Trends seem to be constantly reinventing themselves. For fall and winter 2024, outdoor sports and leisure were the main items to wear, and from this circle came a plethora of “ugly shoes.”
Judging from the origin story, the KEEN brand does not have a long history. In 2003, the Newport brand was born, with the first pair of sandals that protect the toes. Since then, this American sports and leisure brand specializing in footwear products has consistently released functional shoes suitable for more active outdoor use, such as snow, mountains, streams, etc., such as hiking shoes, mountaineering shoes, etc. Its main brand in North America, the main products in the market.
In 2007, KEEN became one of the world’s top three outdoor footwear brands. According to the 2007 annual report of the American company SNEW, the market share of men’s outdoor footwear and women’s outdoor footwear reached 12.5% and 17% this year. ranks first in the American outdoor advertising consumer market. Ranks second and first.
Due to the pursuit of trends, it is difficult to determine whether KEEN brand shoes are beautiful, fashionable or ugly. Even popular products do not meet the requirements of the local North American market. However, judging from the popularity of many celebrities and the double-digit increase in sales on online platforms, KEEN has become quite popular in the Chinese market in the past two years.
According to reports, the KEEN brand entered the Chinese market in 2006, less than five years after its establishment. After that, Ruhasen Trading acted as the general agent for KEEN products in the Chinese market. For niche brands in remote overseas markets, choosing the general agent business model provides convenient operation and controlled costs.
However, this business model is difficult to truly penetrate the market. There is little effective communication between the brand’s top management, the brand’s headquarters, and consumers in the regional market. Consumer preferences can only be understood based on product sales, and consumer feedback is important. difficult to reach.
At the end of 2022, KEEN was determined to reorganize its business in the Chinese market and hired Chen Xiaotong, who served as the general manager of Japanese sneaker brand ASICS China, to head the Asia-Pacific market. At the same time, the company regained its agency rights in the Chinese market and adopted the online direct sales model, and offline stores are opened in cooperation with dealers. As a result, the KEEN brand has a new Chinese name – KEEN.
In terms of business, KEEN still focuses on sports shoes and leisure shoes in the Chinese market, but the unified management of the Asia-Pacific market has created a connection effect between KEEN worldwide and the Asia-Pacific region, the Asia-Pacific region and China. “Our Tokyo Design Center will develop new colors for some shoes that are very popular in the Chinese market. At the same time, the Tokyo Design Center is also developing clothing and accessories,” a staff member of KEEN’s marketing department told Jiemian news. .
The opening of the Asia Pacific Office enables KEEN Tokyo Design Center to quickly receive feedback from the Chinese market. At the same time, the Asia Pacific Office and Tokyo Design Center also provide a link between the entire Asia Pacific market and the global headquarters. In terms of market characteristics, there are many differences between the Chinese market and KEEN’s global market, which is mainly based in North America.
In terms of channels, after the reorganization of its business in China in late 2022 – early 2023, KEEN will first return to online channels. Currently, all online channels including Tmall, JD.com, etc. are operated directly. At the end of 2023, the first offline store in China was opened, located in the IAPM Shopping Mall on Huaihai Middle Road, the main business district of sports consumption in Shanghai. So far, KEEN offline stores have also opened in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Xi’an, but all of these stores are opened in cooperation with partners.
In mid-November 2024, KEEN China Custom Fair will be held. In addition to individual product buyers, many customers are outdoor collective store companies such as Sanfu Outdoor, which specializes in outdoor functional shoes such as hiking shoes and mountaineering shoes. In addition, the Chinese market is more fashionable, and many boutique buyers attended the custom fair, focusing on co-branded shoes.
Footwear is still KEEN’s core category in the Chinese market, accounting for 95% of sales. However, the development trends of footwear products vary in different markets around the world. This is where KEEN has the deepest understanding of the market after the reorganization of the Chinese market.
In the positioning of the sports and leisure brand in the local North American market, KEEN is more focused on sports, and consumers value the functional features of the outdoors. However, in the Chinese market, the leisure attributes are stronger, according to KEEN. The more colors, the better the shoes sell. “Most of the KEEN shoes worn by celebrities in the Chinese market are casual shoes, and some even wear them with skirts by fashionable girls.
This difference is partly due to the huge scale of the Chinese market. Sports and leisure brands can really make a good profit by selling a series of sports shoe brands. Initially, we were looking for “small but beautiful”. Chinese market, that’s what it means.
But for a brand like KEEN, outdoor functionality is at the core of its brand and its identity, so this compromise requires a deep understanding of the changing trends of the Chinese market.
For example, there are many niche sports and leisure brands. When they were founded or entered the Chinese market, they told good stories, but they abandoned their professional sports selling qualities and specialized in leisure products. Almost all such brands will suffer in the ever-changing Chinese market. Trends are swept away. A certain style of shoe is fashionable this fall and winter, but will be outdated next spring and summer.
This is also the key to the fact that almost all sports brands will start to focus on professional sports again in 2023. After all, the functional requirements of professional sports do not change depending on the season and trends.
From the sales ranking of KEEN Tmall flagship store, it can also be seen that the most popular product, which sold more than 5,000 pairs, is the Jasper Mountain series outdoor camping shoes, which is priced at 999 yuan, even during Double 11. The discount is too big.
After Chen Xiaotong took office, he formulated the “small but beautiful” product positioning and strategic planning of KEEN in the Chinese market. This does not include professional functionality and fashion attributes, so that KEEN can truly be “reborn” as a small product. but here is a beautiful company. The key is branding.
Post time: Nov-26-2024