The "Chinese Style" Attempt Of Transnational Corporations

A month ago, Adidas issued a statement at Shanghai's China headquarters, saying that the design of two products (Sports backpacks and POLOT shirts) sold in Hongkong market, which involved the irregular use of the Chinese flag pattern, had removed the two products from Hongkong and promised a global recall.

Adidas spokesman Sabrina Cheung said that the original intention of the two products was actually Adidas's wish to pay tribute to the host country of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Adidas sincerely apologizes for the unpleasant design of this product.

Obviously, Adidas, who focuses on design and marketing, needs to define the boundaries of its operation in China. But even if it has made a mistake, any multinational Brand Company will make new attempts in operation when the Beijing Olympic Games are about to be held.

In fact, in order to impress Chinese consumers, Nike and Adidas, which have taken up the largest share of China's sportswear market, are vigorously launching sports apparel and sports shoes with Chinese elements designed, and gradually bid farewell to the marketing model which was dominated by western style in the past.

They believe that the August Beijing Olympic Games will become a great opportunity for sports apparel to develop rapidly with Chinese national pride.

At the fashion show held in Beijing in January this year, with the background of actors dressed in Beijing opera costumes, the models showed the uniforms designed by Adidas for staff and volunteers of the Olympic Games, including the T-shirt with auspicious clouds.

Not long ago, Nike launched the 84 retro series of products to commemorate the first history of the Olympic Games in 1984 after the founding of new China. At that time, China won 15 gold medals.

One of the limited edition sports shoes is made of Chinese red shoes, with yellow characters on the upper with "zero breakthroughs".

The company also introduced sportswear with "up" and "go ahead" Chinese characters. This idea comes from the lyrics of the National Anthem of China.

At the ceremony of the August Olympic Games, many Chinese wanted to hear the melody.

Nike has also signed an exclusive agreement with Liu Xiang and other athletes who are likely to win medals.

Liu Xiang won the gold medal in the 110 meter hurdle race of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and broke the Olympic record.

Last summer, Nike launched sneakers and sportswear with Liu Xiang's birthday date, gold medal and a childhood painting.

This marketing method is obviously different from previous years.

At that time, Nike had been vigorously promoting American style heroism and American sports stars, and portrayed basketball superstar Michael Jordan as an idol among Chinese youths. Now these companies believe that Chinese young people want to see their country and their sports stars standing on the world stage.

Zhu Jinqian, a spokesman for Nike China, said that although Chinese consumers are very willing to accept different styles, products with Chinese cultural connotation have been well received.

Lu Hairui, managing director of Shanghai sports marketing company, said that these companies will try their best to tell people that they are partners in China's sporting event.

This will be a large-scale campaign.

Nike and Adidas will have more than US $1 billion in sales this year, and China is also the second largest market after us.

Sales of Chinese sports shoes and sportswear doubled between 2002 and 2006, according to data from Euromonitor International, a market research firm.

Lu Hairui said that in the next 5 years, the annual sales growth of Chinese sports apparel is expected to reach 20%, and the growth rate of famous brands such as Nike and Adidas is expected to reach 35% to 40%.

Attracted by this prospect, Nike and Adidas are racking their brains to achieve the localization of products.

But for foreign brands, joining Chinese style is not easy. They have made many mistakes in the past.

Many European designers used to design products with Chinese elements, such as cheongsam collar and embroidery, which were sold poorly in China and regarded as too outdated by local consumers.

In the late 90s of last century, Nike's efforts to sell a canvas "global shoes" in China and other developing countries were also treated with cold reception. Consumers preferred Nike's more gorgeous American style sneakers.

At the same time, the Olympic Games are inspiring China's new enthusiasm for the cultural heritage of clothing.

Last year, more than 100 scholars jointly asked the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee to take Hanfu as the award and entrance dress for Chinese athletes.

This proposal has been widely reprinted on Chinese websites and has been supported by tens of thousands of people.

Adidas, who has paid $about 80000000 to become the official partner of the Olympic Games, will provide the Chinese athletes' award dress and the clothing of about 100000 staff members and volunteers.

Ke Ruijia, chief executive of Adidas Beijing Olympic Games, said the company received thousands of Chinese athletes' award winning clothing designs, many of which incorporated ancient Chinese culture and art.

She said the company will announce the award design after the formation of the Chinese Olympic team, which will probably take place in May.

Mark Colin Thom, director of Adidas creative center in Adidas, said that the use of clouds, dragons, fans and bright colors in sports clothes and sports shoes has aroused people's traditional consciousness and made Chinese young people able to publicize their characteristics.

His office is a shopping mall with two Adidas stores.

The creation of the creative center 3 years ago is one of Adidas's efforts to achieve product localization. The center plans to complete nearly 2400 new product designs this year, about half of the products in Adidas China stores.

The company plans to increase to 5000 stores in China by the time of the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games in August 8th, of which the largest in the world is in Beijing.

The company believes that Chinese people usually feel more gorgeous about color. The new products introduced by Adidas include a Chinese style female hoodie with a Chinese tree design, and a red and red men's windbreaker decorated with purple and white, which sells for hundreds of dollars.