Lining: From Olympic Champion To Sports Brand

For China's sports, the 1984 Losangeles Olympic Games is a new starting point. At that Olympic Games, Xu Haifeng won the first Olympic gold medal of new China and opened a new era of Olympic Games.

That year, Losangeles, like Xu Haifeng, had Lining and the Chinese women's volleyball team. At that time, Lining was already the "Prince of gymnastics". He won 6 of 7 gold medals in men's gymnastics two years ago. In Losangeles, he played a stable role and one man contracted 3 gold medals.

The nouns of Xu Haifeng, Lining and Chinese women's volleyball team began to flash and seal in the memory of a generation.

Later, there were many sports stars, their achievements and concerns were no less than those of Lining. But in any case, it seems that they can no longer see such a successful businessman as Lining.

However, Lining's social status, personality and past experience determined that he could not and would not turn himself into a complete businessman. He was more willing to hand over the company to the suitable professional manager than himself.

5 years after the comeback, in September 2nd, Lining was transferred from the original acting CEO to joint CEO. Just pulling the company back to the right track, he seemed to be eager to leave.

01

Magnate

Compared with many of the athletes who extended the world's first record to retiring, Lining's departure way was even and desolate.

In 1988, at the Seoul Olympic Games, Lining, who was highly regarded by the high hopes, made serious mistakes in the rings, vaulting horse and parallel bars, and missed the medal. He was once regarded as the "gymnastic Prince" in the past. He became the "gymnastic death son" of many people.

Sports events are the carnival closest to war in the age of peace. Public sentiment and athletes' achievements are mutually coerced or even kidnapped. When athletes stand on the top, they are regarded as heroes. When heroes are late, they become the "discouraged" targets of the public.

In the Seoul arena, Lining, who made frequent mistakes, squeezed a bitter smile. This little move has hurt many expectant Chinese audiences who are accusing Lining of losing the game.

Years later, Lining talked about that smile, full of helplessness. He said, "don't laugh, don't you cry?" I don't know whether it's natural instinct, or when I was young and I was accustomed to the wind and waves. Lining always had an optimistic and indifferent attitude. Even though he was asked the most painful and controversial question, he always answered with restraint and sincerity.

The most similar experience with Lining is Liu Xiang. At the Beijing Olympics, Liu Xiang was also criticized for withdrawing from the injury. The difference between the two is that Liu Xiang chose to continue hurdling, but Lining resolutely retired and opened up a whole new life.

Lining can take the business road to a large extent, thanks to his noble Li Jingwei.

Zhang Jian, assistant director of the Lining foundation Secretary General Jianlibao, recalled the scenes of the two acquaintances in an interview. At that time, Jianlibao was still in the process of development, and Li Jingwei often went to the scientific research institute. Lining's residence was upstairs, and two people met.

At that time, people around Li Jingwei recalled that Li Jingwei had told him that Lining liked it because Lining was honest and honest. After that, Li Jingwei meets Lining every time he goes to Beijing. At that time, Li Jingwei was also a leader of small state enterprises in Sanshui City. He could not deliver anything to Beijing, so he brought Lining two boxes of Jianlibao.

Shared experiences and memories are always very much appreciated. In the 1984 Losangeles Olympic Games, Jianlibao and Lining did the same. In the Olympic Games, Jianlibao sponsored the Chinese delegation. Because of the portable cans packed, Chinese athletes drink Jianlibao during the competition.

The Chinese women's volleyball team defeated Japan, the United States and other strong teams in Losangeles, and won the championship in one fell swoop. In the Japanese media's report, Jianlibao, which is drunk by the Chinese women's volleyball team, is called "Oriental magic water", and Jianlibao has become popular.

In 1984, Jianlibao's sales volume was 3 million 450 thousand yuan, increased to 16 million 500 thousand yuan in second years, and 130 million yuan in 1986.

There is no doubt that Li Jingwei has succeeded. He has greater energy and influence. After Lining's defeat in Seoul, Li Jingwei directly invited him to join Jianlibao, and he was also very forward to create Lining clothing company for him.

