Fujian Shoe Enterprises From Guerrilla Units To "Regular Army"

Fujian sports brand Anta has officially announced that it will replace Adidas as the partner of the Chinese Olympic Committee and become the official clothing provider of the London Olympic Games Chinese delegation. In fact, a week ago, the enthusiasm of many sporting goods companies had been ignited, as the Korean men's soccer team marched into the World Cup finals in South Africa. The team sponsor Hongxing Erke will represent the Chinese sports goods manufacturers for the first time in the world cup.

All along, the Olympic Games and the world cup, the two major events that can attract hundreds of millions of eyeballs, are dominated by international brands such as Adidas and Nike. The domestic sports brands can only participate in sports marketing by "curve". However, the Fujian sports Corps collectively qualify for the top international events means a new round of sports resources layout starts, and "sports goods and Jinjiang manufacturing" are heading for a higher podium.

Anta's "big hand"

When Ding Shizhong, chairman and chief executive of Anta's board of directors, solemnly received the emblem of the special Olympic Committee of the Chinese Olympic Committee from the chairman of the Chinese Olympic Committee Liu Peng, the National Olympic Sports Center applauded.

According to Anta, the rights and interests of the two sides' cooperation covers a wide range of years, and the amount of sponsorship is high, which is unprecedented in the history of Chinese Olympic movement. Anta will provide champion equipment for 11 major international games, such as the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010 and the 2012 London Olympics, which will be launched for the Chinese athletes in the next 4 years.

Although Anta refused to disclose the specific amount of the sponsorship, Ma Jilong, director of the China Olympic Committee's market development committee, said: "this is the largest cooperation in the history of Olympic sponsorship in China. Sponsorship costs have exceeded the threshold of the TOP plan." It is reported that in the Beijing Olympic Games, Adidas paid a total of 60 million to 80 million dollars, while Anta's 4 year large package order is estimated to be no less than this figure.

The two sides said they were the biggest contract in the history of Chinese sports, and Ding Shizhong thought "it's a natural thing to do." Five years ago, in the fierce competition for the Beijing Olympic Games, Adidas took the lead in winning the bid. "National brands are actively brewing, waiting for the next opportunity." The financial crisis is not only a "danger" but also a "machine" for the national brand of sporting goods.

From the perspective of Anta's development process, Anta has always attached great importance to advertising and publicity. In the early days of Ding Shizhong's pioneering work, the hard selling process of shoes in Beijing made it feel that the brand power was very strong. In July 10, 2007, Anta, a sporting goods company, went public in Hongkong and raised more than HK $3 billion 500 million. Anta's prospectus shows that only HK $250 million is used to expand the scale of production, and most of the remaining funds will be used for brand promotion and expansion of marketing networks.

The cooperation with the Chinese Olympic Committee should be regarded as the brand promotion and expansion of the sales and marketing network since the launch of Anta. Ding Shizhong said: "when a company reaches a certain scale, it should not play the edge ball again. In the past, it mainly relies on sponsoring Chinese sports league matches and products to innovate independently, and the next step is to represent the spirit of Chinese sports." In the future, Anta will put 15% of its sales into marketing every year.

The industry view generally believed that Anta's hand in hand with the Chinese Olympic Committee, the brand value may be improved, but at the same time, management is also facing the challenge of maximizing the sponsorship benefits.

"Atypical" Hongxing Erke

In June 18th, 44 years after leaving the world cup, the Korean men's soccer team marched into the finals of the world cup in South Africa. And the North Korean players are equally ecstatic, as well as Fujian's famous sports brand Hongxing Erke.

"South Korea's World Cup, the North Korean team will wear Hongxing Erke's" Robe "appearance, Hongxing Erke brand head said. It is understood that according to the agreement, the DPRK members will wear the clothing of Hongxing Erke and run on the green field of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. This will also be the only team in the 32 world cup of South Africa in 2010 who is wearing the Chinese professional sports brand.

