The "Battlefield" Behind The World Cup, Nike VS ADI, Who Is The Last Winner

The four year world cup is not only a competition between national teams, but also an arena for major sports equipment brand.

In this arena, rival Adidas and Nike have been closely linked to the world cup for decades.

In the last World Cup, although Nike had an advantage in sponsoring the number of teams, Adidas was the winner after the game. Because of its two strong teams, Argentina and Germany had been in the finals, while Nike sponsored teams were generally poor.

What is the sponsorship of sports brands in this year's World Cup? Will there be a reversal in the contest between Nike and Adidas?

Nike and Adidas's "gambling" method

Our gambling game is to buy and win, score...

Nike and Adidas's "gambling" rule is "buy" the national team.

In the eight strong teams, Nike sponsored Brazil, France, England and Croatia, and the top three teams were the most popular favourites on the major gambling websites.

Adidas sponsors Belgium, Russia and Sweden, while Uruguay is sponsored by Puma.

According to the statistics of the guardian, 132 of the top 200 players in the world cup chose Nike shoes, up to 66%.

The players wearing Adidas Das sneakers are only 59 players, occupying 33%.

In this way, the victory of this game can fall on Nike.

If you want to cheer on the team in the home team jersey, you can buy a lot of money from the original channel.

Take the German Jersey as an example, the recommended price of the general fan's jersey is 89.95 euros, and the proposed retail price with a high-tech design and embroidered logo on the chest is the 129.95 euros.

In the last World Cup, the German team's good results brought huge returns to Adidas.

In 2014, Adidas sold 3 million German jerseys, plus all kinds of World Cup theme equipment and peripheral products, and Adidas earned 2 billion 100 million euros in total revenue.

In return, the German national team can get a total sponsorship fee of about 50 million euros per year from Adidas.

According to Reuters data, this year, Adidas sponsored 12 teams from 32 teams, including the strong teams that won the tickets early, Germany and Spain, and the host Russia.

But with the German outfit, the Adidas 50 percent off sales robe, Argentina was knocked down by Nike's Croatia, and the Nike exploded robes of Nike 3 minutes sold for 3 million pieces, Nike temporarily suppressed Adidas in this world cup.

It is worth mentioning that the sponsorship fee paid by Adidas to the German team was 28 million 500 thousand euros per year. The new contract stipulates that the sponsorship fee will be doubled to more than 60 million euros after the Russian World Cup.

Since the start of the world cup in June 14th, Nike shares have risen nearly 3%, mainly due to strong quarterly results and revenue forecasts announced last Thursday.

Adidas Das shares fell by about 5%.

But for Adidas, the world cup is still

A great opportunity for marketing.

Adidas is one of FIFA's seven partners and is also the supplier of the designated ball in 1970 World Cup.

Of course, the meaning of the world cup is not only to boost brand reputation, but also to stabilize its brand position in the future and ensure long-term sustained growth of its performance.

At the time of the world cup, Nike released its earnings report.

At this point, Nike released the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018 and the whole fiscal year (from 2017.6.1 to 2018.5.31) financial report.

In the whole fiscal year, Nike's total revenue was as high as $36 billion 400 million, of which Nike brand revenue was $34 billion 500 million, and revenue for wholesale customers increased by 2%, while NIKE Direct revenue grew by 12%, reaching 10 billion 400 million US dollars, mainly due to the 25% increase in Nike's sales of e-commerce and 4% sales growth.

From a regional perspective, the Greater China region is still the most robust market for Nike growth.

In the 2018 fiscal year, Greater China revenue increased to 5 billion 134 million US dollars, up 21% over the same period last year. The largest market in North America reached US $14 billion 855 million, but there was still a 2% decline. EMEA (European, Middle East and African markets) revenue was 9 billion 242 million US dollars, up 16% over the same period last year; Asia Pacific and Latin American market revenues were US $5 billion 166 million, up 9% over the same period last year.

As the base of Nike, North America.

The decline must come from its most important stage: NBA.

