Every reporter: Du Wei, Ding Zhouyang Every editor: Wenduo
Taking root in Guangzhou for decades, the women's clothing brand "Brother" founded by Taiwanese businessman Shi Fuyuan is regarded by the clothing industry as having been "making a fortune silently". According to digital observation and monitoring, "Brother" has covered 224 cities in my country and has 1,141 operating stores.
"With high profit margins and stable customers, it is favored by 'county ladies' who live a stable life." This is the common evaluation of "Brother" by many professionals in the clothing industry. However, another new brand with the same decoration and design as "Brother" - "Brother is really good" has been gaining momentum rapidly in recent years. "Brother is really good" once claimed to be a brand under the Brother Group, but now its online "popularity" even exceeds that of "Brother".
Photographed by reporter Ding Zhouyang
Recently, the official website of the company "Brother" suddenly made a statement, clarifying its relationship with "Brother is really good". The statement said: "Consumers across the country should have been informed that the Brother brand and the Brother brand are completely different and irrelevant to avoid brand damage and consumer harm."
At the same time, "Brother is really good" " also issued a statement saying that the brand will be renamed "deep breath deep breath" in 2025. Interestingly, "deep breathing" is also a culture highly respected by "Brother", and the deep breathing method is displayed on the official website.
He Qi, a partner at the Shanghai branch of Beijing Longan Law Firm, said in an interview with a reporter from the "Daily Economic News" that according to the licensing filing announcement information queried from the China Trademark Online, the "Brother" related trademark belongs to the founder Shi Fuyuan Personally, the license period of "Brother is really good" to a person named "Ying Jian" is until 2030. "Of course, if both parties sign a separate agreement and the license is terminated in 2025, it will also be effective."
Why did "Brother" authorize it for free in the first place? What is the dispute between two brands with similar names? The reporter called "Brother" and "Brother is really good" respectively to express their requests for interviews, but as of the evening of July 12, no reply had been received.
Brother issued a statement to disassociate himself from the relationship
With a name that cannot be compared with "women's clothing", "post-85s" and "post-90s" remember that the "brother" who went shopping with his mother when he was a child has not only survived to this day, but also seems to be Live very well.
digital observation data shows that "Brother" has 1,141 operating stores, covering 224 cities in my country. Among them, the top three provinces with the number of stores are Guangdong Province (109 stores), (Jiangsu Province 108 stores), (Sichuan Province 94 stores) ), the per capita consumer price is 650 yuan.
It is understood that "Brother" has developed stores across the country through franchising and has laid out its plans for the lower market very early. "In some third- and fourth-tier cities or county-level cities, there may be only one or two shopping malls. Women's clothing brands such as "Brother" and "乐思" that started in Guangdong have penetrated into these areas in their early years and formed long-term stable "Customers." Tang Xiaotang, a fashion industry analyst, told the "Daily Economic News" reporter that "Brother" is an unlisted company and its financial data is not public, but it is definitely making money.
Lu Yue (pseudonym), a senior clothing practitioner, analyzed to the reporter of "Daily Economic News" that in the eyes of young people, "Brother" women's clothing is old-fashioned and seems to have remained unchanged for a hundred years; in the eyes of its lovers, "Brother" It's not fancy, it's well-tailored, the salesperson has strong professional skills, and it still has enough emotional value.
In February 2024, Gedi issued an announcement stating that "Gedi is really good" is an independent operation and it "is not responsible for the brand's comparison with the Gedi brand in the market over the years." In July, Gedi once again issued a statement to distance himself from "Gedi is really good" and his words became more intense. He mentioned that he was affected by the product quality problems of "Gedi is really good" over the years, and Gedi's company made an appointment. 90% of executives stated: "Consumers across the country should have been informed earlier that brother and brother are completely different and irrelevant to avoid brand damage and consumer harm."
Many consumers have doubts: "Grab "Brother is really good" who has been around for so long is not from the same company?" On social platforms, there are indeed complaints about the quality of "Brother is really good".
Compared with "Brother", the price of "Brother is really good" products is relatively low.In the Tmall flagship store, the best-selling sweater of "Brother is really good" is about 200 yuan, and the best-selling casual trousers are about 300 yuan. The price of Gedi's trousers is around 700 yuan or 800 yuan. The reporter learned from the interview that its offline store sales maintain a "only 10% discount" approach.
"Daily Economic News" reporter asked the two brands as intended franchisees. "Brother is really good" said: "We are all directly-operated stores and do not accept franchises." Gedi said that the company is no longer accepting new franchises. "The stores are relatively saturated, and dealers also have enough stores." ".
The market performance of both parties is different.
Even though "Brother" has a brand history of 48 years, "Brother is really good" has quickly gained a reputation in the mass consumer market through online ports in a way that young people prefer. .
Feigua data shows that as of 15:00 on July 9, the number of fans in the official live broadcast rooms of the two brands "Brother" and "Brother is really good" were 872,000 and 1.169 million respectively; the corresponding average number of viewers per live broadcast They are 25,000~50,000 and 50,000~75,000 respectively. In the past month, Gedi's official live broadcast room has lost 440 followers, while "Gedi is really good" has gained 5,139 new fans.
