After the 80s, the brand founder who is nearly 40 years old said that everything is not a problem! Smart Amazon cross-border e-commerce sellers can always find the right entry point, go their own way and try, even if the red ocean can become a blue ocean!

Facing the hot category of auto parts, the Chinese brand KEMIMOTO has chosen the subdivision track of deep cultivation /ATV extreme off-road vehicle accessories , and has achieved an astonishing performance of 1 billion annual overseas sales in this niche field, which is rarely known in China .

How did KEMIMOTO identify business opportunities, and how did it become bigger and stronger to become a leading brand in the niche market? Today, we have an appointment with the head of KEMIMOTO's brand operations to talk about their story of fighting over the overseas auto parts category and making a comeback.

Nicole

Head of KEMIMOTO Brand Operations

KEMIMOTO was established in 2012. It has been focusing on the foreign trade business of motorcycle accessories for many years. In the process of looking for new growth points, it has paid attention to UTV, a fierce model that is extremely popular in the extreme off-road circle abroad.

What is a UTV (Utility Terrain Vehicle)?

The full Chinese name is a multi-purpose all-terrain vehicle . It can drive freely in complex terrain areas such as beaches, jungles, mountains, snow, rivers, swamps, deserts, and grasslands. It can be called an all-round action tool . A UTV off-road vehicle is expensive, and players often add mirrors, storage, lights and other accessories while purchasing a vehicle with a lot of money. In Europe and the United States, driving a UTV is a veritable niche high-end extreme sports .

Compared with general motorcycle auto parts, UTV off-road vehicle enthusiasts are willing to buy higher-quality accessories that better meet their needs, have higher requirements for accessories production and manufacturing, and are less price-sensitive .

In the major categories that you are familiar with, you can find a niche segment type with high unit price and high installation rate , which can not only give full play to the advantages of a complete supply chain accumulated for many years, but also have a deep insight into users in overseas markets. The key is to be able to catch up Before other domestic competing products have entered, to seize the blank area, isn't this the blue ocean that KEMIMOTO is looking for? At this time, he was nearly 40 years old, but he firmly believed that he could turn the tide!

So after the 1980s, he resolutely stepped out of the auto and motorcycle accessories category that he knew very well, entered the more subdivided field of UTV off-road vehicle accessories , and entered the American market through Amazon.

01Reduce the dimension of global competing products

Create demand and let sales skyrocket!

From a single product of a side mirror (car side mirror) to the current layout of two-wheel off-road, four-wheel off-road, yacht multi-line, on the road of product innovation, KEMIMOTO has upgraded from meeting customer needs to creating new needs , creating A number of top-selling models have been launched, thereby achieving a dimensionality reduction attack on global competing products. Today, let's dismantle KEMIMOTO's " explosive methodology " one by one!

1 ► Unique way, niche track + unfamiliar market

KEMIMOTO started with a traditional foreign trade model, and with its keen insight, discovered the blue ocean niche market of UTV. In the absence of any domestic experience to refer to, KEMIMOTO decisively gave up the familiar business and devised a new way to join the UTV extreme off-road vehicle track . Their vision and daring are the foundation of their achievements.

Who said that the Red Sea market must have no way out? When performance growth encounters a bottleneck, you may wish to re-examine your industry and category to gain an in-depth understanding of the differences between users in the overseas market and users in the domestic market. Are there more consumption scenarios and needs waiting to be discovered? Turnarounds often come from subtle observations, and niche tracks may also have amazing potential .

2►Accurate insight, meet demand, and create differentiated products

Entering the UTV off-road track, the first thing to solve is what product to sell and what price to highlight the advantages. KEMIMOTO found through market research that foreign sellers have strong brand awareness, deeper and more precise understanding of customers in product design, but often higher production costs. Therefore, they began to take advantage of the advantages of Chinese manufacturing and are committed to developing products that are more cost-effective, more quality, and better meet the needs of users.

Through Amazon’s brand analysis and user reviews , they look at user portraits, search trends, and purchasing behaviors to obtain users’ purchasing tendencies and consumption changes; To guide product design and iteration, and continue to launch cost-effective products, harvesting a large number of users.

3 ►From Satisfying Demand to Creating Demand

Creating value-for-money products is only the first step. The real influence of KEMIMOTO lies in creating new demands . In fact, many of his best-selling products are based on meeting the needs of consumers, adding details and innovation, thereby gaining brand pricing power and achieving brand premium .

