Three Big Sports Shoe Companies Compete For Olympic Games

The Olympic Games are the arena of sports competition and the stage of commercial competition.

Sports brands which are closely related to sports are competing vigorously for the Beijing Olympic Games.

In early July, Adidas, the official sponsor of the Olympic Games, opened the world's largest retail store in Sanlitun, hoping to catch up with its biggest competitor, Nike, in 2008.

Nike, which has always attached importance to athletes and sports teams, has signed sponsorship agreements with more than 20 Chinese sports teams.

Lining, a local brand, took a circuitous route after losing the competition for Olympic sponsorship.

Actively participating in all kinds of competitions is the common ground between Nike and Adidas, but their strategies are different.

Nike likes to choose all kinds of athletes and sports teams, while Adidas tends to hold hands directly.

This time Beijing Olympic Games, Adidas is an official sponsor.

According to reports, Adidas has paid about $100 million in cash and sponsorship for partner rights, providing sports shoes and clothing for all staff and technical officials of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, as well as members, volunteers and torchbearers of Chinese sports delegation.

Adidas believes that when the National Anthem starts, the Chinese delegation has the highest exposure rate, and people will remember the winners on the podium and remember Adidas's costumes.

But its biggest rival, Nike, is more ambiguous about spending.

A person familiar with the matter said, "Nike spends more money on international sports teams and athletes every year than Adidas supports the Olympic Games."

It is understood that Nike has carried out long-term strategic cooperation with dozens of international sports stars.

At this Beijing Olympic Games, Nike took another route.

Nike, which has always attached importance to athletes and sports teams, has signed sponsorship agreements with more than 20 sports teams, basketball, swimming, weightlifting, boxing and track and field.

There is also a local brand in China that can not be ignored, that is, "Lining".

After losing in the competition for Olympic sponsorship, Lining took the circuitous route strategy.

On the third day after the defeat, Lining signed an agreement with CCTV sports channel.

The agreement stipulates that when the hosts and reporters of the 2007~2008 year sports channel broadcast programs and events show, they need to wear Lining's clothing.

Lining plans to open the CCTV sports channel during the Beijing Olympics, and Lining's LOGO will jump into the eyes of the audience.

In addition, Lining also signed a sponsorship agreement with Chinese shooting team, diving team, table tennis team and gymnastics team with limited money.

According to the results of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, the four teams won more than half of the total gold medals of the Chinese team.

According to the current pattern of sports brand, an industry insider said, it is very likely that athletes will compete in Nike or Lining, and they will have to change Adidas when they receive the award.

In a word, the sports brand's taste of smoke in the Olympic Games.

When interviewed by Bai Wenkang, managing director of Adidas China, the reporter learned that Adidas's advertising promotion for the Beijing Olympic Games exceeded the scale of any previous activity.

"For example, the 2006 World Cup in Germany can be regarded as unprecedented, but the scale of this year's Olympic Games is far greater than before, and our investment is more natural."

In marketing the Olympic Games, Adidas has formulated a strategy for advertising, and has done a lot of research on the habits of consumers in the Chinese market, including communicating with consumers, giving feedback, and doing a lot of communication.

The survey shows that many spectators are not only satisfied with watching the game, but also hope to actively participate in and support the match and cheer for their favorite athletes.

According to the relevant person in charge of Adidas, this is the first time in the history of the Olympic Games that the global consumers can reach Adidas athletes' special competition equipment in the retail market, and can enhance their daily sports performance and sports style through these professional configurations.

Adidas currently provides professional sports equipment for 22 of the 28 Olympic events, including 43 different kinds of shoes, and has created a full range of retail products for the Beijing Olympic Games.

The purpose of Adidas's painstakingly effort is to beat Nike and catch up with its competitors in 2008.

Huang, who is senior Olympic adviser to the Beijing development and Reform Commission, talked about Adidas and Nike's old rivals. Many Olympic Games sponsors have used Olympic Games to promote the games.

Nike, an opponent of Olympic sponsorship Adidas, performed well in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

This time it is no exception to remind consumers of Nike's existence in many ways.

Lining, a local brand, wanted to promote himself by the host and reporter of CCTV sports channel.

