Reborn Industrial Tycoon

Chapter 440 Domestic products go overseas

James Bond's studio is still in the original warehouse.

Since receiving Li Weidong's monthly sponsorship of US$500, James Bond's life has become much easier, and he can devote more of his time to creation.

After Li Weidong arrived, James Bond couldn't wait to introduce to Li Weidong his most proud works of the past year.

After all, the funder's father is here, so naturally he has to show some performance to convince the funder's father to continue investing money.

At present, the James Bond studio is just disbanding activities here and there, making almost no profit, and the income will definitely not be generated.

Since there is no profit, James Bond can only use some eye-catching designs to tell the funder's father that I have not been waiting to die for more than a year, and that I am working hard!

Li Weidong neither understands fashion brands nor art. He doesn't understand the merits of James Bond's works at all. He just smiles and raises his head from time to time to hide the embarrassment in his heart.

After James Bond finished explaining his work, Li Weidong said: "James, I plan to open a store selling sports shoes in Los Angeles. Are you interested?"

"Open a store? Of course I'm interested! Mr. Li, do you need me to design trendy shoes for your store?" James Bond asked immediately.

James Bond knows very well that his father, the financial sponsor, has sponsored him for so long, so he should pay some rewards. If Li Weidong asks him to design trendy shoes, then James Bond will definitely do his part and agree without hesitation.

Li Weidong smiled and said, "I need not only a designer, but also a store manager! James, are you interested in being my store manager and chief designer?"

"Let me be the store manager!" James Bond looked surprised at first, then looked overjoyed.

It has always been James Bond's dream to open a trendy brand store. He insists on being a designer and hopes that one day an investor will take a fancy to him and invest in opening a store for him.

For designers, being able to turn their works into products and sell them in stores is considered a success.

"Mr. Li, you really let me be the store manager! Thank you so much! Don't worry, I will work hard and I will definitely bring you generous rewards!" James Bond said.

James Bond is a smart man. He knows that chatting with capitalists and discussing returns and profits directly is the most practical thing.

Li Weidong continued: "James, I plan to register a sports brand in the United States. I will open the first brand flagship store first, and then I will open a second and third chain store in the future."

"Mr. Li, your decision is very correct. In the United States, the market for sports brands is very large. In California alone, tens of millions of pairs of sports shoes can be sold a year!" James Bond said quickly,

I'm afraid Li Weidong will change his mind.

The United States is the world's largest market, and the same is true for sports brands. In the mid-1990s, the sports brand markets of all other countries in the world, multiplied by two, were not as good as the United States.

The sports culture of the United States is unmatched by other countries. This has also created the largest sports brand market in the world in the United States. Even Western Europe and Japan are also very developed and are sports powerhouses. The people's enthusiasm for participating in sports is also very high, but they still

Much worse than the United States.

In addition to the few large sports brands in the United States, there are countless small and medium-sized brands. Many small and medium-sized brands have a history even longer than Nike.

In the business districts of big cities in the United States, there are often sports brand stores that pop up suddenly that you have never heard of. Some are just short-lived, while others can develop into second- and third-tier brands.

Just listen to James Bond ask: "Mr. Li, what is the name of the sports brand you plan to register?"

"Feiyue!" Li Weidong replied.

"That doesn't sound like an English word," James Bond said.

"You're right. This word comes from Chinese. You can understand it as flying forward." Li Weidong replied.

When Li Weidong said "flying forward", he used the phrase flying forward. James Bond instantly understood the meaning of the brand "Feiyue".

Then James Bond frowned slightly, and then said: "Mr. Li, with all due respect, I think what you need is a brand that is more English-oriented. This is the United States after all. Using an English brand is more

Able to stand firm.”

"James, I understand what you mean, but the brand Feiyue has a special meaning. If I show you something, you will understand."

As Li Weidong spoke, he took a pair of Feiyue sneakers from his bag, handed them to James Bond, and said at the same time: "James, look at this!"

"This is a retro sneaker that looks like something my grandma would have worn in her time!" James Bond said unceremoniously.

Domestic sports shoes, whether they are Huili or Feiyue, are very old in style, roughly equivalent to the styles of sports shoes in the United States from 30 to 40 years ago.

In the American market, the sports shoes launched by Converse after the 1950s are almost the same as the current sports sneakers.

