Chapter 21 Chapter 8 The World Is Flat (6)

The ability of multinational companies to open up the Chinese market lies in how much localization efforts they have made.On the contrary, Chinese companies need internationalization to help them compete with these "transnational wolves" who have been trying to learn localization.The outcome between them is likely to depend on who learns faster. This time, "Li Ning" had to choose internationalization. In fact, the internationalization of the footwear industry started long ago in China. Wu Xiaobo's column "Who do you want to sell the best leather shoes to?" "Describes the current situation of China's shoe industry export: "The export of Chinese leather shoes is currently completely restricted by several large distributors in Europe and America. The only way they can deal with us is to lower prices, lower prices and continue to lower prices." Therefore, the export of Chinese leather shoes manufacturers Business is already difficult and tasteless.

In contrast, although they all produce shoes, Li Ning Company is obviously in a relatively more international ranks.If certain industries are more suitable for survival in a certain stage of the economic environment, then the "Li Ning" brand priority method has made the sporting goods industry one of them. The internationalization path taken by "Li Ning" will be different from that of other Chinese companies in the future. Too early internationalization There is a business joke that says: Someone almost succeeded because he invented "Six Happiness".The story is that no matter how correct the experiment is, as long as it is a little short, "seven joys" cannot be produced.In fact, on a feasible path, far more people make mistakes than deviate from it.Mistakes can be made for a variety of reasons, the most common being: going down this road too early or too late.

When Li Ning Company tried to save its brilliant performance, it also took such a path that could only achieve "six happiness". When the initial crisis arose, Li Ning realized that its products were too conventional and could not compete with international products.As early as the year when the crisis emerged, Li Ning sold all of its inventory. One was to replenish cash flow, and another very important point was to change the product structure and produce products that could compete with international brands as soon as possible. For this business crisis, Li Ning Company blamed it on the product structure. Judging from the future business development situation, this is a correct judgment, and it is also a clear understanding of a company that has occupied the absolute leader position for several consecutive years.With this judgment, Li Ning Company chose internationalization as the main method to solve the problem.

Li Ning's old club, Jianlibao, also had a strong idea of ​​internationalization and realized part of it. In 1992, Jianlibao went to the United States. The "New York Times" published a color photo of the then first lady Hillary holding up Jianlibao to drink, and published an article introducing Jianlibao at the same time as the photo.Then, Li Jingwei flew to the United States to hold a press conference, which attracted the attention of the American market.Jianlibao Group began to enter the US market with a high profile, and decided to compete with Coca-Cola and Pepsi. "The whole world is going through globalization." Li Ning himself said to his colleagues, "If we want to become the number one in China, we must become an international brand." Affected by the Asian financial turmoil, Li Ning himself realized that multinational companies resist regional The ability to deal with the global economic crisis is relatively strong, so we began to test the international market.Since 1999, Li Ning Company has put "brand internationalization" on the strategic agenda.The company launched the second development stage towards internationalization, established the International Trade Department, and began to vigorously develop the international market. In August 1999, Li Ning Company formed a delegation for the first time to participate in the ISPO Sporting Goods Expo held in Munich, Germany. In addition to establishing an international brand image, one of the main purposes was to contact overseas distributors in order to conquer the European market.Since then, "Li Ning" has made great strides towards internationalization.

Relevant reports show that Li Ning Company regards "internationalization" as an internal behavioral process with a clear direction, not a simple goal or a symbolic symbol.From the article "Modern Management Gives Li Ning Company Wings" published in "Market News" on September 14, 2001, we can see that "Li Ning Company compares itself to a fish swimming in the sea. If you want to swim fast, you must Race with the Sharks".Therefore, they regard internationalization as their development goal.The purpose is to "let the world know that sports brands include not only Nike and Adidas, but also Li Ning, which represents China."

Therefore, Li Ning Company has taken frequent internationalization measures: In terms of product development, Li Ning Company has hired first-class designers, pattern makers, and professional development and management personnel from Italy, France, and South Korea to strengthen market research and design and development capabilities.Since then, a more lively style has been injected into the "Li-Ning" series of products, from T-shirts to sports backpacks. In the summer of 2000, Li Ning signed a contract with the French national gymnastics team, becoming the first Chinese brand to sponsor a foreign sports team.Taking this as an opportunity, in 2001, Li Ning Company shot an international commercial film "The Beauty of Sports, Shared by the World" in Paris, France.