This company almost copied the successful mode of Jianlibao in the early days, which is the predecessor of Lining. Like Jianlibao, the "Lining" brand was born at the sports meeting. In 1990, the company became a sponsor of the Asian Games and won the torch relay of the Asian Games with more than two million.

Lining's achievements and his influence in the sports world and the public have become the "Lining" brand's pass and live sign.

　 02

Peak

The reform of property rights of state-owned enterprises is centered around the problems of Jianlibao and many state-owned enterprises at the same time. Li Jingwei was abandoned in Jianlibao property right reform.

Compared with Jianlibao, the "Lining" brand is very lucky. In 1994, Lining proposed to move away from Jianlibao and move from Sanshui to Beijing. He did not feel good about talking to his mentor Li Jingwei. He did not expect to say that Li Jingwei readily agreed.

At that time, Liu Jipeng, who diagnoses the Li Ning Co, said that if the company wants to develop, it must get rid of the ownership of the whole people. In the process of communication with the Sanshui municipal government, Li Jingwei played an important role. In the words of Li Zhiqiang, Li Jingwei's old subordinate, "without Li Jingwei's support, Lining can't walk away."

In 1996, Lining moved the company to Beijing and was renamed the Lining sportswear company. In 2004, the Li Ning Co went public in Hongkong, and Li Jingwei at that time had already been convicted of lying in bed.

For Li Ning Co, the image of Lining's sports hero, the guidance of Li Jingwei, and the timely and straightened ownership relationship are the key to the development of the company. It can really make the brand famous in the whole country or the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

At the opening ceremony, Lining watched the Olympic torch in the sky and ran to the highest place in the sky. Many years of athlete career, Lining has a stronger sense of national and collective. Lighting the torch is a glorious task for him personally, and a rare opportunity for Li Ning Co.

The aura and world champion of the gymnastic prince are regarded as "hero" courtesy, and are injected into the "Lining" brand. Lining's past experience made him have a natural affinity and trust with the "system". This is why Jinjiang's sports brands are not eager to come.

According to the personage report, in order to establish relations with the General Administration of sports, Anta sports officials began to go to the general office every day from the spring of 2008. He knew that he was going to produce judges from the leaders above the rank and grade. He knocked dozens of leaders at the level and above, and gave him a resume.

The significance of the Beijing Olympics to the Li Ning Co is much more than brand exposure. The Olympic sports industry and the 4 trillion stimulus in 2008 have entered a period of rapid development. GF Securities data show that in 2008, the domestic sports footwear market scale grew by 43.98%.

The Li Ning Co has reached its peak in several years after 2008.

In 2009, Li Ning Co realized net profit of 945 million yuan, up 31% over the same period last year. In 2010, Lining's performance reached its peak, and its operating income and net profit were 9 billion 485 million yuan and 1 billion 108 million yuan respectively. At the same time, Lining exceeded 9.7% of Adidas's market share and jumped second.

In the industry's good stimulation, Lining began to expand in a large scale, and use distributors to open stores on a large scale. At the peak, Lining had a total of more than 8000 stores.

The crazy expansion comes from the misjudgement of the practitioners to the industry. The market gave the first warning when Lining and Jinjiang sports brands scrambled to seize the market.

03

crisis

The champion enterprises will not be exempt.

One thing that can be regarded as a precursor is that in 2009, Anta became a partner of the Chinese Olympic Committee. This means that Anta will become the only garment supplier of Chinese athletes in the Winter Olympics, Asian Games and Olympic Games in 2009-2012 or 4 years.

During the 12 years from 1992 to 2004, Lining has been a partner of the Chinese Olympic Committee. 2005 - 2008 Olympic cycle, this identity was replaced by Adidas, after 2009 was taken away by Anta, Lining's loss can be imagined.

In the following 2011, local sports brands suffered the first cold wave. The wholesale mode of excessive reliance on distributors has made it difficult for the sporting goods brands to truly perceive the market situation. Blind expansion led to a serious inventory crisis in the whole industry.

