The Beijing Olympics are less than a year away and one of the hottest races shaping up is not among the athletes, but the companies that outfit them.
China is one of the largest emerging markets and a top focus for shoemakers fighting for market share. And as next year's Beijing Olympics approach, the intensity is reaching a new high.
"The Beijing 2008 Games are set to be the greatest sporting event in modern Chinese history," said Paul Pi, head of marketing for Adidas in greater China.
Adidas is an official sponsor of the Olympics. In addition to paying a reported US$80 million for the sponsorship position, the company has coordinated a marketing blitz that includes opening an average of two stores a day in the country.
Adidas have declared the event will help put it in the No. 1 position in China by next year, a coveted spot now held by shoe giant Nike.
Nike Inc says China is poised to become its second-largest market in the world after the US by 2009. The company has seen big gains there; its first-quarter earnings reported last month show sales in China jumped 50 percent. And Nike executives say the company is widening its lead there.
Nike declined to discuss its Olympics marketing plan but says the Olympics is less about advertising than about supporting the athlete.
The company is sponsoring 22 of the 28 competing Chinese federations. And it has one of China's hottest athletes, hurdler Liu Xiang (劉翔), wearing the swoosh.
Both companies may hit US$1 billion annually in sales in China by the Olympics, said Terry Rhoades, managing director of Zou Marketing, a sports consultant company in Shanghai.
different strength
In third is Chinese company Li Ning -- a premium local brand but a fraction of the size of its international competitors. Analysts say Li Ning has a different strength, with its base in the smaller and less urban markets where brands like Adidas and Nike have not spread.
Li Ning, founded by a former Chinese gymnast, has also ramped up its design team and is sponsoring several Chinese teams slated to be strong contenders in the games.
But shoemakers say the race isn't over when the medals are handed out.
Denson says the years following the Olympics may be even more exciting than this growth period.
It's a sentiment shared by both companies.
The games will represent a "real, tangible sea-change in attitudes toward sport in China," Pi said, by spreading a growing trend of interest an athletic lifestyle.
Sports were once seen as a luxury in China. But as the middle class has grown and culture has changed, interest has exploded.
Parks and other facilities are being built Basketball has become a top sport, and viewers can watch several NBA games a week in China's major cities.
Companies like Nike and Adidas, which have had a presence in the country for decades, have helped spur the growth with sponsorship of teams and tournaments. Nike has made serious community inroads in China, such as investing in Dong Dan Park in Beijing, the equivalent of draping a major city park with a swoosh.
blanketed
Nike, Adidas and other shoe brands have blanketed cities in China with stores. Unlike other markets where shoe makers often see their product sold in retail stores along with other brands, in China the brand-owned store is king.
So shoe companies are offering an inviting format and stronger brand message that is a step up from traditional Chinese retail stores. Both Nike and Adidas have about 3,000 stores each in China and have aggressive growth plans.
As payoff for the long-term work, a surprising number of Chinese consumers are buying premium brands like Nike and Adidas, despite low incomes and prices several times that of a traditional Chinese shoe. Other brands such as New Balance, Pony and Puma are making inroads as well.
International brands have tried to capture the hearts of the youth who are more consumer-driven than preceding generations.
Young urban Chinese, and a growing minority in the countryside, are like their counterparts from Brooklyn to Bangkok: They wear athletic shoes, baggy T-shirts and track suits.
Nike has re-crafted its "Just Do It" campaign for China with innovative short advertisements aimed at the young Chinese consumer and longer pieces such as an innovative film of a Chinese female street basketball player struggling with her wants and the restraints of her parents.
"You can't just sell to them, you have to identify with them," Denson said.
The race for marketshare in China won't end with the Olympics; it could become even more exciting after the Games are over.
"Can the shoe wars be determined by the Olympics?" Rhoades asked. "No, but it's one more battle."
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
SPEECH IMPEDIMENT? The state department said that using routine celebrations or public remarks as a pretext for provocation would undermine peace and stability Beijing’s expected use of President William Lai’s (賴清德) Double Ten National Day speech today as a pretext for provocative measures would undermine peace and stability, the US Department of State said on Tuesday. Taiwanese officials have said that China is likely to launch military drills near Taiwan in response to Lai’s speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims. A state department spokesperson said it could not speculate on what China would or would not do. “However, it is worth emphasizing that using routine annual celebrations or public remarks as a pretext or excuse for provocative or coercive
RSS