Jinjiang Brand 361 Degrees Patiently Compete For The Sports Market And Set Up A 15 Year Plan.

Located at the end of July 2017

Jinjiang's five mile Industrial Park's 361 degree research center has its first batch of visitors.

This is the base for brand research and development of sports products. It was started in 2015 and officially completed in 2017 May.

The most prominent "2031" on the first floor wall represents a year which seems to have nothing to do with 361 degrees.

In an interview, Wei Shutao, director of the sports science research center, explained: "that was the goal set up in 2016. After three five year plans, 361 degrees hoped to realize the research and development target of the brand backbone function in 2031."

The so-called backbone function refers to a product technology that can represent the brand and be remembered by the industry. In their vision, this achievement will be like the air cushion to Nike, Boost to Adidas.

Obviously, when local

In order to get rid of the extensive development mode, we hope to label the technology. The third degree of the domestic brand market share is 361 degrees, which is also the mission of the research and development center.

R & D center building.

Photo source: 361 degrees

The 361 degree research and Development Center opened its front door for the first time, and Wei Shutao, the main person in charge, was the main character of the day. This may be the most important achievement of his work in the past two years.

The former sports scholar who completed the master's degree at Shanghai Institute of Physical Education has worked for another local brand, Jordan sports. Now he is the director of the 361 degree Sports Science Research Center. He has advanced experience in the field of functional sports product development.

Inside the group, people call it "Wei Wei" with respect.

According to its introduction, there are five functional departments, including the ergonomics research center, the functional sports equipment research and development center, the shoe technology center, the service technology center and the physical chemistry detection center.

Among them, the sports equipment ergonomics research center has three test areas: the comprehensive test area, the runway test area and the grass sports test area, which are equipped with the high specification hardware certified by the FIBA, the Badminton Federation and the Athletics Association.

All kinds of instruments and equipment provided by the R & D center are purchased from international professional institutions such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan, the United States and Germany to collect and analyze various sports data.

In terms of scientific research personnel, the center is equipped with more than 460 professional laboratory testers.

Whether in terms of size, functional layout, functional distribution, or research and development of test equipment, the brand said that a series of hardware has reached the international leading level.

It is worth noticing that as early as 2012, the expenditure on scientific research of the 361 degree group accounted for only 2.1% of the turnover. It rose to 2.4% in 2013 and 2014, 3.1% in 2015, and 186 million yuan in 2016 to 3.7%.

From the strength of scientific research to the completion of research and development center, Wang Lei, general manager of the 361 degree brand management center, responded that the group showed an attitude of emphasizing research and development.

Photo source: visual China

Although the research investment is large, as the third of the domestic brand market share, the 361 degree is not the first batch of local sports brand that set up R & D center.

In 2005, Anta invested 30 million yuan to create the first sports science laboratory in China. It became the first domestic sports brand with independent sports biomechanics, sports medicine, sports physiology and sports medicine research institutes.

According to the 2016 earnings report, the R & D cost of the company accounts for 5.1% of the total revenue and is the first in the domestic industry.

In 2008, Lining also set up his own sports science research center in Beijing base. Dr. Wei participated in the establishment of the Jordan sports research and development center in 2011.

The reason why scientists are concerned about scientific research innovation is that it is no longer a reality.

Promote the development mode of the market.

In the ten years before 2008, it was regarded as the golden growth period of the domestic leisure sports market. Because of strong market demand, sports brand enterprises can survive by extensive mode.

But nowadays, with the continuous improvement of the movement level and product requirements of the mainstream consumer groups, sports brand can only compete with the big international brands to meet the needs of the market by increasing product research and development.

At the same time, Dr. Wei stressed that as a post built 361 degree research center, it also has its own advantage, that is, more advanced hardware facilities than other brands. "We have higher sampling frequency and speed, more accurate data collection and higher range."

In addition, sports equipment ergonomics research center and functional sports equipment R & D center is the most representative among the domestic counterparts. "Other brands are either not, or have not yet been formed."

Although the hardware facilities are advanced, there is still a big gap between local enterprises' R & D investment compared with international brands.

