Exceptional Brand Co-Founder: Positioning niche women without spokespersons

On May 15th, at the opening ceremony of the 67th Cannes Film Festival, Chinese director Jia Zhangke appeared in black suit tailored for “exceptions” and attracted the attention of many domestic entertainment and fashion media. In recent years, this high-end fashion brand from China has always been in an unexpected way, and the unexpected “spokesperson” has frequently appeared in the eyes of the people. Now, it seems that even discussing "exceptions" is a very fashionable thing.

What kind of attraction does this brand, which has been a low-key, niche, attract many heavyweight loyal fans?

The last two years are undoubtedly the long cold period of the domestic garment industry. Closing stores, discounts, and inventory clearance continue to be performed. Many garment companies suffer from tight cash flow, falling profits, increasingly contradictory distributors, and even the ever popular Internet clothing. The brand also began to suffer. However, not all brands have begun to tighten their belts to prepare for hard times, such as the domestic original designer brand "exception" (EXCEPTION).

This is quite influential in the industry, but the domestic high-end fashion brand that was only known in the last two years has been very different since its inception: it has positioned niche women, and has rarely advertised or branded since its inception. Spokesperson.

However, such a low-key "heresy" has become a brand frequently talked about by stars of the literary and art circles when it is known to the masses. It has gathered a large number of loyal customers.

How does "exception" win? Mao Jihong, co-founder of the brand and chairman of Guangzhou “Exceptional” Fashion Co., Ltd., said in an interview: “The success of the “exception” lies in its uniqueness. It is a brand of partial philosophy, not fashionable, trendy and measured by female functions. The clothes are not just visual feelings but inner feelings.”

In addition to the concept of the brand, it is deliberately differentiated from the aggressive and popular symbols of the masses. In the specific operations of the company, Mao Jihong, who has done a marketing job for the designer, has chosen a slow-warming growth that is “reverse to the tradition and the mainstream”. According to the route, he said that business operators should think about how to return to the “origin of the company” and that “exceptions” this year’s theme is to “return to the origin” and establish the core barriers of this niche brand – “go back Clothing, branding is the thing that is least likely to be taken away by others."

Tap the niche brand "Moat"

A long wooden house with long walkways and walls made of wood. When reporters walked into the huge space of “exceptional” specialty stores, they saw images of alternative trees and soil. The simplest materials, such as wood, linen, and exposed light bulbs in the store, did not feel like walking. Into a clothing store.

Mao Jihong said that the distinction between traditional storefront styles is also an “exceptional” way of conveying ideas to customers. He said that the so-called Internet thinking is essentially the same as the offline enterprise that is really doing users. The core competitiveness comes from the "pain point" of grabbing users.

In his opinion, the apparel market in recent years has been lamenting a potential high gross margin, that is, the high-end women's clothing market. According to his analysis, the customers of this market are sensitive and disguised in life using various symbols, and this group is also willing to pay for a high-priced product that meets their inner feelings and attaches emotional appeal elements. In my society, my relationship with things, the environment, and people around us is a new concept of value."

The internationally renowned architect Zhang Yonghe once commented on the “exception”: “Before there was no 'exception', Chinese women wore clothes for others; after 'exceptions', Chinese women wore clothes for themselves.”

In terms of product positioning, Mao Jihong said that “exceptions” from the beginning of their birth determined that something unique must be created: most clothing brands spend 80% to 90% of their time and energy on simple and direct visual effects. The "exceptional" pays more attention to the tactile experience that requires slow down and careful experience, and spends 60% of the time and energy on product touch.

What supports this concept is the anti-smoothing and anti-fast-food design that the “exception” has paid attention to from the very beginning.

When the "exceptional" dress was created in 1996, Mao Jihong found through extensive market research that at the time China's apparel ( 8.31 , 0.13 , 1.59% ) market had a large number of brands, but there were not many domestic original design brands, mostly "imports." , And the original design brand positioning is low, very few high-end brands. Mao Jihong identified this as a potential niche blue ocean.