This season is the first year for Nike to replace Adidas as the sponsor of NBA Jersey. The amount of the contract reached US $1 billion, and the layout made by Nike after the successful signing of the contract:

The introduction of 4 different varieties of uniforms;

LOGO will be displayed on the official uniform.

It is made of plastic bottles made of new materials, which is the main environmental protection concept.

The NikeConnect technology introduced by Nike is added.

In succession signed a big contract with NBA superstar.

But where Nike is, where Adidas is, it's like KFC and McDonald's everywhere on the roadside.

Although the world cup has been temporarily dominated by Nike, Adidas's catching up efforts can not be underestimated, and its performance has been shown for many consecutive quarters, showing the strong momentum of Adidas recovery.

Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted also reiterated in its previous earnings report: "in 2017, the company was strong in its financial and operational performance.

The company's strategic growth points, including the North American market, Greater China, and the electricity supplier business, have contributed significantly to the growth of our current phase.

Adidas's long-term goal is to grow into the world's first sports company.

Adidas hopes to achieve this goal in 2020.

The outstanding performance in 2017 has also increased the confidence of Kasper Rorsted in 2018.

He said, "in reaching the 2020 target, the company's performance in 2018 will be crucial and expect to achieve higher quality growth."

In the original Nike2015 target, their revenue target in 2020 was $50 billion.

But for now, this is undoubtedly a rather difficult goal.

However, with the official opening of the new financial cycle, Nike's fashion stunning performance in the World Cup gives people reason to believe that the giant will continue to rule itself.

The only niche brand to qualify for the top 16

Big brands are hot, so what about small brands?

For small brands, the final calculation is not the success or failure, but the cost benefit.

For them, they are making money in the world cup.

In the top 16 teams, the Danish team is sponsored.

It is a niche brand. Although the Danish team failed to advance to the top eight, it was enough for the Danish sponsors to earn enough attention. The Danish team entered the top 16 and had reached the goal: let more people know the existence of the brand and sell as many shirts as possible.

The Hummel brand, which was born in Germany, is the only niche brand to qualify for the top 16 in the world cup.

Hummel in German means "Bumblebee", now is the Danish Royal brand.

Not only has a long history, but also very legendary.

Hummel, founded in 1923, is longer than the Adidas established in 1948 and Nike in 1972. It is said to be the oldest sporting goods company in Europe, and is loved by the Danish royal family.

But the popularity of the brand is not matched by its bright past. For various reasons, Hummel is mainly active in European sports, and is rarely known in China.

It has produced the first double spike in the world.

He was a sponsor of the Danish national football team and real football clubs such as Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa.

In the history of World Cup, Hummel did not show much time, mainly relying on the design of the national basketball team for Denmark.

Denmark has participated in the 5 World Cup so far, 4 of them have entered the knockout stage, and only 1 have entered the eight finals (1986). Before 2018, Denmark's latest entry into the world cup dates back to 2010.

The sponsors of 2002 and 2010 were Adidas, so Hummel had not entered the world cup after 20 years.

Therefore, whether for Hummel or Denmark, the world cup is a rare opportunity to show up.

It is worth mentioning that based on the excellent performance of the Danish team, it was predicted before the 1/8 finals that if the Danish team broke into the top eight, Hummel could become a replica of the 2014 World Cup Lotto.

Costa Rica in 2014 wearing Lotto (Le Tu) Jersey

At that time, Costa Rica was the first to break into the top 8 in the world. It was also the only team wearing the niche brand in the eight strong teams. The sales of Lotto jerseys doubled 20 times during the world cup, and 50 thousand additional jerseys were sold out instantly. Lotto became the most successful brand in the Brazil World Cup and earned enough sales and popularity.

Therefore, the world cup is not only a battleground for Nike and Adidas, but also a stage for minority brands to appear and even play legends.

For Hummel, going to the top 16 has gone far enough.

For Nike and Adidas, no matter who laughs last, the brand competition will never stop.