This means that in terms of the number of fans and the popularity of the live broadcast room, "Brother is really good" has a better performance.
A reporter from "Daily Economic News" noticed that "Brother is really good" is very diligent in selling goods. He broadcasts twice on average every day, and his sales are not inferior to that of "Brother". In the first 7 months of 2024 (January 1st to July 8th), the number of live broadcasts in the official live broadcast room of "Brother" and the official live broadcast room of "Brother is really good" were 258 and 356 respectively; the average number of views per game The number of visitors was 64,000 and 75,000 respectively; the cumulative live broadcast sales of these two brands in 189 days were 50 million to 75 million yuan.
Compared with "Big Brother", "Brother is really good" has also cultivated more accounts to carry goods, occupying the minds of consumers in a matrix form.
"Daily Economic News" reporter based on Feigua's rough statistics, in addition to the official live broadcast account with over one million fans, there are as many as 6 "Brother is really good" accounts with more than 200,000 fans, with a total of more than 1.9 million fans. . There are also more store staff live broadcasting in the "Brother is really good" store.
In addition, the reporter found that "Brother is really good" has opened physical stores in Baotou, Shiyan, Tangshan, Chaozhou, Xi'an, Zhumadian and other cities, and is very similar to "Brother" in terms of store signs and other aspects.
Some consumers posted on social media that the local "Brother" store was selling "Brother is really good". The reporter found from the sales data of Gedi’s official flagship store’s live broadcast room compiled by Feigua Data that from June 9 to July 8, Gedi brought 388 items, of which 1.44% of the products were “Gedi is really good.” ". However, the claims and data of these netizens have not been confirmed.
What makes people confused is that "Brother" has authorized others to use the "Brother is really good" brand for 4 years. Why is it just now coming out to "clear up" the relationship?
"The online sales of 'Brother is really good' are booming, and some negative factors have 'threatened' 'Brother'." Tang Xiaotang analyzed to the "Daily Economic News" reporter that these two brands have attracted many Consumer confusion.
Tang Xiaotang believes that the collective name change of a number of online and offline stores under "Brother is Really Good" in 2025 will inevitably have a considerable negative impact on the brand.
"First of all, as a new brand, it reshapes its image. For it, the only thing left is the number of users, especially the users of many live broadcast rooms online, but there will definitely be some losses after the name change, because it has a negative impact on consumers. In terms of purchasing goods, brand premiums account for the vast majority. Its offline stores may be hit even harder. The two brands "
" "Brother" and "Brother are really good" are bothering consumers. It’s like a trance that troubles consumers.
"Free authorization" is the most puzzling thing about "Brother". According to an announcement from Gedi, the "Gedi is really good" brand was "freely authorized" to Yingjian for operation and use in 2020. "This form (free authorization) is rare in the industry. Brand authorization usually comes with authorization fees." Tang Xiaotang told the reporter of "Daily Economic News".A reporter from
found out that the trademark "Brother is really good" belongs to Shi Fuyuan personally, and the trademark "Brother" is also under Shi Fuyuan's name. Public information shows that Shi Fuyuan is the founder of the "Brother" brand. Tianyancha shows that the legal representative of Guangzhou Gedi Zhenhao Trading Co., Ltd. is Ying Jian. Ying Jian holds 93.7% of the shares in the company, and Shi Haotian holds 5.8% of the shares. According to media reports, Shi Fuyuan’s son is named “Shi Haotian”.
It is worth noting that the authorization period of "Brother is really good" was supposed to be 10 years, but now it has ended in a hurry. The reporter saw from the China Trademark Online that the licensing period for the brand to a person named "Ying Jian" is from January 1, 2021 to January 13, 2030. In this regard, He Qi, a partner of the Shanghai branch of Beijing Longan Law Firm, said in an interview with a reporter from the "Daily Economic News": "If the two parties sign a separate agreement and the license is terminated in 2025, it will be effective."
" The staff of "Brother is really good" also gave inconsistent answers to consumers about whether they were from the same company as "Brother".
On June 6, 2024, a reporter from "Daily Economic News" asked the online customer service of "Brother is really good" as a consumer. The other party said: "'Brother' and 'Brother is really good' are both affiliated to Brother." Brother Group." On July 9, when the reporter asked the customer service staff of "Brother is really good" again, the other party's answer was completely opposite to that of a month ago, saying that the two were not the same group.
"Brother is really good", is this a side-stepping of "Brother"?
"The staff of 'Brother is really good' are not rigorous enough in their answers to consumers, because the trademark ownership itself does not belong to Brother Company. The ownership of both brands 'Brother is really good' and 'Brother' belongs to 'Shi Fuyuan' personally." He Qi told reporters.
However, He Qi specifically told the reporter of "Daily Economic News" that there are also deficiencies in the authorization of "Brother". "The licensor shall supervise the quality of the goods used by the licensee using its registered trademark, and the licensee shall ensure the quality of the goods using the registered trademark."
"If (Brother is really good) there is indeed a problem with product quality, then consumers can Request for replacement, return, compensation, etc. in accordance with relevant legal provisions." He Qi said. (Intern Li Siyue also contributed to this article)
Daily Economic News
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