This led to the decline in the scale of revenues from 2011 to 2013 in enterprises including Lining and Anta. The impact of Lining was even more serious. In 2011, Lining's revenue was only 28 million more than that of Anta. In 2012, it was nearly 1 billion yuan by Anta. Since then, Lining has completely lost the status of the industry leader.

Lining and his company have always had a sense of alienation. Rather than participating in the actual operation of the company, he even wants to be an investor or even an entrepreneur.

As the first Olympic champion to be cultivated under the whole nation system, Lining naturally has a stronger sense of group and family life. He never believed in personal power. He once said in his speech, "no one can be strong enough to exist alone."

When he started his business, he had already reached the peak in the course of sports. He had tasted fame and fortune and felt the trouble brought by fame. In the early days of the company's development, the sports industry was still not fertile ground. Lining has Li Jingwei's side guidance, and the trust of the relevant state departments.

Lining's social status, resources and past experience determined that he could not and would not turn himself into a complete businessman. He wanted to find suitable professional managers for Lining rather than himself. Compared with him, Anta boss Ding Shizhong has a stronger desire for success in business, and he likes to act as a parent.

In 2012, Lining brought private group TPG to the company, and his partner Jin Zhenjun became CEO of the company. He once pulled Daphne out of the mire.

During Jin Zhenjun's two years in CEO, he first cleared inventory and repurchased dealer inventory. This strategy directly led to Lining's loss of net profit in 2012, which exceeded 2 billion 100 million yuan.

Then Jin Zhenjun added fast return products to adapt to the market changes, while improving the proportion of Direct stores, from wholesale to retail transformation.

Jin Zhenjun's idea of reform is correct, but it still can not make Lining turn around. At the same time, Anta is facing a similar dilemma. Ding Shizhong's consistent idea is that "most private enterprises are not good at leaving their founders. The founder of Anta is still the golden age and will continue to lead Anta forward."

When the performance is declining, there is no essential difference between Anta and Lining. However, Ding Shizhong chose to act on his own initiative. He led all the executives in a total of 500 cities across the country for a year to conduct research on retail promotion and terminal issues.

In 2014, Anta returned to the right track, and Lining continued to lose money.

　 04

I'm going home!

At the end of 2014, Jin Zhenjun left Lining. After 16 years, Lining became the company's agent CEO, and the company's performance gradually picked up. In the first half of 2019, the net profit of the company increased by nearly two times, and the net profit of 795 million yuan exceeded the level of last year.

Besides Lining's main brand, "Lining China" and other brands are also moving towards the stage of fashion week with the reversion of domestic goods. This habit is attributed to Lining's return.

But in Lining's view, the loss before the company is an active strategic choice. He comes back just because the company needs his presence in the adjustment period.

When interviewed by the media, Lining said that after he returned to the company, the biggest change to the company was to focus on products, focusing on the three categories of basketball, running and badminton product development.

In September 2nd, Lining officially announced that Lining was transferred from the original agent CEO to the joint CEO, responsible for the overall overall control and strategic planning of the group. Takasaka Takeshi, who has been in charge of China's operations for many years in UNIQLO, has become another joint CEO of the company, which is responsible for the specific business.

The company is back on track, and Lining seems eager to leave. But his fame seems to have been decided. When it comes to Li Ning Co, he is absolutely inseparable.

In the name of the company, Lining has become the company's "mascot" or the existence of spiritual leaders. For Li Ning Co, "going to Lining" may not be so easy.

Olympic champions and gymnastic princes have brought Lining many conveniences and fame. This is Lining's only advantage in the early stage of the development of the company.

However, fame and identity also mean more restrictions and demands. When a person is given many labels and identities, it means that his attention will increase correspondingly. Lining and the company's "alienation", how much with this layer of thinking.

Lining stood at the top of the sports world when he took the 6 gold medal in the world cup, when he was 19 years old. Seoul's mistakes were "mockery" by the audience, and Lining was only 25 years old. The ups and downs of athletes' career inevitably make him more calm and peaceful than ordinary people.

His success in business is more like an agreement between heaven, earth, and people. After reading a thousand sails, Lining still wants to pursue himself and not be tired by trivial matters.

He was never a businessman, but he could not let go.