Li Ning picks up Evan Turner and USA Diving
Wednesday, 1st September 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
When Turner takes the court this fall, he'll be wearing Li Ning shoes.
USA Diving has also inked a contract with Li Ning, making it the team's official apparel sponsor through 2012. The brand's other non-Chinese national team sponsorships include Spain and Argentina's basketball teams, and USA Table Tennis.
Although these signings and Li Ning's opening of an Oregon concept store and R&D center have all lead to speculation that this could be China's first brand to become an international powerhouse, I've always said that these moves are more about creating an appearance for Chinese customers than about seriously competing with Nike and Adidas globally. Quoted in People's Daily, Ben Cavender of China Market Research Group puts it pretty clearly: ""What they don't admit to and what they are being slightly cagey about is that their strategy is to firm their position in China as a domestic brand. They can appeal to a certain Chinese nationalism by playing on being able to compete head-to-head with the major international brands because they have these big-time athletes."
Related: Can China's hottest sportswear brand go global?
Evan Turner image: Hi.baidu.com
Tags: Baron Davis, diving, Evan Turner, Li Ning, Shaq, sports apparel, sports marketing
Can China's hottest sportswear brand go global?
Tuesday, 26th January 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (2)
Yelena Isinbayeva with Li Ning, Olympic gold medallist (1984) and founder/CEO of China's top sportswear company.
Li Ning may have surpassed Adidas to become the number two sportswear brand in China, AdAge says, on the strength of 32.4 percent revenue growth in the first half of 2009. In 2008, it opened a design center in Portland. In 2009, it opened a concept store there as well. Along with new stores in Hong Kong and Singapore, and the hiring of more foreign staff in the Beijing headquarters, the Portland activity seems to indicate more interest in international business, and business practices.
If you have spent the last several months in Beijing, it's evident that Li Ning has recently put more into advertising than Adidas or Nike have, with decidedly more ads on television and in public places like subway stations.
Madden's piece highlights some interesting numbers: Li Ning cut ad spending 37 percent in 2009, compared to 75 percent and 65 percent for Nike and Adidas; Li Ning cornered 14.2 percent of the Chinese sportswear market in 2009, to Nike's 16.7 percent and Adidas's 13.9 percent.
One of Li Ning's most visible smart moves has been its work with Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva (伊辛巴耶娃). With a lack of great Chinese track and field athletes to cheer for in the Beijing Olympics, local fans gravitated toward her, and won't soon forget that her remarkable performance took place in the Bird's Nest, with China as host. She was with Adidas during the games, but Li Ning picked her up a year ago in a 5-year, $7.5-million deal. Ads currently airing on Chinese television show her alongside an otherwise unknown Chinese dancer, Zhao Kexin (赵可忻). While Isinbayeva shows off her pole-vaulting skills and incredible physique, Zhao does things that middle class Chinese women are more likely to identify with—jogging, dancing, stretching. She's essentially a stand-in for the target audience in an ad that promotes the beauty of athletic women.
Li Ning has invested more in research and development lately as well, and it shows in the quality and uniqueness of some of its products. And the brand's Olympic sponsorship strategy looked pretty smart to this non-expert, as does the way they use their biggest NBA pitchman, Baron Davis.
For all of its efforts, in my opinion, Li Ning's chances at success as a global brand are slim. Between its logo's resemblance to Nike's swoosh, and the "Anything is Possible" tagline that is often derided for its resemblance to Adidas's more clever "Impossible is Nothing," Li Ning looks, at first glance, like one big knockoff. The explanation that the logo is meant to call to mind the Chinese flag and the letter "L" aren't likely to win over consumers outside of Asia. Nor is the brand's history. It was founded by a 1984 Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast—a distinguished background, for sure, but not one that's going to move sneakers in New York and Los Angeles. I am skeptical as to whether Li Ning truly has its sights set on the U.S. market, or if it just wants to appear to be an international brand, for the sake of the growing domestic consumer market.
A Chinese sportswear brand will go global someday. It won't be Li Ning, but it will owe some of its success to Li Ning's trailblazing ways.
Isinbayeva/Li Ning image: Ce.cn
Tags: Adidas, Baron Davis, Li Ning, Nike, sports marketing, Yelena Isinbayeva
Baron Davis inks deal with Li-Ning
Saturday, 8th November 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Los Angeles Clippers point guard Baron Davis will wear Li-Ning this season, a big marketing score for the Chinese shoe manufacturer (story in Chinese).
The Li-Ning contract replaces Davis's deal with Reebok, a brand that still has virtually no presence in China despite having Yao Ming in its clutches.
Davis' signing with Li-Ning is notable because he is an All-Star who doesn't play with a Chinese player or for a blue-chip NBA team. Since Li-Ning signed a deal with the NBA in 2005 to allow players to wear their shoes at games and other NBA events, players who put their name behind the brand have included Luis Scola of the Houston Rockets and Shaquille O'Neal, who was with the Miami Heat when he hooked up with the brand; and Lebron James' teammate, Damon Jones.
Li-Ning is not known very well outside of China, but it has the biggest market share in the sports apparel category in the mainland, well ahead of Adidas and Nike.
It made a big push for international recognition at the 2008 Olympics, outfitting teams including the Spanish national basketball team, and scoring perhaps the biggest marketing coup of the games—a high-profile appearance in the Opening Ceremonies for CEO and founder, retired gymnast Li Ning.
By signing Davis, Li-Ning is confirming what those who keep track of China's young basketball lovers already know—NBA fans here have gone far beyond Yao Ming worship, to become sophisticated followers of the entire league and all of its best players.
Li-Ning isn't the only sneaker brand working with NBA players. Peak has long used Shane Battier of the Houston Rockets as the face of its basketball gear; and after the Olympics, Peak also signed Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks.
Image: Sina.com
Tags: Baron Davis, Damon Jones, Jason Kidd, Li-Ning, Los Angeles Clippers, Luis Scola, marketing, Peak, Reebok, Shane Battier, Yao Ming