxury goods in the hearts of Chinese people because of its high prices, excellent quality, and the gimmicks that the royal family once enjoyed. It was also the number one luxury product of that era. After all, Hermès had just entered China at that time, and its popularity did not break out of this circle.
After more than 100 years of development, this well-known company has not yet become an enviable century-old store. It has even experienced seven bankruptcies, and its debt was once as high as 1 billion US dollars.
Among them, the huge impact of Chinese copycat stores on it is also one of the reasons.
The following two trademarks are more like the real and fake Monkey King, which not only affects Simmons’ market share, but also dilutes its brand influence.
▲The left side is true
But in fact, Simmons is not just synonymous with mattresses, but the name of an American furniture boss - Zalmon G. Simmons).
In 1870, during the post-war renovation period, Zalmon Simmons opened his own factory in a county in Wisconsin, mainly producing wooden insulators and cheese boxes.
A customer was unable to repay due to poor management, so he handed over a patent to Simmons to pay off the debt - this was the steel mesh spring patent that later affected people's lives around the world.
Since then, Zalmon Simmons has been deeply involved in the field of mattresses and has become a legend.
Initially, he heard customers complain that the bed board was too hard and uncomfortable to sleep on. To this end, he thought of many ways, such as stuffing thick cotton into the mattress, but it didn't take long for it to become compacted. By chance at work, he had an inspiration when he saw a spring made of wire. So, he invented the spring bed that was later comfortable and not easy to collapse.
The first spring bed was launched in 1876. Later, Mr. Simmons used his own name to establish a spring bed brand: Simmons.
With spring bed patents and manufacturing technology, Simmons became the world's largest spring bed manufacturer in 1890.
As a result, praises from all parties came pouring in. Then Simmons mattresses became a hit, and everyone praised their mattresses for sleeping well.
The wife of U.S. President Roosevelt, automobile king Henry Ford, inventor Edison, investment banker Morgan Belmont, and playwright Bernard Shaw. At that time, celebrities from all walks of life around the world were Simmons users. It is said that even the Empress Dowager Cixi is a fan.
At that time, Simmons was not just a piece of furniture, but a "social currency" that became a symbol of distinguished status and status.
In 1925, in order to meet the high-volume demand in the market, Simmons launched the first high-capacity machine, which changed the history of spring bed manufacturing. 100 years ago, Simmons could deliver mattresses directly from warehouses to customers' homes within 24 hours.
By 1929, Simmons' mattress sales reached 9 million beds a year, almost dominating the U.S. bedding market.
In 1935, Simmons entered the Chinese market and was very popular. It once became synonymous with spring mattresses, especially high-end mattresses.
In the 1960s, Simmons' performance grew rapidly, and by 1970 it had become a multinational enterprise among the top 500 companies in the world according to Fortune magazine.
Considering that mattresses are heavy and difficult to turn over and for the health of customers, Simmons launched a single-sided, no-turn mattress in 2000, which was imitated by peers. In 2013, Simmons' revenue reached 8.7 billion yuan!
There is an old saying in the marketing industry: third-rate companies make products, second-rate companies make brands, and first-rate companies make categories. Simmons’s ultimate spirit in making mattresses has made it a representative of the category.
I thought that after Simmons became a representative of a category, its position in the hearts of users would be more solid, but this is not the case.
True or False Simmons
There is a saying in China: A big tree attracts the wind; when translated into business, it means: a popular brand attracts copycats.
An unannounced video of "American Simmons" mattresses that appeared on Weibo also revealed the Simmons copycat scam in China.
The cause of the incident was that a netizen asked the blogger who shot the video for help, saying that the Simmons mattress he bought for 8,000 may be fake, and he hoped he could investigate it. So, the blogger went to a Simmons store in a furniture market to conduct an unannounced visit.
After entering the store, I saw a big Simmons trademark, and there was a very bluffing slogan in the store: Not all mattresses are called "Simmons."
In addition, the price is also high-end: a mattress costs 48,800, which makes people feel that it must be genuine.
After listening to the introduction of the salesperson of this "American Simmons" store, the secret blogger conducted a search on the US trademark registration website and found that this was a trademark that was only registered in 2014, and the brand The registrant is still Chinese.
Obviously, this so-called American Simmons is a copycat.
However, this is not the only copycat Simmons. Among the brands with the words "American Simmons" that can be found on the Chinese Internet, the names of the registrants are all Chinese names.
One of the official website addresses of Simmons in the United States is in Chinese.
It wouldn’t be scary if it were just a copycat product. The most terrifying thing is that the copycat companies have successfully registered trademarks containing the word Simmons, so they dare to blatantly fake and shoddy products.
But in fact, this method is not uncommon in the business world.
Many large companies and large groups usually adopt a unified strategy in order to prevent others from malicious competition: registering all similar trademarks.
The Alibaba trademark has registered an "Ali family": Grandpa Ali, Grandma Ali, Aunt Ali, Uncle Ali, Aunt Ali, Uncle Ali, Baby Ali...
Luo Yonghao The hammer company also comes with a nail.
Xiaomi Company has collected all kinds of rice: black rice, purple rice, orange rice, green rice... and even registered rice noodles and popcorn.
The reason why these companies register so many similar trademarks is because for the copycat army, they are good at capturing business opportunities and loopholes, and seize every opportunity to promote themselves as genuine products.
They have spotted the huge potential of these brands and use local cheap production systems to directly reap the "brand premium".
For example, Simmons has been advertising in Shenbao since the 1930s. Its brand value accumulated around the world over the past century is immeasurable. However, these brand premiums are now being used by Chinese copycat manufacturers. Harvest directly. This makes people wonder: How many Chinese families thought they bought the big brand of their dreams, but it turned out to be a knockoff?
Nowadays, faced with all kinds of copycat shops on the market, Simmons has fallen behind.
For failing to keep pace with the times, Simmons suffered a heavy blow in the business and capital circles. In the past 20 years, Simmons has gone bankrupt seven times, reorganized seven times, and now has debts of up to $1 billion. The original legendary Simmons has been abused by copycats many times, which not only directly harmed the rights and interests of consumers, but also caused the entire industry to face a "crisis of trust." For more trademark information, welcome to visit Bajie Intellectual Property Trademark Transfer Network!