Text|Bohu Finance Chen Ping'an.Five years ago, when Han Han responded to netizens' questions on Weibo with "Bayin Brook has no sea, heroes never die", perhaps no one could have imagined that five years later, Zhang Chi would return to the big screen with "Flying Life 2", and with a box office of 2.7 billion and a Douban score of 77. Ranked in the first echelon of the Spring Festival stalls.
The most touching thing in the film is that even if Zhang Chi didn't shout enthusiastically, "You ask me what is my trick?" Dedication! It's to dedicate all of yours to everything you love", but to laugh at yourself like a defeated dog, "What love, dedicate my life, I dedicate it all to my doctor".
But he would still say "I still like to drive" when he was hit; In the face of the courage that may need to play with his life, he firmly said, "I have tried countless times, and the opportunity will only come once or twice."
Such persistence is also reflected in the relaxed apprentice Li Xiaohai (played by Fan Chengcheng) in the film. obviously has absolute talent, but is inferior to his colleague's money ability, Li Xiaohai can only roll in the quagmire of the test driver. But he didn't give up, but seized the opportunity given by ** Zhang Chi, and finally fulfilled his long-cherished wish and fulfilled his talent.
The popularity of the film also brought popularity to the Saucony classic shoes worn by Li Xiaohai in the film, the Shadow 6000 series. Some attentive netizens found hidden easter eggs: "Flying Life 2" gave Sauconi shoes a lot of shots.
Saucony does have a similar experience to the film's content. Although the fame is big enough and the quality is hard enough, because it did not accurately anchor the consumer group, Saucony changed hands several times in the previous years and lost the Chinese market twice. It wasn't until the rebranding in 2019 that Saucony finally waited for that opportunity to make good on that effort.
01 Bayinbrook of "Ascending to the Sky" Running Shoes has a law of true fragrance in the running shoe rivers and lakes, that is, "a person will only have 0 pairs or countless pairs of Saucony".
Born in 1898 on the banks of the Saucony River in Pennsylvania, USA, the running shoe brand was later dubbed the "Rolls-Royce of running shoes".The founders led by Donmoyer set a 100-year motto – "Performance, Health, Community". Since then, Saucony has embarked on the road of iteration of "supercar" technology.
In 1958, Saucony released the first pair of track and field shoes, the 7446 Spike. Prior to this, although running was already popular, people ran barefoot or in cloth shoes, rather than professional running shoes.
After the 80s, Saucony released a number of running shoes that were named the style of the era. For example, Jazz, which works with podiatrist Frank Santopietro to achieve both weight loss and balance, and Grid that meets the needs of cushioning and stability at the same time. The Shadow Original collection is even more iconic to the 1980s. Since then, Saucony has continued to introduce the ** style of shadow.
The Shadow 6000 worn by Li Xiaohai in this film is one of Saucony's most popular shoes, which has a history of more than 30 years since its birth in 1991.
At the turn of the millennium, Saucony also launched shock absorption technologies such as "Everun", "PWRRUN", "PWRRUN+" and "PWRRUN PB". Saucony has also won several awards from the world's leading running magazine, Runner World'S World) awards, such as "Editor's Choice", "Best New Product", "Best Collection", etc.
However, although it is regarded as the "Rolls-Royce of sneakers" and "the first class of long-distance runners" overseas, such an international sports brand with a history of more than 100 years has twice "failed" in the Chinese market.
In 2004, the Olympic Games ignited the enthusiasm of the Chinese people for sports, and China's sports industry also ushered in a year of rapid expansion. The market opportunities have made foreign big names all regard the Chinese market as a place to compete, just as the Baying Brook Claria in the film is to the racers.
Saucony also entered the Chinese market for the first time this year. Although Saucony chose the right time, the wrong strategy made his efforts in vain. In 2004, the average house price in Beijing was only 5,000 yuan per square meter, but Saucony chose to set the price at 1,000 yuan; In 2015, Saucony chose Taiwan's "Yongsan Trading" as the leading businessman, but because the marketing has never been able to penetrate the hearts of the people, the store was closed in less than three years.
02 In the film "Flying Life", when Zhang Chi's good friend and maintenance engineer Ji Xing looked at the car with uneven parts, he said regretfully, "Everyone knows that this car is not ready", but Zhang Chi did not hesitate, "But I am ready".
When the navigator Sun Yuqiang persuaded Zhang Chi not to be so desperate, "As long as we work hard enough, the opportunity will always be there." Zhang Chi replied firmly, "No, I have tried countless times, and the opportunity will only appear once or twice."
Despite several changes of ownership, going up and down, Saucony still has an irreplaceable advantage on the track of running shoes.
If the Athens Olympics 20 years ago ignited the enthusiasm of the whole country, then the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics show that with the improvement of the economic level, the sports footwear and clothing market is undergoing new changes.
On the one hand, the scale of the market will be larger, and some institutions predict that in 2025, the size of China's sports shoes and clothing market will reach nearly 600 billion; On the other hand, the demand will be more diverse, and how to meet the more segmented needs of users is a reality that all brands need to face.
As one of the most "penetrated" forms of exercise, running has also ushered in new opportunities.
In 2019, Ding Shuibo, Chairman and CEO of Xtep Group, proposed that with the rapid rise of Chinese brands, Chinese private enterprises must move from single brands to multiple brands, so Xtep started a multi-brand and international development strategy.
It was also in this year that Saucony's parent company signed a contract with Xtep to form a joint venture and enter the Chinese market again. This time, Saucony waited for his chance.
In the Chinese market, backed by Xtep's resources, Saucony finally successfully captured the trend of marathons in China, combined with its own product advantages, and broke into the core runner circle.
With the help of Xtep, Saucony has been continuously narrowing the distance with consumers - at present, Saucony has entered the top three in the top three international brand runners in the top marathon events in the country, such as North Malaysia, Shangma and Xiamen Marathon. Participating in sponsoring professional running events, making a name for itself among runners, and constantly expanding the size of its stores to increase the brand's reach and influence: as of June 2023, the number of Saucony stores in China has reached 80.
On the other hand, Saucony is also reproducing classic shoes and constantly co-branding with trendy brands to attract attention. The Shadow 6000 of the same model as Li Xiaohai in this film belongs to the OG series that will be promoted soon.
In 2023, Xtep reported that the revenue of professional sports in the first half of the year was 34.4 billion yuan, a significant increase of 119 year-on-year9%, Saucony became Xtep's first new brand to achieve profitability.
03 In December last year, Xtep and Saucony further deepened their cooperation. Xtep acquired Saucony's interest in the joint venture for US$61 million, as well as a 40% stake in Saucony in China.
Saucony's success not only represents the "Rolls-Royce of running shoes" to set a new record, but also indicates that it is becoming Xtep's second trump card.
It's like the 109km race from Bayingbrook, where after 1,462 turns, you just have to go as fast as you want.