After winning the championship, the Guangdong team members put on the most sponsor of the CBA - Anta's well-designed championship T-shirt

With the help of foreign capital with both strength and experience, Li Ning gradually returned and gradually went on track, but it is no longer the local leader, at least not now.

ANTA released its 2011 annual report a few days ago. Its turnover increased by 20.2% year-on-year to 8.904 billion yuan, and its net profit was 1.73 billion yuan. It surpassed Li Ning in one fell swoop and got the top spot in the turnover and profits of local sports brands.

Prior to this, Li Ning’s performance forecast is expected to be 6%-7% lower than 2010’s 9.479 billion yuan revenue, which is approximately 8.8 billion yuan, and net profit will also fall by 7%-8% in 2010’s 1.1 billion yuan.

Although Li Ning's final data has not yet come out, Anta's "double-up" and Li Ning's "double drop" trend is a foregone conclusion. Anta is sitting firmly in the domestic sporting goods industry's "first brother" throne.

Interbrand, a world-renowned brand strategy consulting company, recently selected “2011 China Brand Value Rankings”. Anta has risen by 4 places from last year and ranked 17th, becoming the highest ranked local sports brand. Anta almost completely surpassed Li Ning and became a well-deserved leader in local sporting goods.

The latent effort

Ducks often make people feel casual in the lake. In fact, his legs are working hard underwater, waiting for the opportunity to show his strength. Anta is a duck that is silently pushing.

"Easy business, practical life," is the origin of the name "Anta". Anta stated its enduring brand roots in an objective and direct language.

"Anta just did the right thing at the right time, took the lead and won the market opportunity." Ding Shizhong, Chairman of Anta Sports Products Co., Ltd., said humbly.

Anta is undoubtedly the first-line sports brand in China and an ambitious expansionist. In 1994, the sign of Anta was put on the door of a shoemaking workshop in Jinjiang, Fujian. For the first time in more than ten years, Anta has developed into one of the largest marketing-oriented comprehensive sportswear companies in China.

Statistics from the China Business Confederation and the China National Business Information Center show that the comprehensive market share of ANTA sports shoes for many years in the sports footwear market ranks first among similar products in the country. In fact, Anta (China) Co., Ltd. is now a wholly-owned limited liability company of Hong Kong Anta International Investment Co., Ltd., which has set up “China Famous Brand”, “China Top Brand Product”, “China Quality Inspection-free Product”, and “China Brand 500 Strong "and other honors in one, its sales performance has long been in the forefront of the country, the overall market share of sports shoes is for many years in the country ranked first in similar products.

In the 1990s, the rapid rise of the Asian economy sparked an upsurge of international brands entering the Asian market. Nike and Adidas competed in the second and third tier cities for more market share by changing their sales strategies. However, the various aspects of local Chinese companies that have just started are not yet mature and the market competitiveness is far less than that of international brands.

When Anta was established, most of the sports goods companies in Jinjiang chose the route for international brands OME export orders, making the domestic market appear hugely empty. Anta took this opportunity and resolutely gave up its traditional line and took the lead in choosing to enter the domestic market to create its own brand. The wealth of resources in the domestic market has made Anta so successful that in just two years, Anta’s share in the sports footwear market has increased to 13%.

After Anta signed Kong Linghui for Anta's endorsement, a "I choose, I like it" brand slogan was intensively bombed on CCTV Channel 5. In 2000, Kong Linghui’s courageous victory in the Sydney Olympics also pushed Anta’s influence to the top and became known throughout the country overnight. Anta's innovative marketing model hits the spotlight. In just over a year's time, Anta has taken the top spot in domestic sports shoe brand sales. Anta stores have soared from 2,000 homes in 1999 to nearly 10,000 homes, and have basically completed monopoly networks covering cities nationwide (county) and cities, reaching the largest coverage of specialty stores in the industry.

Stable to win

For companies, "do not fall" is sometimes more important than "run faster." After nearly 20 years of followers, Anta insisted on serving the public and tasted the lead in advance. After successively defeating Li Ning in multiple operating metrics at a cost lower than the number one competitor for several consecutive years, the company has become increasingly overbearing.

However, unlike Li Ning's "not satisfied with the positioning of the mass market, radical transformation, and the expectation of competing with Nike and Adidas," ANTA has established a brand positioning of serving the mass market for more than 10 years. Anta Vice President Zheng Jie once said: "We do not think that Nike, Adidas is Anta's competitor. For them, Anta is just a benchmark for the industry to learn."

In fact, ANTA will follow the "meat fight" with international brands in the third and fourth tier cities. At the same time, Li Ning, who had fallen somehow, must have made painstaking efforts, adjusted his strategies, and prepared to catch up.

Therefore, although Anta has won the top spot of local brands, the market structure it faces is actually more dangerous.

For the overall situation in which the domestic sportswear industry has not been optimistic since 2012, Anta management also stated that the industry will be full of challenges in the next six months to one year. Accelerating the occupation of market share, breaking out of the region to the whole country, and mastering the domestic market's dominance rights have apparently become an urgent issue in China's sporting goods industry at that time.

The rapid development of China’s sports industry has brought unlimited opportunities to sports brands. As a loyal partner of China’s sports industry, Anta has long supported the Chinese Men’s Basketball Professional League (CBA), Chinese Men and Women’s Volleyball League, and China’s Men’s and Women’s Table Tennis Super League. In other events, because of its support for Chinese sports events, Anta is hailed as "the engine of the Chinese League."

In addition, “Innovation and Change” is ANTA's tireless pursuit. In terms of technological innovation, Anta has obtained a number of national patents and has become one of the makers of the sporting goods industry standard. ANTA took the lead in setting up the first sports science laboratory in the sporting goods industry in China and devoted itself to the study of sports mechanics.

Right now, Anta is actively preparing for the next round of competition - the 2012 London Olympics. At this upcoming world event, Anta will show the world that the Chinese brand will never stop its dedication and enhance the weight and position of Chinese brands in the international market.

While deepening the second and third tier markets, Anta has gradually become a strategic grower based on domestic and international perspectives.