Background:
Zulijian was established in 2015 and is a nationwide professional elderly footwear chain. Zulijian identified the pain point of the elderly population - the problem of "elderly people not having suitable shoes to wear." The underlying reason is that "as people age, their feet undergo deformation, making it difficult to find the right shoe size." In 2017, Zulijian entered into a partnership with Hua & Hua, aiming to assist Zulijian in achieving rapid and large-scale development. In 2017, Zulijian's annual sales were 50 million yuan, but by 2019, they had exceeded 4 billion yuan. Zulijian has become an innovator in the footwear industry in recent years and a well-deserved leading brand in the elderly footwear industry. According to Euromonitor International's certification, Zulijian ranked first in terms of sales volume in the national elderly footwear industry in 2020.
Corporate Strategy:
1. Zulijian's Rhombus Model Strategy: Corporate strategy is not just the strategy of the company itself, but also the strategy set by the company to solve a social problem. Hua & Hua proposed the Rhombus Model for Zulijian, which consists of two triangles: an upper triangle and a lower triangle. The upper triangle focuses on reducing external costs to solve social problems, while the lower triangle focuses on reducing internal costs to create profit for the company. By constructing the Rhombus Model, Zulijian has established three key positions:
a. Business mission: Ensure that every elderly person wears professional elderly shoes.
b. Business strategy : By combining elderly shoe products, stores, and the Foot Science Research Institute, create a solution for elderly people's shoe-wearing issues and address the social problem of "difficulty in wearing shoes for the elderly."
c. Business activity : Through strategies such as "affordable pricing," "limited product variety with independent production," and "overwhelming advertising investment," create unique value and maintain a cost advantage that other brands find difficult to imitate.
2. Zulijian Business Activities.
Guided by the corporate strategy, Zulijian has implemented six major business activities:
a. Research and develop products based on user needs: Zulijian widens the front part of the shoe, increases the height of the shoe waist, and enlarges the internal space of the shoe; the Yuanbao shoe design protects the ankle, and the shoe sole is equipped with large patterns for slip resistance.
b. Implement an affordable pricing strategy: Zulijian offers professional elderly shoes starting from as low as 49 yuan, providing benefits to consumers while effectively deterring new entrants.
c. Limited variety with independent production: Zulijian ensures product quality and maximizes cost reduction in production management.
d. Provide exceptional services: Services such as "kneeling service," "home delivery," and "free delivery" reduce consumer decision-making costs.
e. "3+2" channel model: Zulijian operates through three types of stores, including supermarket stores, commercial district stores, and shopping center stores. They also employ two business models, namely, direct-operated stores and agency stores.
f. Advertising investment centered around CCTV: Zulijian allocates tens of millions of yuan annually to advertise its elderly shoes on CCTV, maintaining a consistent and continuous presence. This sustained approach gradually achieves significant impact.
Through the implementation of these six operational activities, Zulijian has achieved three key results:
o Created a unique value.
o Achieved a competitive cost advantage.
o Made it difficult for competitors to imitate.
These factors have contributed to Zulijian's success today!
Brand Naming (Picture 1):
The name "Zulijian Elderly Shoes" is not just a brand "positioning" for Zulijian but a complete brand naming that establishes a new category. This is the language philosophy of Hua & Hua: naming is a cost, naming is a calling, and naming is an investment. "Zulijian Elderly Shoes" is more compelling and powerful than "Zulijian is elderly shoes," reducing the marketing and communication costs for the company. Therefore, whenever you see Zulijian, whether it's a store or promotional material, it will always be followed by the words "elderly shoes." This long-term association has bound Zulijian and elderly shoes together, making elderly shoes an invaluable brand asset for Zulijian.
Brand Proverbs (Picture 2):
"Professional Elderly Shoes, Trust Zulijian." Through the use of the super words "professional" and "trust," Zulijian establishes the authority of its elderly shoes. The catchy phrase helps Zulijian convey its message effectively and encourages consumers to buy its products and spread its good name, thereby continuously accumulating brand assets.
Discourse System (Picture 3):
Zulijian has a comprehensive discourse system that ranges from "Professional Elderly Shoes, Trust Zulijian" to "Elderly people should wear elderly shoes." This system defines and judges, taking up the responsibility of educating consumers. When elderly people see the statement "Elderly people should wear elderly shoes," a reflexive response is triggered: "I am old, so I should naturally wear elderly shoes." In addition to "Elderly people should wear elderly shoes," Zulijian's discourse system includes slogans like "Mothers should wear mothers' shoes" and "Wear new shoes for the Chinese New Year; gift Zulijian shoes to elders." These slogans collectively form Zulijian's discourse system.
