Local Sports Brands Still Need To Be Cautious When Entering The Olympic Games

Betting on the London Olympics

Li Ning, the chairman of the board of directors, not only went out to pass the torch in Athens, Greece, but also "grabbed" the sponsorship rights of five sports teams in the Chinese Olympic delegation, including gymnastics, diving, table tennis, shooting and badminton. In addition, Anta has spared no expense to exclusively sponsor the "Champion Dragon Clothes", the London Olympic Champion's uniform of the Chinese sports delegation.

Some second and third tier local sports brand Then, "a new way", 361 ° exclusively sponsored clothing for CCTV sports reporting group, and created Olympic equipment for Chinese cycling and hockey teams; PEAK sponsored seven Olympic delegations from New Zealand, Lebanon and Iraq.

"Even if the industry is still depressed and the sponsorship fee is high, no one will be willing to give up this opportunity to show up. Because to a certain extent, it is also related to the enthusiasm of enterprises when signing the 2016 Olympic Games partners in 2013." said Zhu Chenye, vice president of 361 °.

"Embarrassment" of Olympic promotion

The reporter recently saw that many sports brand counters were hung with "sale" signs in front of major shopping malls in Shanghai and Beijing. "Slogans" such as 70% off for one piece, 60% off for two pieces and 80% off for 200 can be heard everywhere, and some even "shout" out 50% off.

"This kind of sale is rare in the promotion war of sports brands." Ma Gang, an independent commentator in the clothing industry, said with emotion that times have changed and the good days of local sports brands have passed.

It is understood that in 2008, when local sports brands were rising strongly, the Olympic Games were held at home. Enterprises closely combined marketing and offline sales, which made many enterprises make a big profit. The operating income of Li Ning and Anta in that year increased by more than 50%.

But this Olympic Games in London, England, most of the domestic consumers will only watch the excitement, and enterprises have no choice but to fall into the embarrassment of "making money on the stage" and "offering discounts on the stage". A dealer of a sports brand in China confirmed this phenomenon: "Although we look at the manufacturers with London Olympic resources, we are very cautious in picking up the goods. Too high inventory will seriously affect the cash flow. The orders for the first quarter of 2013, which just ended, will decrease by 40% year on year."

"Wrestling" resources for the next Olympic Games

"Discount seems to damage the brand image, but it is the only way out at present." Zhang Qing, president of the key sports marketing organization, said that in the apparel and footwear industry, in addition to brand effect, the core of the competition is the number of days of inventory turnover, and who can sell faster.

In fact, since 2011, local sports brands have collectively fallen into the dilemma of "high inventory" and declining performance. Under pressure, the top priority of major enterprises is to "dump goods".

Jin Zhenjun, the new executive vice chairman of Li Ning, said: "The biggest goal of the company this year is to solve the inventory problem. It is estimated that it will take another six months to one year to clear the inventory."

Zhu Chenye also said that the 361 ° order meeting orders had already bid farewell to the previous double-digit growth market, and now we are striving not to decline or increase slightly. Based on the competition of resources for the next Olympic Games in the industry in 2013, whether it is celebrity endorsement or advertising, it is an expensive brand maintenance fee.