Recently, Metersbonwe issued an announcement that it intends to take 6800 million yuan of commercial real estate in Shanghai to ease the company's financial pressure. This is the third time that Metersbonwe has sold properties this year, with a total of more than 1 billion yuan in assets sold. Prior to this, Metersbonwe had lost money for four consecutive years, with a cumulative loss of 29100 million yuan, the asset-liability ratio is as high as 9009%。
Metersbonwe, a domestic casual wear brand that once attracted countless young people, is now in an unprecedented predicament.
The founder of Metersbonwe is Zhou Chengjian, a clothing merchant born in Wenzhou. Zhou Chengjian started a garment factory in the 80s and officially founded Metersbonwe in 1994 after a failure. The brand is named after the "Meters" and his son's name "Bonwe", just like its brand slogan and advertising slogan "Unusual" and "I, your fashion consultant", at the beginning of its launch, Metersbonwe defeated a lot of traditional clothing with its bright colors, avant-garde design and fresh fashion concepts, and hit the hearts of young people chasing trends.
In 2007, Metersbonwe recorded revenue of nearly 3.2 billion. You know, at the same time, the Tangshi brand is formulating a five-year plan, with the goal of reaching 5 billion yuan in sales in 2010. The following year, the 14-year-old Metersbonwe landed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange as "the first A-share casual clothing stock". After the listing, the performance of Meibang Apparel was once soaring, and the operating income was 44 that year7.4 billion yuan, net profit attributable to the parent company 58.8 billion yuan.
It was also at this stage that Metersbonwe used marketing to create the "ceiling" of clothing brands at that time. From inviting Jay Chou, Aaron Kwok, Zhang Shaohan and other popular kings and queens to be endorsements, to unexpectedly getting out of the circle through the popular campus idol drama "Let's Watch the Meteor Shower" at that time in the era when the mobile Internet was not yet popular, the line "Duanmu took me to buy Metersbonwe, standing in front of the mirror, I don't know who the girl in it is." "It's still being scrammed by young people.
In 2011, Metersbonwe reached the highest point in revenue history: nearly 10 billion yuan. What is the concept of a clothing brand with a revenue scale of 10 billion yuan in 2011?In 2011, adidas' revenue in Greater China was about 10 billion yuan at the exchange rate of that year, while the revenue of Li Ning and Bosideng, the "light of domestic products", was 8.9 billion yuan and 7 billion yuan respectively. Metersbonwe is undoubtedly a well-deserved leader of the national trend, and some people even compare it with Nike and Adidas and call it "China's Nike".
However, Metersbonwe's brilliance didn't last long. 2012 was a turning point for Metersbonwe, which suffered its first waterloo after going public, and its net profit fell by as much as 30% year-on-year. Since then, Metersbonwe has entered a downward slope, with continuous decline in performance, expanding losses, a large number of stores closed, and a gradual decline in brand image. The reasons for this can be analyzed from the following aspects:
Insufficient product design capabilities, lack of innovation and differentiation. The product style of Metersbonwe has always been leisure, sports and trend, but with the changes in the market and the upgrading of consumers, this style no longer meets the aesthetics and needs of young people. Metersbonwe's products lack personality and characteristics, and it is difficult to form the core competitiveness of the brand. At the same time, the quality of Metersbonwe's products has also been questioned, and it has been on the black list many times, damaging the brand's credibility and reputation.
The failure of the multi-brand strategy leads to the dispersion of resources and brand confusion. In order to adapt to different markets and consumers, Metersbonwe has launched a number of sub-brands, such as high-end brand me&city, **brand Meibang**, children's clothing brand Metersbonwe children's wear, outdoor brand Metersbonwe Outdoor, etc. However, the positioning and style of these sub-brands are not clear and prominent enough, and it is difficult to form effective brand extension and differentiated competition. On the contrary, these sub-brands have increased the operating costs and management difficulties of Metersbonwe, resulting in a waste of resources and brand confusion.
Channel transformation is difficult, and e-commerce and direct sales capabilities are not strong. Metersbonwe's channels mainly rely on the franchise model, although this model can expand rapidly, but there are also many drawbacks, such as the franchisee's lack of ordering initiative, market feedback lag, serious inventory backlog, terminal image is not uniform, etc. With the development of e-commerce and the change of consumers, Metersbonwe's franchise channels have been severely impacted, resulting in a sharp decline in sales and a large loss of franchisees. However, Metersbonwe's capabilities in e-commerce and direct sales are not enough to make up for the lack of channels, whether it is the self-operated Banggou network, Youfan APP, O2O platform, or the cooperation of Tmall, JD.com, Douyin, etc., Metersbonwe's online sales have not achieved the expected results, and cannot form effective competition with other brands.
The market environment has changed and the number of competitors has increased. The decline of Metersbonwe is also related to changes in the market environment. On the one hand, consumers' needs and preferences are becoming more and more diverse and personalized, and they have higher requirements for the quality, design, and culture of clothing, but Metersbonwe's products have not kept up with this change and lost the recognition and favor of young people. On the other hand, the number and strength of competitors are also increasing, whether it is international brands such as Uniqlo, Zara, H&M, etc., or domestic brands such as Joeone, Semir, GXG, etc., are constantly innovating and optimizing, seizing the market share and consumer minds of Metersbonwe.
In the face of such a grim situation, is there any hope for Metersbonwe?The answer is yes, but it will also require some significant changes and adjustments from Metersbonwe. Specifically, Metersbonwe can try from the following aspects:
Reshape the brand image and enhance the product strength. Metersbonwe needs to redefine its brand positioning and target consumers, find its own core values and differentiating advantages, and create distinctive and high-quality products to meet the needs and expectations of consumers. At the same time, Metersbonwe also needs to strengthen the publicity and promotion of the brand, enhance the brand's awareness and reputation, and rebuild the trust and loyalty of consumers.
Optimize the channel structure and expand online and offline. Metersbonwe needs to adjust its channel model, gradually reduce the proportion of franchised stores, increase the number and quality of directly operated stores, and improve the control and efficiency of channels. At the same time, Metersbonwe also needs to increase investment and layout in e-commerce, use various platforms and channels to expand online coverage and influence, and achieve online and offline interaction and integration.
Strengthen innovation capabilities and seize market opportunities. Metersbonwe needs to strengthen its insight and analysis of the market, grasp the changes in consumer needs and preferences, and launch new products in line with trends and fashions in a timely manner to enhance the attractiveness and competitiveness of products. At the same time, Metersbonwe also needs to pay attention to emerging opportunities and trends in the market, such as national tide, culture, social networking, live broadcasting, etc., to find new partners and marketing methods, and increase the brand's ** and topics.
In conclusion, Metersbonwe, although currently in a difficult situation, is not without hope. As long as Metersbonwe can recognize its own problems and challenges, have the courage to change and innovate, adhere to consumer-centricity, and provide high-quality products and services, I believe that Metersbonwe can still return to glory.
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