Adidas And Nike Play A Commercial Battle In The World Cup.

Beijing time on the morning of June 28th, in Brazil on Thursday. World Cup In the match, Germany meets the US team. This event reflects the biggest commercial battle in the football market this summer -- the relentless struggle between Adidas and Nike to gather hearts and amass wealth.

On the pitch, both Germany and the United States are winners. The German team won by 1:0, but the US team also qualified for the group stage. For Adidas and Nike, the impact of the 2014 Brazil World Cup on them is also rising. Despite the huge increase in spending related to the world cup, Nike, based in Oregon, announced the results of Thursday's excellent performance.

Financial reports show that Nike Sales related to soccer products increased by 21% in 2014 to $2 billion 300 million. Nike believes that the main reason for the increase in sales is that the number of famous teams and stars sponsored by the company has increased. Trevor Edwards, the company's brand president, said at a conference call this week: "the World Cup players wearing Nike products are more than the total number of other brands sponsored by Trevor Edwards."

At the same time, Adidas, headquartered in Bavaria, Germany, predicts that its sales in 2014 will reach 2 billion euros ($2 billion 800 million), up from 1 billion 700 million euros ($2 billion 400 million) in 2012 and 1 billion 500 million euros (2 billion 100 million US dollars) in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

　　 Adidas Herbert Heiner, chief executive, predicted that sales of Adidas's brand jersey will reach 8 million this year, compared with 6 million 500 thousand sales in 2010, Herbert Hainer. In addition, sales of Adidas's official ball game Brazuca are expected to reach 14 million, compared with 13 million sales of Jabulani in the official World Cup 2010 World Cup.

The football field is about friendly competition, but it is not so friendly on the mall. Nike is determined to defeat its German competitors and become the world's leading soccer brand. Meanwhile, Haina is facing pressure from shareholders and must try to suppress Nike's dream of dominating the football market.

Adidas will announce its earnings next month. The company has stressed that its Latin American sales are doing well, and Brazuca's Twitter account has also won a large number of fans, with its fans reaching 2 million 400 thousand. Meanwhile, smaller competitors such as Puma (Puma) have attracted many eyeballs through its bright "war boots".

But Nike is naturally not to be outdone. The company has strong backing from the Brazil national team and its "golden boy" Neymar (Neymar). Nike is also proud of its strong growth in the social media soccer platform. The company has seen three promotional videos 380 million times.

In the last quarter of May 31st, Nike's revenue grew 11%, to $7 billion 400 million, mainly due to Nike's brand sportswear and sneakers in North America and Western Europe. In the quarter, Nike's net profit from continuing operations was $698 million, up 3% from the same period last year, 78 cents a share, beyond Wall Street analysts' expectations.

Tim Crow, a brand consultancy analyst at Synergy, thinks that the war between Nike and Adidas has been developing in favor of the former Tim. "For a long time so far, Nike has been snatching Adidas's" lunch "all over the world. He said. From the current situation, Nike will definitely surpass Adidas in the near future and become the leading football brand. It's only a matter of time, not a question of whether it will happen.

From the regional market, the most robust growth of Nike still comes from the mature markets such as North America and Western Europe. In the North American market, despite the increasingly fierce competition, Nike's sales in this market still account for 40% of its total sales, while Western Europe is the fourth largest market in Nike, and its fourth quarter revenue is 18% higher than that of the same period last year.

Nike said that between July and November, the "future order" of the whole commodity is expected to grow by 11%, which means that even after the closing of the world cup in Brazil, the growth momentum brought by this competition will last longer. Investors will pay close attention to "future orders" because the index is a harbinger of future sales.

Prior to Nike's earnings report, the company's share price has fallen by 2.4% in the year to date, far below the S & P 500 index, which rose 5.8% in the same period, but this performance is still better than Adidas. The German company's share price has dropped by 21% this year. In the New York market's trading on Friday, Nike's shares rose 3% to $79.35, while Adidas's share price rose 0.6% to 73.31 euros in midday trading in the European market.

"Nike has been involved in the football industry for a long time, which has been a concern for us." Said Crowe. "But then they realized that teenagers between 15 and 17 are the focus of Nike's marketing plan, and these users want highly entertaining football."

At the start of the world cup in Brazil, there were 10 teams sponsored by Nike. Its spokesmen include Cristiano Ronaldo (C Ronaldo), Neymar and Wayne Rooney (Wayne Rooney) and other international stars. In contrast, Adidas provides sponsorship for 9 teams, including Lionel Messi from Argentina and Luis Su rez from Uruguay, etc. in Messi.

After the group games, some teams have already returned to their homes. Now the situation is that 5 teams of Nike and Adidas sponsors have appeared, while the spokesperson is left with Neymar and Messi. Whether in the field or in the retail store, the battle between Nike supported Brazil and Adidas's Argentina team will become the pinnacle of the world cup.