In 1969, Adidas launched the classic three-stripe superstar, which truly opened the era of basketball shoes. Following the rise of Nike, the AJ series of basketball shoes became a symbol of the trend.

At that time, because of Jordan's retirement, the AJ series of basketball shoes were temporarily shelved. In 1949, Nike's flagship product was the AIR MAX CB2 basketball shoe, which was the pair of high-heeled shoes on Barkley's feet.

Help boots.

This shoe has many revolutionary elements in its design, and its appearance is also very trendy. Even from a modern perspective, it is a very beautiful basketball shoe.

In comparison, Feiyue sneakers, whose styles are still the same as those of decades ago, are indeed outdated.

Li Weidong answered: "These are Feiyue sneakers."

"Mr. Li, we shouldn't be selling this kind of thing, right?" James Bond said with a bitter look on his face, "Such an old-fashioned thing will definitely not be sold in the United States."

"Of course we don't sell such outdated products. I show you this pair of shoes to tell you how long the history of Feiyue is."

Li Weidong paused and then introduced: "Feiyue Brand was born in 1958 and now has a history of nearly 40 years."

"1958? It's even older than Nike!" James Bond looked at the Feiyue sneakers in his hand in surprise.

In 1958, Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, was still studying business administration at the University of Oregon. Nike's predecessor, Blue Ribbon Company, was founded in 1962 and was renamed Nike in 1971.

Li Weidong continued: "Feiyue is an old brand with a long history, which is why I want to use this brand. In terms of brand impression, it is also an unfamiliar brand and an old brand with a long history has more advantages."

James Bond nodded in sudden realization. Time-honored brands do have more advantages when entering new markets.

For example, for a certain herbal tea drink, few people knew about it before it came out of Guangdong Province. Later, when it was promoted nationwide, everyone was told that it was a time-honored brand that existed in the Qing Dynasty, and sales immediately increased.

Li Weidong continued: "In terms of brand promotion in the future, we can use the history of the brand as a very important part of promotion, but our products should still be based on trends.

So James, next I need you to design some trendy sports shoes, and then give me the design drawings. I will find a factory to make the shoes you designed!"

When he learned that the new store would sell shoes designed by himself, James Bond was immediately ecstatic. He immediately replied: "No problem, Mr. Li, I will give you the design drawings as soon as possible!"

…

When Li Weidong got the Feiyue brand, it was not for domestic sales.

In the 1990s, China's sports brand market was still too small. However, there were many companies trying to get a piece of such a small piece of cake, and the competition was very fierce.

At that time, shoe-making companies in Fujian and Zhejiang had begun to emerge. Many private shoe-making factories were no longer satisfied with being OEMs, but began to create their own brands. Although the scale of these national sports brands was not large yet, they had already grown.

Engaged in fierce market competition.

In addition to private shoe factories, state-owned or collective shoe factories still occupy a large part of the market.

Shoe-making enterprises are often not large-scale, and do not involve resources and people's livelihood, and they were restructured relatively early. Many state-owned enterprises or collective enterprises have regained their youth after completing the restructuring of their enterprises, and their products are sold locally.

The market share is still very high.

At this time, Chinese sports brands were still in the Spring and Autumn Period. Competition was fierce, and the market supervision mechanism was not perfect. All kinds of counterfeit and shoddy products were rampant. Things like bad money driving out good money often happened at that time.

.

Therefore, Li Weidong has no intention of taking a trip into this muddy water. He should first let the many domestic shoe factories fight to the death!

Li Weidong wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to make money from foreigners.

Historically, the brand Feiyue could no longer survive in China. It was bought by the French and then resurrected in the European and American markets. Although it did not become a top brand, it could still make some money.

What's more, now Li Weidong also has the great god James Bond.

James Bond can start from scratch and successfully build the international sports brand Undefeated. There is definitely no problem with his ability. If the Feiyue brand is handed over to James Bond to manage, it should be able to gain a firm foothold in the US market.

The most important thing is that Li Weidong has a big weapon in his hand, which is the brand spokesperson.

For a sports brand, brand spokesperson is very important. A top brand spokesperson can create a top sports brand.

The simplest example is Nike. If Nike had not signed Jordan back then, it would never have the status it has today as the top sports brand.

