Sample of Domestic Entertainment Entrepreneurship: Analysis of Bai Jingting's GOODBAI Business Strategy

Recently, a hoarding went up along Yanqing Fang in Shanghai, advertising brand GOODEES WORLD. This brand is the national first store of a sub-label under GOODBAI, the label managed by renowned actor Bai Jingting. Not far away are his coffee shop, clothing store, and 24-hour vending machine.

Two months earlier, GOODBAI had opened a pop-up space here, with Bai Jingting's poster attracting check-ins. Yanqing Road has thus been called 'Bai Jingting Pain Street'. From business ecosystem, channel construction, to expansion pace, Bai Jingting can be considered one of the best businessmen in domestic entertainment.

Selling clothes, coffee, and plush toys: multiple products rank in the top ten on Tmall lists; collaborations with Salomon, New Era, etc.

The five-bay small Western-style house along Yanqing Road is the first physical store of GOODBAI in the country. The brand was launched in 2021 as a clothing and lifestyle brand founded by Bai Jingting. When the store opened in 2023, it triggered queue chaos and scalper buying, with queues lasting nearly 7 hours.

Even three years later, on a regular workday afternoon, the store still had a dense flow of customers selecting, trying on, and taking photos.

The overall store design is vintage and minimalist, with dove elements everywhere. Categories cover clothes, shoes, hats, bags, and accessories. Prices are relatively affordable, ranging from RMB 39 to 2,900. T-shirts are mostly RMB 199, shoes range from RMB 159 to 799, and canvas bags, hats, and jewelry are in the tens to two or three hundred yuan.

One of GOODBAI's breakout products is the 'Wandering Shoes', priced at RMB 459, ranking 9th on Tmall's Sports & Leisure Shoes Repurchase List, ahead of products from sports giants and well-known brands like Adidas, FILA, Anta, Asics, and Xtep.

GOODEES WORLD is about to open its first store, and it already has a dedicated section in the existing store. Its sub-label originates from an original IP, the fuzzy ball image on the hoarding. Different from the main brand GOODBAI's casual sporty style, GOODEES WORLD positions itself as 'cute, warm, healing', with products mostly including shoes, clothes, phone cases, plush charms, and hair accessories. On the Tmall flagship store, the RMB 129 zodiac plush charm has sold over 7,000 pieces; in the vending machine on Yanqing Road, the RMB 99 baseball cap keychain has sold out.

As of now, GOODBAI and its sub-labels have released collaborations with multiple brands, including Salomon, Diptyque, New Era, Levi's, BABY-G, Haolilai, Line Friends minini, etc., covering the current middle-class favorites, national brands, and street brands.

From Apparel to Coffee: Bai Jingting's Lifestyle Consumption Ecosystem

Besides apparel and IP derivatives, Bai Jingting's business map also includes coffee and bakery.

Not far from the GOODBAI Yanqing Road store is Bai Jingting's coffee shop, with single cup coffee priced between RMB 28 and 48, similar to other specialty coffee shops in Shanghai. In 2024, the pricing of his 'GOODEES Big Satisfaction' small cookies at RMB 21 for two pieces once sparked online controversy.

Beyond Yanqing Road, GOODBAI has opened two physical stores in Chengdu and Aranya, and has set up pop-up/slow-flash stores in Beijing, Paris, France, and Seoul, South Korea. Apart from its own offline channels, GOODBAI also enters some concept stores like Musinsa.

From selling apparel, coffee to IP derivatives, Bai Jingting is building a consumption ecosystem around young people's lifestyles.

Traffic Advantages and Risks of Celebrity Brands: Public Opinion, Quality, and Professional Support

There are many celebrities in the entertainment industry who start their own brands, such as Edison Chen's CLOT, Jackson Wang's TEAM WANG, Daniel Wu's coffee business, Hua Chenyu's launch of daily chemical brands, etc. Why are celebrities keen on creating their own brands?

In an interview with BAZAAR Men, Bai Jingting mentioned a comparison by Maugham: the feeling of fame is like an adult giving you a string of pearls; Bai Jingting would think about whether he could find a second string of pearls. Brands like GOODBAI are seen as the 'second string of pearls' he found.

Celebrity brands often have natural traffic advantages. Their rise process is similar to emerging apparel brands, using a combination of social media seeding, pop-up testing, and opening first stores in core business districts. Celebrities and their friends can become 'walking seeders', for example, some celebrities have worn GOODBAI products in public.

However, celebrity-created brands often face controversies of 'fleecing fans' or the risk of losing momentum over time. At the same time, the deep binding between brand and celebrity brings a linkage risk of 'when one wins, both win; when one loses, both lose'.

GOODBAI once fell into negative public opinion due to product quality issues: in 2024, the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation reported that one of its denim jackets had a pH value that did not meet national mandatory standards; in 2025, its hoodie priced at RMB 599 was reported to have peeling prints, with the pattern transferring to car seats. After the incidents were exposed, the brand's affiliated company issued an apology, announced a recall of relevant batches, and promised corrective actions.

Multi-Brand Matrix and Sports Outdoor Segmentation: From Endorsement to Product Extension

It is worth noting that Zhe Ting Hao (Shanghai) Brand Management Co., Ltd., the affiliated company of GOODBAI, is held by Bai Jingting, Shangguan Zhe, and Li Yong with 41%, 29%, and 10% stakes respectively. Designer Shangguan Zhe's own brand has appeared at London Fashion Week, and Li Yong has also been deeply involved in the garment industry for many years. Therefore, Bai Jingting's apparel business relies not only on personal traffic but also has professional support in design, production, and supply chain.

On a personal level, Bai Jingting is known as the 'King of Shoes', loves many sports, and is himself a brand ambassador for sports and outdoor brands like New Era and Salomon. As sports demands become more segmented and diversified, GOODBAI has gradually developed sub-series such as football (916 express) and tennis (polomove).

Apart from GOODBAI with its casual sporty style, Bai Jingting's affiliated companies also own teenteens for young women, the women's fashion brand Ayrae, and the trendy outdoor brand 30C. Taking 30C as an example, it enters the outdoor trend with a stylish style, fitting the general outdoor consumption demand and its own design advantages. Currently, 30C has first opened a store on Xiaohongshu, with many sizes of Bai Jingting's same-model vest sold out.

From trendy casual sporty shoes, hot IP plush toys, to the general outdoor field, every step Bai Jingting takes revolves around trend and consumption scenarios. Some collaboration brands also have cooperation relationships with Bai Jingting himself. Celebrity brands need to avoid becoming mere artist merchandise; how to move beyond the fan economy to a broader market is considered one of the long-term goals of the brand.

Bai Jingting once said, 'Even without me, consumers would still recognize it, there would still be many people who like it and find it beautiful. That is my ultimate goal.'