fitness sports brand

The current core competition logic of fitness sports brands has long been separated from the superficial competition of "competing for fashion brand appearance and spokesperson level". The essence of the competition is "scenario adaptability" and "professional boundary sense" - a brand that succeeds in any one of these points can survive to the second half of the industry, and a brand that succeeds in both has basically passed the profit model.

I have been running a fitness studio for 4 years. I have changed through 7 brands of group class peripherals and 11 brands of protective equipment. The pits I have walked through can fill half a storage room. Two years ago, I bought a batch of popular fitness clothes from a certain Xiaohongshu. Morandi's promotional photos were indeed released. Within three months, three students had their crotches torn apart while practicing deadlifts, and one girl's shoulder line collapsed while practicing burpees. She died in public, and I had to pay for it after three private lessons. Later, I switched to a niche domestic brand that started out as a strength training brand. The fabric was as thick as canvas. After wearing it for two and a half years, no one complained about the seams. But it was also really ugly. It came in three colors: gray, black and blue. The pattern was as wide as labor insurance clothing. When giving away merchandise for store celebrations, students would rather have customized towels than wear this dress. To put it bluntly, it just doesn’t look good enough and can’t be worn daily.

There have been two voices in the industry that have been arguing about current fitness brands for several years. One group thinks that "unprofessional fitness brands are just cutting leeks." Look at those hot-selling Internet celebrity models. The spandex content of the fabrics cannot even reach 25%. The 73:27 nylon spandex yellow I haven't even touched the golden ratio, and the perspiration performance is terrible. After 20 minutes of training, my back is as wet as water. The so-called "butt lift line" is made by hard drawing, and it will get stuck in the crotch and grind the thighs after wearing it for a long time. It is completely made of fitness clothes as fast-moving cosmetics, and the appearance tax is charged. The other group thinks this statement is too arrogant. The driving force for many people entering the gym for the first time is not to train how much weight or how fast to run, but to buy good-looking clothes to take photos. If you insist on letting people come in and buy professional weightlifting shoes and deadlift clothes that cost hundreds of dollars, won't it just block people from the door of fitness? I have seen too many girls buy good-looking yoga pants, originally just to wear them to drink coffee, but after wearing them for a long time, they actually signed up for yoga classes. Isn’t this considered the positive value of the brand?

Last month, I had dinner with the product manager of a domestic head sports brand. He said that they encountered a huge pitfall in 2019. At that time, they wanted to make fitness clothes that could be used in all scenarios. They should not only meet the competition needs of professional athletes, but also be suitable for daily commuting. As a result, they changed 8 styles of sample clothes. The professional team felt that the fabric was too soft and not supportive enough, and ordinary consumers felt that the style was too tight and difficult to wear outside. The price was stuck at 399. Less than 2,000 pieces were sold in the 3 months after the launch, and they lost a small amount of millions. Later, they simply split the product line into two. One is a "light fitness" route. The fabric has an anti-splash layer, which can be wiped clean after spilling milk tea and coffee. It has a hidden pocket on the waistband that can hold an iPhone 14. The trousers are slightly flared. With an oversize sweatshirt, you can go directly to work. 100,000 pieces were sold in the first month of the launch, and it is still their popular product. ； The other line is a professional line that does not look for traffic stars and only cooperates with strength teams and marathon teams in various provinces. It sticks to the parameters. For example, the carbon plate rigidity of the running shoes is adjusted to 42 degrees, which is just suitable for runners within 330 in the marathon. The Velcro of the wristbands is made of imported nylon, which will not fluff after being stuck on for 1,000 times. Although the sales volume is only one-tenth of the light fitness line, the profit is three times that of the former, making life more stable.

Nowadays, many people accuse domestic brands of copying lululemon. I think there are two reasons for this. You say copying the styles. Indeed, at first glance, many brands of yoga pants are almost the same as lululemon’s align series. But if you have actually worn them, you will know that many domestic brands have made improvements that are more suitable for Asians: for example, lululemon’s large-size trouser legs are generally biased. Long, pear-shaped figures under 160 cm can wear it at the ankles. Many domestic brands have shortened the length of the pants by 2cm, added 3cm of high-elasticity to the waist, and added 1.5cm of extra room at the crotch. The pear-shaped figure can wear it without getting stuck in the crotch and will not fall off the waist. The price is less than one-third of lululemon. Moreover, lululemon’s core fabric patents have expired as early as 2020. Many domestic OEMs have been OEMing for them. If something comes out of the same production line and the same batch of fabrics, do you think it is considered plagiarism? The industry has been arguing about this for several years, but there is no conclusion. Anyway, ordinary consumers vote with their feet. Last year, the sales volume of a domestic brand that mainly promoted lululemon tripled, which is an indisputable fact.

To be honest, when I recommend equipment to students, I never say that a certain brand must be good or a certain brand must be bad. If you are just starting out, you want to buy a nice set of clothes to take photos, and take a walk to practice yoga. Those good-looking Internet celebrity models are enough. There is no need to buy thousands of professional equipment and pay the "entry IQ tax"” ； If you have already started preparing for the competition, weighing weights, and improving your marathon results, you must choose a professional brand that sticks to the parameters. Otherwise, if the protection is not in place and you get injured, the gain outweighs the gain. There should not be any contempt for fitness brands. The best brand can just match your current needs.