As a brand that only appeared in 1972, how could Nike be able to overwhelm Adidas and beat Converse in just a dozen years? Jordan definitely deserves a lot of credit.

Nike in 1984 was far inferior to Converse and Adidas, and even Reebok could easily kick Nike's ass.

At that time, Nike offered Jordan, a rookie player who had just entered the NBA, a sky-high endorsement contract of US$500,000 per year, plus the promise of a share of the sales of Jordan's sneakers.

Before Jordan, the largest sneaker endorsement contract in the NBA was Worthy's annual salary of 150,000 US dollars. The endorsement fee has more than tripled, and there is also a share of sneaker sales. In the eyes of peers, it is absolutely crazy!

And Nike sacrificed all its wealth for this huge gamble.

The result was that Nike won its bet, and one of the most successful commercial endorsements in history was born.

Li Weidong remembers too many top athletes in his mind. Before these top athletes have become famous, he can just sign a few as endorsements, and he can become famous as a Feiyue brand and easily get a share of the American market.

With a group of top athletes as endorsements, even a pig can run Feiyue Brand successfully.

When Feiyue becomes an international brand, we can then switch from export to domestic sales and enter the domestic market.

Before the future Sino-US trade war, Chinese people were still quite superstitious about international brands. At that time, most Chinese people did not trust Chinese brands as much as those so-called international brands. But in fact, they are all Made in China.

With the name of an international brand, Feiyue returns to China, and with the time-honored brand name, it will definitely be able to quickly occupy the domestic market.

…

James Bond was very efficient. He quickly handed over the design drawings of more than a dozen sports shoes to Li Weidong.

"Mr. Li, there are a total of fifteen sports shoe designs here. Come and choose from them!" James Bond said.

Li Weidong didn't know much about sports shoes. He couldn't distinguish the styles of sports shoes so quickly, so he simply said, "I won't choose any more. I'll take these with me. We'll look at the samples later and choose which ones to produce."

"There are still many models to be produced!" James Bond said with joy on his face.

For a designer like him who is not very famous, it is already very exciting to have a design made into a product.

Li Weidong took out a paper ticket from his arms, handed it to James Bond, and said at the same time: "James, as the store manager, your next task is to find a suitable store and try to choose one with a large flow of people.

If there is a suitable place, you can pay a deposit first, and I will bring it to you next time I come!"

"No problem. Mr. Li, don't worry, I am very familiar with Los Angeles and I know where is the best place to open a trendy shoe store!" James Bond said immediately.

"One more thing, the decoration style of the store is also left to you. After all, you are a designer and you know the fashion culture of the United States better. I think you will design the most perfect store." Li Weidong continued.

James Bond was overjoyed when he heard that he was also responsible for the decoration and design of the store.

As a designer, being able to decorate a store according to your own ideas is definitely a very happy thing.

Li Weidong felt that by leaving the matter of finding a store and decorating it to James Bond, he would be relieved.

Li Weidong was not familiar with Los Angeles. If he was asked to find a suitable store by himself, he might be deceived by a real estate agent, so he might as well leave it to James Bond, a local gangster in Los Angeles.

Moreover, James Bond himself is a designer. Although he is engaged in clothing design, there should be no problem in doing interior design. After all, they are all engaged in art! Li Weidong can also save a design fee.

However, Li Weidong was also worried that James Bond was not working hard, so he continued: "James, are you interested in signing a gambling agreement with me?"

"What gambling agreement?" James Bond asked subconsciously.

"We can set a sales target. After the store is opened, if you cannot reach this sales target, I will only pay you the minimum hourly wage in Los Angeles." Li Weidong said with a smile.

When he heard that he was being paid at the minimum hourly wage, James Bond's eyes suddenly showed a worried expression.

Li Weidong continued: "If you can achieve the sales target, I can give you a part of the shares and make you a partner of the company!"

"Really! Mr. Li, are you willing to give me shares?" James Bond's eyes widened and his breathing became rapid.

"Since it is a gambling agreement, it must be signed and has legal effect. Of course I can't go back on it." Li Weidong said with a smile.

James Bond immediately took a deep breath and said sincerely, "Mr. Li, I will try my best to make Feiyue the most successful sports brand in the North American market!"

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