Analyze below case and show your professional strategies of
NIKE doing business in CHina.
Case: Show company has done well producing in china.
Jim Weber, CEO of Brooks Sports Inc, said he looks forward to
not only making the company's running shoes in China but selling
them there.
Brooks CEO Jim Weber is a daily runner and has been running
for 37 years. Provided to China Daily
"The running boom happening in China is exciting," he said.
"It just reflects the power of sport that came to China with the
Beijing Olympics 10 years ago. People have so much enthusiasm for
sports."
The Seattle, Washington-based company, an independent
subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway that is also known as Brooks
Running, designs and markets high-performance men's and women's
running shoes, clothing and accessories.
In the 12 months ended August 2018, the company gained 4.4
percent in market share in the $100 and above (average selling
price) segment of the adult performance running footwear category,
making it the No. 1 brand in the US.
On Oct 23, Brooks Sports reported a 29 percent increase in
global revenue driven by a 32 percent increase in global footwear
sales year to date.
In the United States in the last 25 years, there has been a
continuing interest in fitness. Running is in the middle of it, as
15 million American jog to stay in shape.
"The market of the US is stabilized. It is OK, but it's not
growing that much," Weber said.
Last year, Brooks entered the China market, which is estimated
to have at least 200 million "self-defined" runners.
According to a report by the Chinese Athletic Association
(CAA), there were 22 marathons co-sponsored by the CAA in 2011. The
number reached 328 in 2016, and 1,102 in 2017. More than 5 million
runners competed in these events.
In April 2001, when Weber became CEO and president of the
company, the brand founded in 1914 was almost an
afterthought.
The Brooks team decided to make a complete line of athletic
footwear and stop everything else. The company has grown
consistently the past 17 years.
"When you look at the athletic footwear and apparel industry,
it truly is global," Weber said. "There are large brands like Nike
and Adidas. They are global brands and they are full line
athletic.
"They are about the athletics and sports. They are inspiring
and aspiring: It is about winning, breaking the tape, getting the
gold medal, being on the podium," he said.
Weber said "running is unique because it is the biggest
category in the athletic footwear industry partly because everybody
runs for every sport they are in".
"If you are training for football, or soccer, or baseball, or
basketball, you are running. We think probably 140 million people
worldwide are running for fitness," Weber said.
Weber said the brand exemplifies a "run happy" philosophy, to
celebrate and champion the sport of running and runners.
"They are running for their own health and wellness," he said.
"They are running to feel better every day. The fact that people
don't watch it but they do it, that makes the sport even more
powerful. "
Weber runs daily and has been running for 37 years, he
said.
"For me, it became almost a very good mental processing time,
just thinking about the day, thinking about the work," Weber
said.
"The only focus we have is running is the key to the success.
We are reinforcing the reasons people run. And we push our design
for what we call craft beauty. We have new technology in running,"
Weber said.
During the recession, Weber focused on doing a better job of
figuring out what runners want and increased Brooks' investment in
research and development to design better shoes.
His favorite shoe for long treks is the Brooks Transcend. He
also like the Brooks Levitate, launched in 2017, because "it makes
him feel faster".
Weber hopes that tariff dispute between the US and China can
be solved.
"We are a seller of a global brand, we are sourcing all over
the world and selling all over the world," he said.
"We believe that free and fair trade has lifted so many people
and so many economies all over the world. A lot of our trade
between the US and China had made both countries stronger," Weber
said.
He said the company has been producing in China for
decades.
"Our best factories have really been China-based factories, in
terms of quality, technology and innovation. We do not want to
leave our manufactory base in China," Weber said.
"There are a lot of complexities in the trade dispute. It is
not a positive thing for our industry," he continued. "In our
situation, if tariffs would come to our category, we already pay 25
percent tariffs; if there is another added to that, it would be
almost 45 percent on running shoes."