For Hongxing Erke, sponsoring North Korean sports was initially a choice under the helplessness. Because since Adidas became the TOP sponsor of Beijing Olympic Games, the space left to Chinese sporting goods manufacturers has been greatly compressed. In November 2006, Hongxing Erke signed a cooperation agreement with the North Korean Olympic Committee on the global cooperation partners of the North Korean Olympic Committee. It turned out that last year, Hongxing Erke had a fire in the Olympics before and after sponsoring the first gold medal in the weightlifting Olympics. Data show that in 2008, Hongxing Erke's sales increased by 44%.

Like Anta, Hongxing Erke did not want to disclose specific sponsorship fees. "I can only say that this is a highly cost-effective sponsorship." Wu Rongzhao, chief executive of Hongxing sports company, said. It has been reported that Hongxing Erke has been concerned about football and some large sports events since 2006. It has spent over 100 million yuan to sponsor ATP1000 Shanghai masters. The sponsorship of the DPRK team should be small, but compared to other national teams, it can be described as "small investment and big output".

Hongxing Erke, a rising star, is now regarded as the most potential sports brand in China. In the 1999-2003 years of the Quanzhou brand movement, Hongxing Erke is still an unknown brand. In 2004, Hongxing Erke entered the fast-growing tennis market, positioning "the world's leading professional sports brand", and then leveraging the unique marketing techniques, and launched the slogan "Tobeno.1".

According to a marketing expert in Quanzhou, Hongxing Erke, who sponsored the world cup, "picked up a big bargain". "This is a unique marketing perspective," the expert said. Under the background of homogenization marketing, such marketing mode can often get the effect of "surprise soldiers", which is worthy of reference by brand enterprises.

The marketing experience of Hongxing Erke seems to show that boldly entering the field that Western sportswear giants will not get involved in can win returns for China's two or three line sporting goods manufacturers. But this may also be a fly in the ointment. "There is still considerable risk in setting up a special store in a country with special national conditions such as North Korea." Hongxing Erke's brand Department official said.

"Our focus is on the domestic market." Four years ago, when a reporter asked if "XX sportswear would become the World Cup team uniform", a well-known sports brand leader in China seemed somewhat helpless.

Some people say that this is the embarrassing situation of domestic sportswear. Some people have suggested that Adidas and Nike are really the leading leaders on the golf course. Where are the secrets of their long-term stability? Are there any signs that the domestic uniforms might be on the front of the international stars?

At that time, when it came to why international stars were wearing Puma, Nike and Adidas Benz in the world cup, Chinese sports brands were strangely unanimous. People in the industry generally believe that the Chinese sportswear brand will have a long way to go to enjoy the scenery of Nike, Puma and Adidas at the top international events. This is a process of upgrading at all levels, and is also a track for brand growth. Advanced concepts, excellent technology and gold lettered signboards will ensure the strength of the championship.

Today, when PEAK sponsors Iraqi players, Anta holds the Chinese Olympic Committee, Hongxing Erke enters the world cup, the 31st degree sponsors the Guangzhou Asian Games,... Many sporting goods companies in Quanzhou have launched a high-profile attack at the time of the global financial crisis, successively grabbing high-end sports resources and showing the amazing vitality of the Chinese national sports brand.

As soon as the Beijing Olympic Games came to a close, many experts said that from 2009 to 2010, it would be the "Warring States period" of the domestic sporting goods industry. Today, it seems that it is the time to fight: thanks to the promotion of the Olympic Games, the gap between the first-line brands of domestic sporting goods such as Lining and Anta and the Nike and Adidas is gradually narrowing; and the brands of Quanzhou, such as 360 degrees, PEAK, XTEP and so on, have begun to identify the location and strive for an amazing leap. In the end, who can climb the peak of the industry, I am afraid there are different tricks. But no matter what the result is, the war that has already been ignited will become more and more prosperous.