In the 2016 fiscal year, Nike spent $3 billion 200 million on product R & D innovation, and R & D investment accounted for 10.46% of sales.

In the 2017 fiscal year, R & D cost rose to US $3 billion 300 million, about 9.6%.

At present, the R & D investment of major brands in China is 3% to 5%.

Looking at the international market, brands with innovative competitiveness are in the range of 5% to 10%.

The low investment in R & D has undoubtedly restricted the industrial upgrading of sports goods.

Han Ye, director of the 361 degree public affairs center, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency: "there is still a big gap between the professional degree and reputation of domestic sports companies in the field of subdivision, especially in the international mainstream projects. International brands still occupy a major market share. The root cause is the R & D capability of products."

In the face of such input differences, Wei said that the main reason is that domestic brands and giant enterprises are in different stages of development. "When Nike was very young, it did not invest a lot of R & D resources. With the development of the brand, it gradually increased R & D investment, and the greater the brand development, the more intense the demand for R & D would be."

In addition to R & D input, another key difference lies in the fact that domestic brands are more powerful in a single category, while international brands are more blooming and more innovative in lifestyle and sports concepts.

Dr Wei also agrees with this deficiency. "This is a test of the comprehensive operation capability of a company. They may be more thorough about our consumer behavior than we do, because their brand has greater influence and can control and guide market consumer behavior."

He said that 361 degree is catching up with the giants, and the research center has set up a department that specializes in consumer behavior.

The center of research and development is written with the word "2031".

Photo source: 361 degrees

In any case, the significance of the completion of the 361 degree research and development center can not be ignored.

This means that a set of whole process operation environment is realized from the creation of functional sports equipment, technology realization, experimental test to product pformation.

Dr Wei said that the process of an ordinary product is three or four months, while the R & D cycle of functional products is short for one or two years, long for several years, after which the Sensation series with high R & D efforts has been in operation for about two years.

However, whether four months or two years of research and development is not the ultimate goal of research and development center, 361 degree expectation and three five year plan, in 2031, the group can complete the research and development of trunk function.

In their vision, this is a functional technology that represents 361 degrees, like air cushions in Nike, Boost in Adidas.

Official information shows that the main functions of the brand are six projects, and the relatively mature ones are elastic ball and intelligent shoes and clothing system.

Dr. Wei revealed that the development of the elastic ball technology was inspired by Adidas's Boost, which is the sole technology developed by the German brand since 2007. Thousands of micro energy capsules have strong resilience, and these small particles are molded into the sole of running shoes.

The 361 degree stretch ball technology is to form a special hollow spherical structure in the midsole to form a closed gas storage, which integrates air cushion function and material function to obtain cushioning shock absorption and light weight effect.

In addition, as the product of brand research and development shifted from competitive sports to mass fitness, smart shoes and clothes are also mentioned.

Dr. Wei said that exercise and exercise intensity are two important indicators of fitness. This function is to detect data for consumers and provide targeted fitness prescriptions, which can be directly pmitted to the user's APP application terminal through smart footwear.

Judging from the current market reaction, neither the elastic ball or the smart shoe and clothing system still seems to be able to achieve the vision of the brand for the main function.

Whether the R & D cost can be exported at the product level has always been a difficulty for many sports brands.

At present, 361 degree advanced scientific research equipment can ensure the accuracy of data and research process, but as Dr. Wei said, consumer behavior demand and market trend research are the strong points of the international brand, and local brands still have great disadvantages in the market.

In addition, the cost of creating a single product is too large to lose money. The brand needs to consider the consumption level of the domestic mass market and launch the price range acceptable to the consumer group.

In fact, Adidas's Boost has been developed from 2007 to the first show in 2013 for seven years. Nike's current leading shoe Air VaporMax also took seven years to complete the innovation of air cushion. The longest development of the mid history technology NikeShox in brand history even took 16 years, and the formation of a classic technology is always polishing for a long time.

In this way, 361 degrees gave him a 15 year deadline, and this ambitious Jinjiang brand still has the necessary patience.

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