Will not be the next Pierre Cardin? Hu Junhua This is the 90s of last century, a typical image of Wenzhou boss, he has reached middle age, body fat, clip a black or brown handbag, spirited to use Motorola mobile phone business. And so on, the important signs are, he is wearing a sparkling, bright colors, the left chest with a flower Montagut T-shirt. "When we are dressed," one Wenzhou boss recalled. This typical image is so popular, so far, although now Wenzhou, Montagut has long been abandoned, the beginning of favorable LV, Gucci, Prada, but people Montagut consumer positioning, or remain in the "middle-aged fat Wenzhou boss "on. In a letter to her sister Cassandra, Jane Austen, author of Pride and Prejudice, said that the bright red of the flower, the Papaver rhoeas, is very popular in the Bath area of ​​England, where France is equally popular. So in France, a brand named Montagut chose this flower as their brand logo. This flower, 30 years ago, into the Chinese market, people just bid farewell to the dark blue-gray boring monotone color era, pocketed the eye. Today, France Montagut Group has not entered the Chinese market that year as the big deal. However, in China, the second and third tier markets, this small red flowers still have a place, the annual sales even more than the French mainland, Montagut is the largest market. Montagut seems to have entered the same "misunderstanding" as most of its early competitors, and its brand image does not appear to have been systematically planned and promoted. For the first time in years, its first consumer, has been acting as its "spokesperson." With the passage of time, such "spokesperson" has slowly become the "barrier" to the brand image. It can not compete with "new invaders" who are always looking for, correcting and promoting their own image. The glory of the past and today's low-key, people can not help but ask, this flower will also be like that with it along with pioneering the Chinese market, Pierre Cardin, eventually being sold? Pierre Gros, Chairman of Montaggia Group, told CBN: "I do not want to comment on Mr. Pierre Cardin's sale of the brand, Mr. Pierre Cardin did a great job, I respect him, he is a forerunner and made in China A lot of money, but I'm still young and Montagut will not sell my own brand. "With that in mind, Pierre Gros, 55, hurried off to meet Montagut dealers. Remembrance of "like years" Montagut's success in the Chinese market and Pierre Cardin has many similarities. At the beginning of China's reform and opening up, the color of the Chinese people's clothing, apart from the dark blue and gray, had few vivid colors. They were not only materially scarce, but they also did not know what brands and fashion were. In the era of scarce brands and fashion, Montagut and Pierre Cardin took the lead in entering the Chinese market to become "eat crabs" and make China's apparel industry refreshing. Pierre Gros recalled that his father, Leo Gros, then head of Montagut, sent himself to the Hong Kong office in 1979. With the help of my friend, Pierre Gros and his wife, several senior engineers visited China deeply. He found that the vast majority of Chinese-sold garments are produced locally and without foreign brands. "It means a chance." Pierre Gros is very excited. But no one echoed him. "Everyone at the time told us to wait, because China was still poor, but I did not think so. Just because almost all the clothes sold on the market are local products, so that from France The product is even more appealing. "Pierre Cardin held a large-scale fashion show in China in 1984, causing a sensation and further enhancing Pierre Gros's determination. He believes Montagut's entry into China will not be too early. Since 1984, Hong Kong as a bridgehead, Montagut cut through the agents in Guangzhou, Shanghai and other four major cities in China. Montagut's ads are increasingly appearing in these first-tier cities, Pierre Gros said with a smile: "At that time advertising in big cities was cheap and not as expensive as it is now." The bright filament technology Montagut uses also lets Chinese consumers Eye-opening, the use of bright silk Montagut clothing soft and comfortable, with bright luster, and not easy to wrinkle. For mainland consumers who have relatives in Hong Kong, bringing relatives back to Montagut's clothes can often show off in front of people. 1985 to 1995 is Montagut's fastest growing period in the Chinese market. Pierre Gros told CBN reporter: "Even so, our sales have been very successful with double-digit annual sales growth and more than 20 years of staying there." Getting Wrenched However, over time, Montagut began to face real challenges. This is beyond the reach of the "forerunner." Especially before and after China's accession to the WTO, tremendous changes have taken place in the mainland China market where Montagut was located. In the Chinese men's market, Montagut gradually decline in the first-tier market is not surprising. Shanghai's Nanjing West Road, the top international brand convergence Hang Lung Plaza, LV, Gucci, Armani occupy the most significant position; and across the street in Nanjing East Pedestrian Street, Younger (13.15,0.25,1.94%), Septwolves (19.50 , 0.50, 2.63%) This local men's brand is also imposing momentum. Montagut brand of international brands and the Chinese mainland middle and high-end brands in the encircling circle so that Montagut embarrassed situation. Researcher Li Keloo analysis, China's accession to the WTO, the foreign-funded enterprises to gradually relax the policy of entering China, the international business environment in China more relaxed, which they accelerated the pace of entering China, increased brand communication efforts. However, in order to improve their game capabilities, China's department stores started to introduce international brands in quantity and variety as their market weight, which gave international brands like Versace, Dunhill and Armani the chance to enter the large department stores in the first-tier cities smoothly . Subsequently, for many years for the accumulation of international brand OEM, so that local men's brand rising. Whether Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province or Quanzhou, Fujian men's business, after decades of accumulation, the formation of a large men's production capacity and professional production technology, build their own brands success, not only in the domestic second and third-line market a firm foothold, Youngor, Septwolves The first-tier market is also taking root, occupying a place in the high-end market. Now, the Chinese men's market has transitioned from the brand scarcity of the brand to many or even excess state, men's market from the seller to the buyer's market. This means that the foundation upon which Montagut dominated men's clothing relied, began to collapse. Montagut is not aware of the changes in China's mid to high-end apparel market, Pierre Gros said. "China's apparel market is already a niche market and we have to share this market with other companies." Montagut also has a winning hand: Domestic second and third tier markets are still quite competitive. On the one hand, high-end brand "upstart" LV, Gucci and other distribution in the second and third tier markets is still short, a limited number of Montagut has been operating for 30 years, the number of sales outlets in the domestic market has more than 3,000; the other hand, Montagut The French apparel culture of authentic, entrenched in the second and third tier markets of local apparel brand is still difficult to completely imitate the eyes of the affluent in these markets, Montagut still has considerable charm. Even so, Montagut is determined to transition. In 2006, Montagut started to take back some of its products, Pierre Gros explained: "The Chinese market has undergone many changes. Previously, Montagut sells its products through a large distribution channel. This model sometimes distorts our brand in small In the context of the public market, Montagut must face to face with consumers, so B2C outlets must be done to better maintain the brand, improve management and service. Next year, Montagut's direct sales stores, flagship store number will Increase to hundreds. "In terms of product line, Montagut first entered the Chinese market, a single product line to men's T-shirt-based, has now been extended to men's, women's, children's clothing and even glasses series and many other product lines. This year in September, entertainment star Lynn in Shanghai Montagut new season show clothing products. One of them is the ladies' collection called LA PARISIENNE, mainly for young urban women. It is not difficult to see that in the target consumer orientation, Montagut also want to change the "old man wardrobe" image. Men's, Montagut consumers have always been considered as 40 to 50-year-old "old man", Pierre Gros said Montagut new Latitude men's products will be mainly for mid-to high-end 35-year-old male consumers. Numerous experiences have shown that the transformation of "pioneers" is always somewhat lagged, accompanied by enormous suffering. It is conceivable that, if you want to regain the original success, Montagut will pay the price to be amazing.