After pinpointing the product and market positioning, the "exception" began to try to cut their own brand of "moat" on the clothing materials: that is, the fabrics they have been exclusively developing. Since 2005, Mao Jihong has created five laboratories in the "exception": needle woven studio, wool studio, accessories studio, dyeing and finishing laboratory, quality laboratory. The five laboratories were set up by Mao Jihong to follow the example of Bell Laboratories. In Mao Jihong's view, this kind of sinking of hearts and slow workmanship on fabrics reflects his brand's value proposition.

Through these five laboratories, "exceptions" include front-end R&D including fabrics, designs, and brands. Mao Jihong, for example, said that they developed a fabric called needle hair and used needles to insert cotton lint into the fabric to create a feeling of landscape painting. In addition, the “exceptional” men’s wear currently sold only in Guangzhou is also a research and development product of their laboratory.

In 2012, Mao Jihong established a "YMOYNOT" brand. For the reasons for creating this brand, Mao said: "Contemporary young designers want to have a better platform to express, this platform allows them to take a little detours, especially for young Oriental designers better around the Oriental language The environment to do the design."

In recent years, many designer brands have emerged in the Chinese market. As the oldest designer brand founder in China, Mao Jihong believes that the most important thing for fashion designers is to cultivate their own core competitiveness, pay attention to traditional culture, and use their own uniqueness. The language expresses his understanding and comprehension of clothing. If the designer only digests the concept of copying foreign countries simply and crudely, and does not pay attention to the key elements of materials and crafts that need to spend energy and time to settle, it can only be a formalistic thing. “It's like a paper shell, a glimpse. It will break.”

Selling clothes in a bookstore

Nowadays, all industries are in an era of relying on simple and fast advertising bombing for marketing. Many apparel brands are busily searching for spokespersons and planning for title campaigns for sales purposes. “Exceptions” are almost never advertising, and there is not much fanfare of PR publicity. Even if they have some celebrity client resources, “exceptions” rarely show up. . Mao Jihong said that Li Na was wearing an "exception" when holding a French trophy in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but they did not take this as a targeted marketing plan.

In addition, international luxury brands such as LV and Hermès have their own logos that are very obvious and eye-catching, but as a Chinese local brand, the “exceptional” apparel products can hardly find a brand logo that can be recognized at a glance.

Mao Jihong then said: "'Exceptions' do not advertise. Our approach is through the store and some 'unthinkable activities' in-depth audience's heart."

However, this does not mean that “exception” does not have marketing, but rather it leads the way in marketing channels.

For example, the “exceptional” apparel “double-sided exception” shop is the first domestic retail model combining clothing and books. According to Mao Jihong's idea, "double-sided exceptions" represent the exception for clothing and the exception for reading. It is a "double exception plus exception" effect.

In fact, Mao Jihong has been working hard on cultural marketing after confirming the “exceptional” style.

On the “exceptional” birthday of the 12th birthday, “Beijing SOGO Ecological Store” opened, and in Mao Jihong’s view, this store is an upgraded version of the “double-sided exception”. Unlike the "exceptional" ordinary specialty stores, the "double-sided exception" adds books based on clothing. In addition to clothing and books, this eco shop named “State” uses environmental protection and recycled materials, and also houses some household items, reflecting an “exceptional” lifestyle, constructing a contemporary lifestyle. Aesthetics-related living space.

In 2011, the "Museum" of niche literature opened in Taikoo Hui, the most high-end shopping mall in Guangzhou, and it borders on luxury goods such as Hermes, LV and Dior. As a product of the “exceptional” channel model exploration, this 600-square-meter bookstore is a combination of bookstores, “aesthetic life”, coffee, exhibition space, and apparel fashion. Carefully selected 40,000 kinds of books and magazines and nearly 10,000 kinds of English publications in the mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Among them, design, art, and architectural books are rare in China.

The party originated from Mao Jihong’s trip to Taiwan. In 2005, he first entered the Eslite Bookstore in Taiwan, which subverted Mao Jihong's impression of the bookstore: the book was carefully selected, and the environment for reading was elegant and comfortable. “The original bookstore can also be different.” After careful thinking, Mao Jihong decided to run his own bookstore.