SPORTS> China
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SPORTS> China
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Chinese sports brands rush to ink pacts with elite stars
By Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-11 10:29 From Jelena Jankovic to pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva and NBA courts across America, Chinese sports brands are shrugging their shoulders at the global economic downturn and signing high-profile pacts with elite stars and franchises to make their presence felt in the world market.
Local brand Anta was the first to make a major move this year by signing former world No 1 Jankovic during January's Australian Open. Although the cost of the agreement was not disclosed, Anta is believed to have lured the Serb away from Reebok with a multi-million-dollar three-year deal. This was a bold move given the unforgiving economic climate that has seen brands sever massive endorsement deals in recent months, Buick-Tiger Woods being a case in point. Anta officials said the company had managed to avoid the full brunt of the recession by focusing on domestic demand. "Up to now, the economic crisis has had little impact on our company," said Vice-President Mao Yuying. "We don't expect to get the same rate of return compared to our investment in (Jankovic), but we hope to lift our brand to new heights by capitalizing on her global fame." Apart from on the tennis court, Anta, established in 1994 in Jinjiang, Fujian province, has also signed Houston Rockets' Luis Scola. Scola wore Anta sneakers at this year's all-star weekend in Phoenix as well as at the Beijing Olympics in August en route to picking up a bronze medal for Argentina. Anta spent 13.6 percent of its turnover last year on commercials and publicity, while its sales volume leapt 54.8 percent to 4.63 billion yuan ($670 million). It added close to 1,000 new sales outlets to take its total to 5,667 and launched 2,200 new shoe designs. But it is not the only local sportswear titan enjoying brisk business.
Li Ning snapped up Russia's double Olympic champion Isinbayeva last week, with their "Sky no limit for me" advertising campaign subsequently taking the mainland by storm. "Isinbayeva represents the pinnacle of track and field," said chief marketing officer Fang Shiwei. "Our relationship is aimed at accelerating our brand's internationalization." Building work began earlier, however, with Li Ning signing a crop of NBA stars including Shaquille O'Neal, Baron Davis, Damon Jones and Jose Calderon. The brand has also cemented partnerships with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the NBA and the Spanish national basketball team, which created a storm with their pre-Olympics ad campaign showing players making "slit-eyed" poses. Li Ning, founded by the Olympic champion gymnast whom China elected to light the Olympic Flame on Aug 8, has also got involved in the world of tennis. It signed Croatian star Ivan Ljubicic and recently contracted China's Yan Zi, a two-time Grand Slam doubles winner, and No 1-ranked junior Yang Tsung-hua of Taiwan, about deals. Such deals represent a new trend of quality over quantity, said Wei Jizhong, director of the Beijing Olympic Economy Research Association. "Companies may retreat from sponsoring small sports events and focus more on elite stars," said Wei, who also serves as president of the International Volleyball Federation. This certainly rings true for Peak, another Chinese brand that has been re-branding itself for several years. It began sponsoring NBA games in 2005 and later contracted Houston Rockets' Shane Battier and current Dallas Mavericks' star Jason Kidd as spokespeople. Recently it reached a sponsorship deal with International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Meanwhile, Hisense, a Chinese consumer electronics firm, scored a coup last year by clinching a six-year title sponsorship deal with the Australian Open that turned the Vodafone Arena into the Hisense Arena. "You're going to see more and more of this coming up," Greg Paull, who works at Beijing-based R3 marketing consultancy, was quoted as saying by AFP. "The global multi-nationals are cutting back on their global marketing and Chinese companies are still getting good local demand and good sales returns within their home market," he said. Anta's top brass were quick to add that their plans for global expansion would be tempered by the domestic market. "Signing Jankovic is still for the home market," said Mao. "We have no plan to further explore the international sports market, since there is still a massive amount of room for development in China." AFP contributed to the story |
