How To Break The Circle Of Outdoor Sports Equipment

When young people walk into a professional outdoor brand store, they may not be interested in the dark colored clothing and hiking shoes, unless he is a professional outdoor enthusiast. However, such a phenomenon has changed now, even if they are outdoor enthusiasts, they still want to be fashionable when they play outdoor sports on social networking sites. This is what the sportswear company, Columbia, is trying to do. It launched the new SH/FT of hiking footwear in July this year, trying to make outdoor sports more "wet". In the view of Columbia group vice president and China General Manager John Soh, this kind of product innovation can not only serve the original users of the brand, but also attract more young people who love sports.

John Soh is the vice president and general manager of Columbia group. Columbia is an outdoor sportswear company founded in Portland, USA in 1938.

　 How did you come up with a new line of hiking footwear this year?

A year ago, we launched the research and development project because we observed that young consumers now have a demand - most of them work in the city, but they yearn for nature and get close to the outside world. Usually, if they want to go outdoor after work, they need to replace a pair of shoes first, which will bring inconvenience. SH/FT can save them from this process, which can meet the needs of young people in urban dress and meet their outdoor sports needs. In order to take account of the two scenarios, in addition to ensuring its basic outdoor functional requirements, such as shoe surface waterproofing and sole comfort, we also need to add a lot of fashion elements.

　　 From the design style of offline shops, the display styles of professional outdoor brands are relatively simple. Will there be room for improvement in the future?

Indeed, "Yan value" is very important for attracting young consumers. We are trying to upgrade the decoration design of offline stores, and resonate more with young consumers. For example, outdoor brands generally convey the concept of "advocating outdoor" vigorously. While promoting SH/FT, we have made a special design of shop windows. From one side, the pictures behind the exhibits shoes are outdoor scenes, while turning 90 degrees from the other side, the picture becomes an urban scene, which well echoes the product definition from "urban to outdoor instant conversion". Of course, in other young people's favorite channels we are also trying, for example, marketing will cooperate with sports fashion KOL, and online business channel will start the first new product preheating.

　 Professional outdoor brands have always focused on the functionality and professionalism of products. What are the new needs of young people nowadays?

A major premise is that they have been pursuing more functional and professional outdoor sports equipment. But now young people are not only looking for a pleasant and comfortable sports experience, but also want to take good pictures. In the past, we may sacrifice some aesthetics for the sake of product functionality, but now we have to provide users with more options to wear, so there will be more innovations in product color and style design. This really tests our aesthetic and design ability and how to find a balance between the two needs.

Positioning more professional products often means that the audience is relatively small, Columbia how to deal with this problem?

What we need to do first is actually education in the outdoor market, such as training front-line salesmen how to popularize professional outdoor knowledge for consumers, and tell them that different outdoor products actually aim at different outdoor sports -- cross-country running and hiking, and should wear two different kinds of shoes. Of course, this popularity process can not make consumers feel boring, but should be more scene oriented and visualized. We want outdoor sports to break the cycle. For young consumers, we need to guide their aesthetic appreciation of products from another perspective. Because outdoor clothing is not enough to look good. The structure, material and design of products are very important. Outdoor sports is a long-term way of life. It will not flash past fashion trends, so people should be more pragmatic when choosing products.

　 Why did you choose to join Columbia this year?

I worked in Shanghai from 2009 to 2013 and returned to China only this year. In the short span of five years, I found that the Chinese market has changed greatly. My previous work brand is a popular mainstream sports brand, and I hope to have access to different market types of customer groups. Columbia is a professional outdoor brand whose target population is more vertical. I am very optimistic about the growth prospects of the outdoor sector, and I hope to have closer contact with this segment of the market. An important task I came to Columbia is to help us headquarters deepen their understanding of the Chinese market. Over the past six months, we found that in addition to the growth of the market in North Canton, Columbia is also growing in many new front-line cities, such as Hangzhou and Xi'an. This will provide a reference for the investment strategy of the headquarters in the Chinese market.

　　 This year, Columbia set up a wholly owned subsidiary in China. What does the group expect from the Chinese market?

From the global market perspective, the recognition of outdoor products in Europe, America and some Asian Pacific countries is even higher because they start earlier. Through observing the Chinese market in recent years, I find that the development of the Internet has broken the barriers of information in many professional outdoor areas, so the "breaking circle" will become easier in China. We can use WeChat and other social scenes to interact more with consumers. Such changes are also reflected in outdoor events. This year's Columbia Chongli 168 international super cross country competition has increased from more than 3000 people in previous years to more than 4500 this year, including a large number of young competitors. If you look at the whole field of running, you will see that China's "urban marathon" has experienced explosive growth, and running has become a national sport. This is our very good chance to transform these urban marathon runners into cross-country runners or hobbyists. In addition, with the development of social economy, outdoor sports equipment is not only a commodity for many young people, but also a rare experience of life.

In recent years, many foreign sports brands have been developing rapidly after entering the Chinese market, and China's local sports brands are also rising. How can Columbia face these competitions?

In fact, there are more outdoor brands actively investing in this market, but it is a good thing. The growing prosperity of the outdoor market can make us attract more consumers. Nowadays, many brands are fighting for young consumers in the future. They not only compete in the same industry, but also seize the attention of young consumers with video games and short videos. China's market is changing very fast, whether it is the sports industry or the Internet industry, which requires our adjustment mechanism to be more flexible. For example, we developed a retail management App, has begun to promote all stores across the country. In the past, we rely more on manpower to communicate in salesperson training and shop research. Now these basic problems can be solved on App, and even some small tests can be regularly launched to test employees' familiarity with products. At the same time, we are also adjusting the structure of the shop under the line, such as making the area of some shops bigger. The Chinese market is no longer solely based on opening stores, it can increase turnover, and we are more willing to develop quality shops compared with more small shops.

　 Which aspect do you most care about in the future city life?

I think green design is very important, such as the design of more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly buildings. In some countries with strong environmental awareness, many tall buildings are small parks, which not only can clean the air, but also help the city to cool down. At the same time, we also need to design consumables that are more environmentally friendly. Some time ago, I came to Shanghai to see the scene of promoting garbage sorting. This is a very good phenomenon, and it also gives me great feeling. Looking back on our daily life, we are wasting a lot of things. So in the future urban life, it is more important to make our actions more "green", such as reducing the waste of food, reducing the consumption of goods and so on.