On January 30, 2015, the annual summary meeting of Pathfinder, China’s leading outdoor brand, was held in Beijing. All Pathfinder employees, as well as teams from its new business segments Lüye (Green Field) and Jizhimei (Extreme Beauty), attended the event. Together, they reviewed the development over the past year and looked forward to the vision and goals for the new year.
Launching the Ecosystem Strategy to Serve Public Health and Wellness
The year 2014 saw the disruption of traditional business models by internet-based big data, with offline retail channels under pressure from online e-commerce. Both offline business and user traffic shifted towards digital platforms. The primary challenge for traditional enterprises became accurately capturing user needs in the internet era and earning customer loyalty.
Facing these challenges and opportunities, Sheng Faqiang pointed out that the key characteristics of the internet age are user-centricity, user communities, and user ecosystems. The future of business lies in building reputation through top-notch products or services, penetrating communities with unique culture, niche products, and creative services, and providing comprehensive user support through ecosystem-driven big data. Accordingly, Pathfinder proposed an ecosystem development plan centered on user engagement.
(Pathfinder’s Corporate Platform-Based Operational Planning)
Through this platform, Pathfinder will open up both internal and external entrepreneurial opportunities. Internally, the company introduced a divisional system last year and will now advance the corporatization of these divisions. It will also pilot small-group entrepreneurship initiatives online, allowing various types of “entrepreneurial elites” to fully engage with the market and have autonomy in decision-making. Beyond internal entrepreneurship, Pathfinder will explore external incubation, equity participation, majority stakes, and even spin-off IPOs through M&A funds and new financing, thus activating a diverse range of startups within the Pathfinder entrepreneurial platform.
To incentivize platform-based corporate development, Pathfinder also announced two employee-partnership entrepreneurship sharing programs: within three years, Pathfinder will grant 10 million stock options to share equity with supervisors and above; Chairman Sheng Faqiang personally pledged 50% of the future appreciation value of 10 million shares to reward entrepreneurial talent. “The best form of sharing is not just improving benefits, but valuing employees’ ambition, self-actualization, and the free expression of their life’s purpose,” said Sheng Faqiang. Pathfinder aims to foster mutual growth between the company and its employees through entrepreneurial platform development and financial support, fully reflecting the company’s value of “sharing and mutual success.”
In 2014, the State Council issued macro policies to accelerate the development of the sports industry and promote sports consumption. By 2025, the total scale of the sports industry is projected to exceed 5 trillion yuan. The broader sports industry and the outdoor gear sector are now facing unprecedented opportunities. Pathfinder is accelerating industrial layout through its ecosystem strategy, and supporting rapid development across all business sectors via its platform-based enterprise model. In this fierce, yet invisible, market competition, it has undoubtedly taken the lead in strategic positioning.