Brand Patterns (Picture 4):
By incorporating the Super Sign element of the triangle, Zulijian creates a visually compelling sign with a strong sense of arrangement, making the brand design more flexible and eye-catching.
Brand Logo (Picture 5):
The original Zulijian symbol was relatively abstract, making it difficult to recognize and understand, and it had not accumulated brand equity. The core problem was the lack of category information. Hua & Hua created a brand new Super Sign for Zulijian: Within a red triangle border, there is a walking elderly person wearing a gentleman's hat and holding a walking cane, taking vigorous strides forward. This conveys a positive, healthy, optimistic, and upward spirit. At the bottom is the brand name, "Zulijian Elderly Shoes," allowing people who encounter the brand for the first time to clearly understand what the product is and its category at a glance.
Store Design (Picture 6-7):
The street serves as the shelf, and the store acts as the packaging. The store is the best advertisement for the brand. Hua & Hua conducted a comprehensive upgrade of Zulijian's stores. Firstly, the store facade features eye-catching red and white colors and a towering symbol, allowing passersby to easily identify and remember the store. Additionally, a television is placed at the entrance, playing Zulijian's TV commercials. The combination of sound and visuals stimulates consumers' memory. On one hand, the CCTV commercials on television act as endorsements for the brand, and on the other hand, consumers may have seen Zulijian Elderly Shoes' advertisements on their own TVs at home. Now, encountering them in the store creates a sense of familiarity with the unfamiliar, triggering an immediate reflex and a sense of surprise, gradually attracting them into the store. Inside the store, through product displays, illuminated advertising lightboxes, advertisements featuring spokesperson Zhang Kaili, and the salesperson's language and service, consumers are continuously stimulated to make purchases. This ultimately leads to an overall improvement in store performance.
Zulijian's "Seven Characters of Ultimate Service" (Picture 8):
Due to elderlies' declining physical condition, actions like trying on shoes can be challenging for some of them. The conventional service model cannot fully meet the needs of the elderly. To provide more caring and professional service to the elderly, Hua & Hua designed the "Seven Characters of Ultimate Service": Ask, Fetch, Kneel, Touch, Try, Buy, Deliver. This helps Zulijian establish a standardized service system. Later, based on the content of the 7 services, Hua & Hua created a song for the "Seven Characters of Ultimate Service," making it even more memorable and practical. This not only serves as a service guide but also becomes an important sales prop for the stores.
Continued Store Improvement (Picture 9):
Hua & Hua carried out continuous improvements for Zulijian's stores. Through a set of six external measures, consumer attention and footfall rates were increased, while a set of four internal measures helped facilitate consumer purchase decisions, improve conversion rates, and increase the average transaction value. As a result of these improvements, the attention rate in Zulijian stores increased by 73.94%, the footfall rate increased by 20.55%, the number of transactions increased by 27.37%, and sales revenue rose from 3615.43 yuan to 4272.07 yuan, an increase of 18.16%. Through these ongoing improvements, Hua & Hua identified the direction for store transformation, significantly enhancing Zulijian's profitability at the individual store level.
Advertisement Videos:
Hua & Hua created a series of advertisement videos for Zulijian. Addressing the pain points of elderly people experiencing difficulty wearing shoes, these videos introduced specific reasons for purchasing the products. They showcased real-life usage scenarios of elderly consumers and featured endorsements from spokesperson Zhang Kaili, continuously reinforcing the brand asset of "Professional Elderly Shoes."
Marketing Calendar (Picture 10-11):
The "Brand Marketing Calendar" involves conducting themed activities on fixed dates each year to create a "Brand Festival." This marketing calendar is implemented every year to "train" consumers and cultivate consumption habits.
Based on the habits and consumption scenes of the elderly, Hua & Hua created Zulijian's "Marketing Calendar." By focusing on four major festivals, namely "Mother's Day," "Father's Day," "Double Ninth Festival" (also known as Chongyang Festival), and "Chinese New Year," they ignited sales through four major events. These four festivals have now become the four highest revenue-generating periods for Zulijian throughout the year.
