Semir Develops High-End Market Agent, German Brand Marc 'O Polo

Semir has become Germany's high-end brand Marc 'O Polo China general agent.

If you visit Beijing's New Oriental world frequently, you can find many interesting things.

From the shops that are constantly opening and closing, you can see the strategic progress of the brand. Nike, a Nike on the first floor, has been closed for a few days due to its poor performance, instead of a German brand Marc 'Polo.

In May 13th, the opening of the Beijing store, Hemingway's granddaughter Dree Hemingway and Wu Chun were invited to the platform for the event.

This is the first time they have entered the Beijing market.

Last August, they had their first store in Shanghai.

Before entering China, the company has 50 years of history and more than 200 stores in the world.

They were very cautious. They consulted Roland Begg, a consultant company. They wanted to open the first store in Beijing, but the process of entering Beijing was not smooth. They did not understand China and had no connection with the major property groups.

Reporters found some interesting things in the process of chatting with Marc 'O Polo CEO.

The CEO said it is not easy for any foreign company to enter China. Before entering China, he called Hugo Boss's top executives for some advice.

People in Hugo Boss suggest that they must have their own direct stores.

But the CEO still wants to find a suitable partner in China to operate in China in the form of agency.

Later, they found "Sen Rui dress".

According to Sen Rui's suggestion, Marc 'O Polo has been stationed in the Shanghai market most recently, and Sen Rui has also become the general agent of Marc' O Polo in China.

Most people have never heard of this company, but when you mention the Semir "what to wear", you will know.

Semir, founded in 1996 in Wenzhou, focuses on the popular casual wear market, and has its own children's clothing brand. It occupies a large share in the middle and low end market, but for a long time they do not have a high-end line.

In order to segment the high-end market, most of China

Companies like to register companies overseas, but the design, production and sale of products are entirely in the mainland of China. In fact, mainland consumers do not buy such "fake foreign brands". This self built high-end secondary line has a relatively slow market share.

They decided to try different ways.

In 2012, Semir set up an investment company, which specializes in foreign high-end brands, and wants to cooperate with foreign brands in the form of agents, joint ventures, acquisitions, etc., to help them enter China, and to divide the high-end market.

Two years later, the investment company set up "Sen Rui dress". Marc 'O Polo is their first brand. This is an internal venture of Semir. At present, there are 10 individuals in charge of the agency and operation of high-end brands in Europe and America.

We went to chat with Sam Rui's clothing chief Kim Kim Jun.

Jin Kejun said that at the beginning of his founding, Sen Rui has identified a direction: not to touch luxury goods, luxury goods market is not as good as before, and does not conform to the principle of rational consumption, but high-end.

The opportunities in the market are good. Some of the old European players are very successful and experienced, but they do not enter the Chinese market. The consumption pattern of the Chinese people is changing obviously. And Semir is in urgent need of developing high-end lines.

Jin Kejun had worked in Semir for 9 years before he entered the company.

He worked in investment companies mentioned earlier, and then came into contact with many foreign high-end brands.

In early 2013, at the Bread&Butter exhibition in Berlin, Germany, they first met Marc'O Polo. They thought it was a very mature old enterprise, and there was a large booth in the core exhibition area.

Jin Kejun and his colleagues also met other high-end brands who wanted to enter China through the exhibition. They spent a year screening the brand, considering whether the brand positioning is in line with China's consumption habits. Is the clothing version suitable for China? After several brands have been identified, business negotiations are finally launched, and finally they regard Marc'O Polo as their first partner.

In an interview with reporters, Jin Kejun said they originally wanted to set up a joint venture with Marc'O Polo, but because of the prudence of German brands, they are still acting as a general agent. Shen Rui is responsible for all the Chinese affairs such as location and operation, but does not rule out the establishment of a joint venture company in the future.

So when the location of the new store is located, Sen Rui will invite the brand side to come to China to see the place, make decisions and strengthen mutual understanding.

Another angle

The first store is very important. It is the key to landing the brand image to China. It is under the suggestion of Sen Rui that Marc O 'Polo put the first store in Shanghai.

In Beijing, they chose the New Oriental world. The Oriental new world gathered a lot of luxury brands and leisure brands on the edge of Wangfujing street. Sen Rui felt that this positioning and brand were quite good.

Jin Kejun told reporters that the most difficult part of cooperation with brands is cultural differences.

European brands themselves have good brand heritage. For the opening ceremony of Beijing, the market department of Senrui and Germany has been planning for more than half a year, and there are many disputes between them.

For example, in China, sponsors like to invite celebrities to do any promotional activities, and the media are more informative.

But for the brand side, they feel that their popularity is very high and they do not need stars. They prefer to invite artists.

Brand and China are the two markets, and there will inevitably be some different opinions in the process of cooperation.

Jin Kejun said that these differences still need to be resolved in one communication, and eventually reach a consensus.

Now, there are only 10 people in the team. He is trying to control the number of people. He does not want to be overstaffed. He feels that everyone is tight and a little bit more.

Like many foreign brands, Marc'O Polo will soon be stationed in Tmall.

Under the Semir group, there is a subsidiary responsible for the electricity supplier. It has a relatively complete framework for doing business on Tmall, Jingdong and vip.com.

After the brand pulled in, Sen Rui was responsible for the operation strategy, and the electricity supplier company carried out operation and maintenance.

This is only the first brand of the company's agent, Jin Kejun said. "No matter it is the way of operation or the way of operation, the high-end line and the public.

It's totally different.

Now the high-end lines of Semir and Europe are all on our side. We are also the company's internal businesses.

The next thing to do is to introduce more brands, and many Hongkong companies deserve our study. This road needs to be explored. "