At present, the bike sharing market is still in its early phase as the industry is still booming and needs time to mature. To date we have leaders like Mobike, ofo etc. Ofo, as the second leading brand, is in fact very close to Mobike in terms of scale and influence. On March 1st, ofo announced to have completed its D round financing at $450 million, invested by DST, Didi and CITIC PE, Coatue and Atomico etc.

　　It’s still early to predict who will be the last one standing. The government’s following policies also create uncertainties for the industry. If Mobike fails, the themed restaurant will face great challenges.

　　Mobike was founded two years ago and only entered the market for one year. It’s brand image is still rather unclear to the public perception. Is is a commuting alternative, a disruptor? The lack of clear brand image results in the lack of user trust and user retention.

　　Wagas and Mobike’s targeted audiences don't match each.

　　According to the analysis above, Mobike and Wagas’ targeted audience do not share the same profile. Let’s look at how the themed restaurant works first. The themed restaurants feature bike elements, such as bike tables, bike-themed drinks and meals etc. The restaurants are decorated with Mobikes’ parts.

　　I have personally interviewed 20 Mobike’s users, all under 30, about whether they would like to go to the themed restaurants. The result is: eight showed interest in going to the restaurants to try out new stuff, four expressed that they like bike elements and would like to try, three said no and stated that the pricing is high, five were not sure and said they prefer car elements.

　　The survey results above are not complete and enough to draw a conclusion, but still they indicate a few elements that affect customers’ decision:

　　Firstly, every user has his or her own interest, and the decoration style, or in this case, the theme, could be an important factor that affects consumption decision. For example, girls tend to like going to cat cafés. So how many people would Mobike theme attract? The reality, people would prefer fancy car themes. It would really take us some time to observe the progress of Mobike themed restaurants.

　　Mobike Wagas costs customers ￥60. And what is the main interest of the restaurant’s targeted audience? Is it bike? It remains unknown so far.

　　The danger of extending brand strategy

　　The extension of brand strategy includes ecosystem product line, brand output and channel.

　　1. The extension of the ecosystem product line. For most companies, they would only consider extending its ecosystem after they have acquired innovation ability and certain market share. An ecosystem product line adjusts according to the user profile, demand and relevant product lines in the industry. Ecosystem is not all about profit, survival, or power.

　　For instance, Qihu 360 originally started as a computer virus defender and later developed its ecosystem of products. Tencent too started from QQ and have today’s lines of businesses.

　　Currently, Mobike’s main income comes from user deposit and use charge. We can pretty much say the startup is still in the survival phase where the company relies on financing to expand and is still not profiting yet. There is still a long way for Mobike to go. We really need more time to see if it would transform into a big company like DIDI that later developed an ecosystem. Mobike’s business model and potential must endure the competition from its rivals. The company on the other hand needs to continue to improve its innovation ability and fit into the market.

　　Mobike doesn’t have a physical business mode, an ecosystem, or profit. In this case, it’s very dangerous for it to go cross-sector.

　　2. When a company is getting its brand out in the market it means the company has garnered certain influence in the market, showing strength in sales, user base, user loyalty, market scale, channel capacity, capital power, repurchase rate and innovation etc. Companies channel their brand names to not only expand the scale, but also integrate resources, upgrade profit model and strengthen their brand names.

　　For example, JD has recently announced to open one million convenience stores in China, integrating and utilizing all the fragmented resources, which are private convenience stores, in China to build up the image.