Take KEMIMOTO's new flash RGB rearview mirror as an example

The early rear-view mirrors are similar, and there are not many special designs. KEMIMOTO found that an important scenario for UTV users is night hunting . Night-hunting needs to wear night vision goggles, and there are specific requirements for the brightness and wavelength of the light to attract phototactic nocturnal prey.

In order to meet the night hunting scene, KEMIMOTO cleverly grafted the rearview mirror and the RGB light of the jeep , designed the RGB light bar on the mirror, and also designed specific light sources and detachable modules. Not only does it take into account the lighting needs of hunting scenes, but it can also be used as a reading light. At the same time, the cool visual effects produced by switching various lights meet the psychological needs of users to take photos and share them on social media.

On the basis of not adding too much cost, KEMIMOTO has created a new product full of ingenuity from meeting basic functional requirements to creating multi-scenario experience requirements .

Discovering other values ​​other than product use value , such as social capital and emotional needs, has become the magic weapon for KEMIMOTO products to stand out.

Similarly, KEMIMOTO's flagship product storage box, with its large capacity, sturdiness and high-quality texture, has been recognized by many users. KEMIMOTO didn't stop there. Among the user's comments, they found this message: The box was fine, but it was stolen .

KEMIMOTO found inspiration for product upgrades . They added an anti-theft lock design to the case, provided lashing cords, and taught users how to use lashing cords to reinforce the case.

Once the upgraded and improved box was put on the shelves, it was very popular. Originally, the unit price of similar products of American brands was US$70-80, while the price of KEMIMOTO was US$130. The price was almost twice that of competing products. . This move satisfies consumers' needs for a sense of security and lays the foundation for a brand premium , which is a powerful reflection of KEMIMOTO's brand value.

From a little-known foreign trader of motorcycles to a leading brand in the overseas UTV field, KEMIMOTO presents a new path for Chinese brands to develop in overseas markets : select large categories of niche market segments, combine user needs, and achieve product innovation and iteration, And insist on investing in building the brand, exceeding user expectations, and finally winning one billion sales.

"In general, better technology, better materials and quality are used to meet the long-term needs of customers, not just the needs of the season. The key is to create long-term value for customers. The overall understanding, to do technology migration and iteration, bring additional value to customers.” —— Typing KEMIMOTO Product Vice President

02Small car accessories

Why is KEMIMOTO so expensive? !

To build a brand from scratch, everything is to cross the river by feeling the stones. In addition, KEMIMOTO has entered a niche market where "local tyrants" enthusiast players gather . Design has the opportunity to stand out. On the other hand, it is necessary to have a strong brand effect in order to impress high-end players.

Since 2018, KEMIMOTO has started in-depth analysis and definition of target users, and completed the standardization of the brand. And in the next 5 years, through the three-stage brand upgrade , it achieved a double breakthrough in brand performance and won the recognition of the industry and consumers.

2018 Establish brand tone positioning ( Passion, Durable)

KEMIMOTO realizes that users love off-road, not for the pursuit of speed or driving experience, but to use off-road as a way to release stress . This guides the research and development direction of KEMIMOTO products, and also establishes the brand tone and positioning of KEMIMOTO: not only to pursue the improvement of hardware technical parameters, but also to meet the emotional needs of users to " release pressure and have fun with friends and family outdoors ", and continue to innovate products, build brands.

2020 Normalize the brand vision (mood, color, storytelling)

Fans of KEMIMOTO, without looking at the LOGO of the car body, can recognize its passionate red figure full of strong visual impact in the desert and wilderness at a glance. Even many fans fell in love with KEMIMOTO at first sight because of its design aesthetics before they knew about product functions and brand attitudes .

Based on red and black color matching, KEMIMOTO has set a cool, hard-core and passionate brand visual tone for its brand VI and product design. And consistently reflected in the communication materials, flagship store homepage design, product design, scene experience and other links.

2021-2022 Authority Endorsement (Joining SEMA)

Outdoor off-road, quality and safety are the first and foremost . KEMIMOTO hopes to become a more trustworthy brand in the eyes of consumers. In addition to ensuring the high-quality output of products, this year announced that it has joined the industry-authoritative SEMA ( Specialty Equipment Market Association) American special vehicle organization to increase the brand's credit endorsement level.

