news

Interface News Reporter | Zhu Yongling

Interface News Editor | Lou Qiqin

Jiemian News called Jiaoxia’s company phone number regarding this matter, but no one answered.

The customer service hotline operator of Jiaoxia responded to Jiemian News that the company's operations are currently normal and the above adjustments are normal organizational structure adjustments and upgrades. "The company's public relations are still there, and the newly established department is called the 'Public Affairs Department', and is gradually recruiting people for related positions."

The operator also said that except for the brand department, there are no major adjustments in other departments of the company.

Jiemian News saw on the recruitment platform that Jiaoxia is still recruiting public relations experts. The position requires applicants to have 3-5 years of experience and the salary offered is "18-26K·13th salary”。

For a new consumer brand that focuses on marketing like Jiaoxia, the importance of the brand department is self-evident.

In the risk factors section of its prospectus, Banana mentioned that "if we fail to continue to maintain and strengthen our brand image and enhance the value of the 'Bananas' brand, we may lose the opportunity to build a key customer base."

The prospectus also shows that Jiaoxia is willing to spend money on marketing.From 2019 to 2021, Jiaoxia's advertising and marketing expenses were RMB 36.917 million, RMB 119 million, and RMB 586 million, respectively, accounting for 9.6%, 15.0%, and 24.4% of its revenue, respectively.

This is also why the elimination of the brand department by Jiaoxia has attracted widespread attention and is seen as a signal that Jiaoxia is facing problems in its operations.

Some outside voices believe that this organizational adjustment of Jiaoxia may be related to the unsatisfactory progress of the IPO.

Jiaoxia was once a star enterprise among new consumer brands.It started as a sun-protective double-layer black umbrella targeting young women, and then in 2017 it becameThe lightweight and portable capsule series umbrellas have gained a certain degree of popularity, and the product line has been extended to other sun protection products such as sleeves, hats, sun protection clothing, masks, etc. After gaining a firm foothold in the sun protection field,Since 2022, Jiaoxia has begun to enter the outdoor field, trying to further expand its business territory with the differentiated positioning of "lightweight outdoor".

During this period, Jiaoxia received multiple rounds of financing and once planned to go public in Hong Kong. Tianyancha APP shows that Jiaoxia received rounds A to C financing in 2015, 2016 and 2021 respectively, with investors including Sequoia China, Cornerstone Capital and Fengqiao Capital.In 2022, Jiaoxia submitted its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange twice, but after the second prospectus expired, Jiaoxia has not updated its prospectus to date.

When Jiaoxia released its prospectus, the most criticized issue was the common problem of new consumer brands of "focusing on marketing and neglecting research and development".From 2019 to 2021, Jiaoxia's R&D expense ratio accounted for 5.3%, 4.6% and 3% of its revenue respectively, which is much lower than the aforementioned advertising and marketing expense ratio, and is showing a downward trend.

On the contrary, the gross profit margin of Jiaoxia has been rising year by year, from 50.0% in 2019 to 59.1% in 2022, of which the gross profit margins of umbrellas, hats, and other accessories (including sunglasses, masks, sleeves, etc.) are 59.5%, 67.3%, and 61.0%, respectively. In contrast, the gross profit margins of fast fashion clothing brands such as Uniqlo and Zara are usually below 60%. Jiaoxia, which sells sun umbrellas for 200 yuan, cannot escape the accusation of "IQ tax".

Although these criticisms did not prevent Jiaoxia from taking a relatively leading position in the sunscreen market - in 2021 and the first half of 2022, Jiaoxia achieved revenue of 2.41 billion yuan and 2.21 billion yuan respectively, but as more players enter this market, Jiaoxia faces greater competitive pressure. Especially considering that sunscreen products are mainly functional, the repurchase rate is not high, and Jiaoxia has no obvious price advantage.

According to the Douyin 2024 Sun Protection Clothing Market Trend Insight Report released by Qifei Observation, the hot-selling price range of sun protection clothing in the 2023 market is 0-200 yuan, accounting for 76.8%, followed by the 200-500 yuan price range, accounting for 22%. Jiaoxia ranks 6th and 2nd in market share in these two price ranges respectively. In the 0-200 yuan price range, Jiaoxia ranks behind many white-label and even its own marginal brands such as "Jiaoxia Forest" and "Jiaoxia Lemon"; in the 200-500 yuan price range, it is surpassed by the domestic brand Moxun established in 2019.

But the problem is that the outdoor trend is booming now.These categories are already crowded with competitors. It is difficult for Jiaoxia to find a relatively blank blue ocean category like sun protection clothing and seize the initiative through strong marketing strategies like in the early days of its establishment.

Today'sJiaoxia has to face both defensive pressure and offensive difficulties at the same time.