Chinese men's clothing brand GXG has recently partnered with the Light Residence Hotel under the Yaduo Hotel Group to launch a "zero pressure clothing borrowing station".
GXG has launched the "Zero Pressure Borrowing Station" for business travelers, targeting scenarios such as "wrinkled clothes upon arrival at hotels", "insufficient clothes for long business trips", and "inappropriate clothing for new employees in the workplace". Guests can rent GXG suits and jackets in designated hotels, with three styles to choose from. The project will last for one month, from March 11th to April 11th.
It is obvious that this is not a sales oriented project. The "Zero Pressure Borrowing Station" is more like GXG's attempt to reach more potential consumers and strengthen its new image through cooperation with Yaduo.
Compared to traditional five-star hotels and express business hotels, Yaduo's light residence hotels are in a mid-range position in terms of image and price. Only discussing the target business travelers in this collaboration, this type of hotel is indeed the preferred choice for many companies on business trips, especially in the current era where cost control is important.
The problem lies in how to make the "zero pressure lending station" known to the consumers GXG wants to obtain. This is not the kind of pop-up store with strong image, consumption, and activity binding in shopping malls.
The hotels and duration of this project cooperation are limited, and there is no specific conclusion on the probability of business travelers needing to borrow clothes to solve the problems of "insufficient clothing" and "inappropriate clothing". The background of hotel guests is complex, and project promotion relies more on hotel staff. Not to mention sales conversion, it is not easy to let unfamiliar guests in the early stage understand.
Ultimately, GXG may only be able to achieve its expected goals through social media marketing and communication.
But since the implementation of the "Zero Pressure Borrowing Station" activity, GXG has only posted 5 Weibo posts on its official account "GXGfashion", two of which are still lottery information. Only one Weibo post related to brand spokesperson Gong Jun has received over a thousand reposts and comments, while the others have not exceeded a hundred.
In recent years, GXG's market situation has been awkward, and the financial report submitted by its parent company, Mushang Group, is difficult to describe in a single word.
From 2016 to 2019, the sales revenue of Mushang Group was 3.017 billion yuan, 3.51 billion yuan, 3.787 billion yuan, and 3.721 billion yuan, respectively. From 2020 to 2022, the total annual income has not exceeded 3 billion yuan. Even after the comprehensive resumption of social operations, Mushang Group's revenue in the first half of 2023 only slightly increased by 3.5% year-on-year.
Compared to the low base in the first half of 2022, the clothing industry saw a significant increase in sales in the first half of 2023. But the performance of Musang Group shows that its attractiveness in the market has declined significantly compared to before. Since March 2023, the stock price of Musang Group has fallen by 55%, with a current market value of HKD 1.112 billion.
Compared to traditional men's clothing brands such as Seven Wolves and Powerful Men's Wear, GXG has a younger image and once relied on street trends and social media operations to strengthen this attribute. But the Chinese clothing market is extremely crowded, and young consumers are often the most disloyal group. The young but indistinct GXG was naturally abandoned quickly after the trend.
As a comparison, although traditional men's clothing brands such as Seven Wolves have also experienced a decline in performance in recent years, their relatively clear mature positioning and sinking market strategy have brought a considerable number of loyal consumers, and they are also the preferred choice for men's clothing brands in lower tier cities. This is an advantage that the more fashionable and youthful looking GXG does not have.
In order to further promote transformation, GXG announced the launch of an upgrade strategy in 2023, positioning itself as "more suitable youth casual men's clothing for commuting.". The collaboration with Yaduo Hotel Group to launch the "Zero Pressure Borrowing Station" is an extension of this marketing positioning, strengthening the new image of business oriented men's clothing from more scenarios.
The repositioning of this transformation as "commuting men's clothing" seems like a clever decision. Commuting often corresponds to office buildings and office scenarios, targeting white-collar consumers with a certain income level. This group of people is most common in first tier cities and new first tier cities, and even men have higher requirements for daily wear.
However, although "commuting attire" may seem to correspond to a more specific group, the dressing patterns behind it have not been truly determined.
If it refers to formal attire that includes suits and pants, many traditional local men's clothing brands have already occupied this style market, while foreign luxury brands dominate further. If the emphasis is on casual clothing, GXG will go back to the old way and compete with other similar brands, which is not easy.
Moreover, this emphasis on being both formal and thoughtful in dressing is not new in the fashion industry. Most traditional men's clothing brands that started with formal attire will use a similar perspective as a starting point when transitioning to bring themselves closer to young consumers. The innovation points of GXG's new image are not obvious.
But for this brand that has been in trouble for a long time, even if its image is not new, it must push for transformation. The increasingly competitive market will not give GXG too much time, and a clearer image than before can at least put consumers on a list of specific clothing needs to consider. This is the first step towards achieving the final purchase.