Founded in 1963, SEMA, as the top industry association in the global auto parts field, has extremely strict standards for the brands it joins. KEMIMOTO was selected as a representative of one of the few Chinese brands, representing its brand influence, product quality and service experience. great recognition.

At the same time , KEMIMOTO also produced a series of theme videos, which further broadened the cool and extreme scenes of UTV.

☑ On the one hand, they put brand videos and DSP advertisements on social media and Amazon platforms , and share with users related topics such as KEMIMOTO production process, design concept, fitting experience, etc.;

☑ On the other hand, many big Vs in the circle were invited to carry out test drive experience, evaluation, extreme challenge test, etc., and won the love and endorsement of the hard-core enthusiasts in the circle.

With the upgrade of KEMIMOTO's brand influence, they were pleasantly surprised to find that most consumers found them on Amazon by directly searching for the brand name "KEMIMOTO" , rather than a product function or other related words. This also means that the KEMIMOTO brand has truly entered the minds of users and won user recognition. This is a huge leap and a reflection of the premium KEMIMOTO brand .

Today , KEMIMOTO’s annual sales have exceeded 1 billion , and a number of popular products have reached the sales champion. The cumulative reviews have reached tens of thousands. The price of some products is twice as high as that of European and American competing products, which truly realizes the brand premium.

03Word-of-mouth marketing, clever use of tools

KEMIMOTO's way of traffic acquisition

For daily traffic operation, KEMIMOTO has a set of overall operation skills training process, which can quickly analyze data and adjust Listing.

Focus on metrics

Traffic and conversion metrics like traffic results, conversion rates, etc.

daily operations

Focus on the traffic of brand promotion and product promotion , find out the gap/traffic gap according to the data benchmark (Benchmark) of the category, and then supplement the delivery.

At the current stage of traffic acquisition and marketing, KEMIMOTO will focus on the repurchase of old customers' word-of-mouth . They develop products based on models and mainly focus on Amazon. At present , the search traffic on Amazon accounts for 70-80% . At the same time, we will focus on developing grass planting in vertical forums outside the station, and promote word-of-mouth promotion by inspiring customers to spread and share independently, so as to achieve word-of-mouth grass planting and accurate transformation in small circles.

This year's Amazon Prime Day, KEMIMOTO adhered to the strategy that has been effective in the past: closed traffic . Through reasonable product association (such as newer model, comparison of products in the same series), use best-selling models to bring new customers, use out-of-stock models to bring money, design a closed-loop traffic flow on the inner page around the model, and use your own products to occupy the listing page. as many slots as possible.

In addition, KEMIMOTO also has its own user groups and forums ( FB, Ins) outside the station, and will also cooperate with the preheating of peripheral promotions in advance. Through a series of operations, the goal is to achieve double sales during the Prime membership day. Improve and maintain the continuous sales growth and ranking advantage of explosive products.

Tips for KEMIMOTO's Favorite Brand Tools

1. Analytical Needs: Amazon Brand Analytics

From the user profile analysis of the brand, the performance of search terms, and the conversion data of the whole link of a single product, combined with industry research and user reviews, it is possible to obtain precise insights into European and American consumers, so as to create buyer thinking, master consumption behavior, and achieve accurate Sales.

2. Build your brand: run video ads

Video advertisements can display the functional characteristics of products in an all-round way by showing actual usage scenarios, and at the same time, they can also convey the concept of the brand to consumers. It is an excellent way for brand sellers to expand their visibility and increase their influence .

3. Delivering Value: Brand Story Section

By creating rich content, it helps consumers fully understand the product, and can also tell the brand story in the Brand Story Card, express the brand value, and establish a deeper emotional connection with consumers.

Amazon's global store opening: good wind relies on its strength to make a niche market a success. KEMIMOTO's success lies not only in choosing the right battlefield and cultivating a niche market, but also in their precise grasp of user needs and feeling the "pulse" of consumers , create demand, and create explosive models.

I believe that KEMIMOTO's experience and stories can give sellers greater confidence and incentives to stick to being a brand on Amazon and continue to innovate products. I hope that more Amazon sellers can move from meeting demand to creating demand and achieve billion-level sales!