The inspirational entrepreneurial story of Ding Zhizhong, president of Anta.

Ding Zhizhong, the 37-year-old president of Anta (China) Co., Ltd., is from chen dai zhen, Jinjiang City, Fujian Province. Ding Zhizhong, president of Anta, as the first sports shoes enterprise in China to advertise sports stars, is called "the first person to eat crabs".

It took Ding Zhizhong less than 65,438+00 years to leave thousands of competitors in Anta town behind. "Anta has grown bigger, and Ding Zhizhong is not good-looking now." A Shishi businessman who started making sportswear on 1983 said. The annual sales of his "Hao Jian" brand sportswear is about 1 100 million.

Ding Zhizhong became a veritable local shoe king, but he did not become the president of the local shoe industry association. "He has a domineering spirit in his bones, which is not easy to deal with," said a local media reporter. He is never willing to accommodate others. According to the local people, if it is something he doesn't want to do but has to do, Ding Hui, the founder of Xtep, another shoe company in Jinjiang, will choose to do it, but simply refuse.

Perhaps because of this, when Quanzhou City (Jinjiang belongs to Quanzhou City) elected the president of the Footwear Association in 2006, as the boss of Jinjiang's footwear industry, it was originally the only candidate for the president, but it attracted opposition, and Ding finally took the seat.

"Ding Zhizhong is a closed-minded person in character. Only a few close friends can understand his inner thoughts. Most people, even the directors of his company, may not know what he is thinking. " A person who has worked beside Ding Zhizhong for many years said. Why can this "difficult-to-deal" businessman surpass more than 3,000 Jinjiang shoe enterprises and become the star of wealth in this labor-intensive industry?

The summer after graduating from junior high school, 17-year-old Ding Zhizhong proposed to go to Beijing for development, but his family didn't understand. Father asked him to tell the reason. Ding Zhizhong said that foreigners buy things with money every day, and almost everything can be sold. Why don't we take the initiative to sell the goods from Jinjiang?

Ding Fu's shoe factory was just established at that time, and the economy was not comfortable. However, under the persuasion of his son, he took out 1000 yuan to let Ding Zhizhong buy 600 pairs of Jinjiang shoes for sale in Beijing.

In order to put Jinjiang's goods in the counter of Beijing Xidan Shopping Mall, Ding Zhizhong goes to the crowd in the shopping mall every day. At first, others said they disagreed and said to him, "How old are you, running out to do business?" Ding Zhizhong crustily skin of head said he was 20 years old, and people didn't believe him. Regardless of other people's faces, sincerely introduce the advantages of Jinjiang products. After going for more than a month in a row, the people in the mall finally agreed to visit Jinjiang. Ding Zhizhong was very happy and hurried back to Jinjiang to prepare. Finally, in the major shopping malls in Beijing, Ding Zhizhong has won counters for Jinjiang Shoe Factory.

But at 199 1, Ding Zhizhong returned to Jinjiang. It turned out that the low-priced sales of Jinjiang shoes in Beijing deeply stimulated Ding Zhizhong. At that time, many famous shoes such as "Qingdao Double Star" and Shanghai Torch Brand were produced in Jinjiang, which showed that the quality of goods in Jinjiang was no problem.

Ding Zhizhong earned 200,000 yuan in four years and reopened his factory in Jinjiang. At that time, his idea was clear: we must make the enterprise bigger and the brand louder. 1999, a domestic shoe advertising war and sports star war were formed, and Ding Zhizhong became the first person to eat crabs. 1.6 million, "I choose, I like it", and Kong Huiling became the image spokesperson of Anta for two years; 5 million, the budget price for advertising in CCTV. Results With Kong's outstanding performance in the Olympic Games and his unique "I choose, I like", Anta quickly completed the establishment and dissemination of the brand, which greatly promoted the growth of the market.

From 2000 to 2004, for four consecutive years, the comprehensive market share of Anta sports shoes ranked first in China. Even so, Ding Zhizhong still denied that the success of Anta was attributed to advertising. Because he thinks that advertising strategy is only a part of enterprise marketing strategy, advertising can enhance the brand's popularity, and inviting image spokespersons can make the brand's personality more distinct and reliable, but these are not the whole of the brand. If a brand really goes deep into the hearts of consumers, it needs the unique brand connotation and the support of a stable and powerful market network. And all this is a cumulative process, and a successful brand has to go through many years of market tests.

Ding Zhizhong said with a smile: The boss should be both a father and a mother. Ding Zhizhong accompanied Anta all the way. Although he didn't encounter subversive or fatal setbacks and difficulties, he still encountered some minor difficulties every day, which broke Ding Zhizhong's brain.

"When it was more serious," Ding Zhizhong recalled, after Anta asked Kong to be a celebrity spokesperson, "the advertisement was played for a month or two, and it didn't have any effect." At first, Ding Zhizhong persuaded the opposition to invite sports stars as product spokesmen, which seems to have a breeding ground again.

"At that time, I really felt a little flustered. After all, the money invested at that time was almost the profit of Anta for half a year. " But Ding Zhizhong did not waver or doubt his decision. Sure enough, in the third month, dealers began to queue up in front of the factory with cash to pick up the goods. Anta shoes are very popular in the market, which makes Anta really feel the charm of advertising. At this moment, Ding Zhizhong is thinking about the next question.

Ding Zhizhong told reporters: "Doing business is not only to make money, but also to complete tasks and win honors." . "It's okay now. I only need to work ten hours a day, but every day something new will keep me busy. The busier you are, the more fulfilling you feel, and the more you can enjoy the happiness brought by occasional leisure. Just like now, just after a busy morning, it is also a very enjoyable thing to sit down and chat with reporters. "

"My father taught me how to be a man. What impressed me so far is that he told me very early that you should let others take advantage of 565,438+0% in everything you do, and you only need to take 49% for yourself forever. " Ding Zhizhong told reporters that he couldn't understand it at that time. Isn't it obvious that he suffered? How can you do business like this? Later, he gradually understood that it seemed to be a temporary loss, but it won the long-term cooperation of customers. Let customers recognize, respect and trust more. This truth still has a deep penetration in Anta today.

At the end of 2002, Anta Company won the largest booth in Jinjiang Street, the Asian center of Hungary. This is a valuable booth, but Ding Zhizhong thinks it is "very popular". We don't compete with Nike and Adidas for the developed markets in Europe and America, so we chose Hungary, which has not yet joined the EU, and Hungary's accession to the EU in 2004 just set a ready springboard for Anta to enter the European market. Then, in 2003, Anta began to sponsor Lithuanian professional basketball "Youth Guards" Poseidon Basketball Club, and Anta became the first China brand to sponsor overseas professional basketball teams.