But with the approaching of the Olympic Games, there are some changes in the promotion of sports brand about the Olympic Games.

In June 3rd, the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee held a press conference on "prevention of Olympic Games hidden market advertising behavior proposal".

The main content of this conference is to advocate Chinese advertising industry practitioners and personnel against Olympic recessive market behavior.

Since June 10th, Lining LOGO has been partially evacuated from the clothes of reporters, guests and hosts on CCTV Olympic Channel. Only a few guests still have Lining LOGO.

According to the news, Lining LOGO will disappear on CCTV Olympic Channel since August 1st.

Whether Lining is a clever or dangerous chess player, many people in the industry are talking about it.

Post game expansion

Scramble for the $12 billion market

After the Olympic Games, the sportswear market, which is increasingly competitive in China, will continue to grow.

ZOUMarketing, a sports brand consultancy based in Shanghai, predicts that the Chinese sportswear market will grow by 20% every year from 2009 to 2012, and its value will reach $12 billion.

According to the Harvard Business School Survey data, in recent years, China's three largest brands in the market, Nike, Adidas and Lining, share 21%, 20% and 17% respectively.

The brands are being interconnected and competing for each other from the first tier to the three tier cities.

Bai Wenkang said that for Adidas group, China is the most important market.

"Our goal is to become a leader in the Chinese market in 2008, and we will have a turnover of more than 1 billion euros by 2010."

He said he plans to open 5000 new Adidas stores and about 1000 Reebok brand stores in China by the end of this year.

In early July, Adidas's largest retail store was officially unveiled in the new business district of Sanlitun, Beijing, with a total area of 3170 square meters, which is about 1.5 times the scale of Adidas's largest store, Paris Champs Elysees store.

Eric Stermung, President of Adidas brand global, said that the store will become a model for Adidas in the world's major city concept stores.

Bai Wenkang said that from the experience of various countries in the world, China has just started in sports, and the climax of sports consumption in China is far from coming.

Once the peak of the development of Chinese sports is coming, we can imagine the great demand in sports series, casual clothing and footwear.

Charlie Danson, President of Nike brand global, said in an interview that Nike's annual sales revenue in China has reached $1 billion.

The Beijing Olympic Games is a great opportunity for Nike brand promotion. After the Olympic Games, Nike will continue to lead the Chinese sporting goods market.

Lining, a local brand, set a clear timetable for himself: the first stage ends in 2008, and the second stage is 2009~2013.

In these two stages, Li Ning Co will take the Chinese market as the most important strategic market and predict that the turnover will remain at 35%-40% growth every year.

The 2013~2018 year is the third phase, when Li Ning Co will become the world's top 5 Sports Brand Company.

According to the relevant person in charge of Li Ning Co, because of the implementation of the central purchasing center system this year, Lining can save 30 million ~4000 yuan, and at the same time maintain the gross margin of the whole year to 47% to 48%.

In the next 5 years, the domestic market turnover is expected to maintain 35%~40% growth rate every year.

Although Adidas is the official sponsor of the Beijing Olympic Games, Nike and Lining are better at the endorser.

Liu Xiang, Yi Jianlian, and Nike, who put Liu Xiang on the cover of the company's annual earnings, voluntarily withdraw from the sponsors' dispute and turn around and sign 22 Chinese sports teams in the 28 major events.

Nike will provide their competition costumes and sports shoes.

Not only is the Beijing Olympic Games, but the brand image of Nike's "star + personality" is already a marketing tradition.

Li Ning Co, which also has no Olympic sponsorship, has its own strategy.

Lining's four national teams, table tennis, gymnastics, diving and shooting, can be called the gold medal team of the Chinese Olympic team.

At the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, these four "dream teams" won more than half of the gold medals of the Chinese delegation.

Starting in 2008, a series of ads on Adidas's theme of "2008 with the Chinese Olympic delegation, no impossible" were everywhere.

But the sports teams sponsored by Adidas are volleyball teams, judo teams and football teams that are not so popular.

Hu Jia, the spokesman for Adidas's push, did not even win the national diving team's Olympic candidature, and Adidas's star risk was amplified again.