Olympic marketing: How did sportswear brands do?
Friday, 29th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
For sports apparel brands, the Olympics are arguably the most important stage for marketing. So how did the sports marketers fare with the Chinese market in these Olympics? Here's a look at how things played out for Adidas, Li-Ning, Nike, Puma and Speedo.Adidas
Adidas reportedly shelled out 70 million euros to be an official Olympic sponsor. Adidas gear was also all over Olympians, great for television. But aside from shoes and uniforms, Adidas wasn't particularly visible in Olympic venues. It had no special presence on the Olympic Green, but its beautiful flagship store in Sanlitun near the Workers' Stadium and Workers' Gymnasium saw lots of foot traffic.
Adidas' Olympic sponsorship allowed it to use the Bird's Nest and Olympic logo.
Its Olympic ad campaign, though beautifully designed and fitting in concept (Together in 2008, Impossible is Nothing), came up short in the personnel categories. That campaign had four primary faces, in sports that are very popular in China--diver Hu Jia, footballer Zheng Zhi, basketball player Sui Feifei and a few women's volleyball players. Hu pulled out due to injury, Zheng and the men's football team had an embarrassing performance and Sui Feifei was only sixth in scoring on Team China. The women's volleyball team played strong in a very tough field, but in the end only came through with the minimum result acceptable to the hometown fans, a bronze medal.
Li-Ning
China's biggest sports apparel brand had the biggest marketing coup of the games—its founder, Li Ning, carrying the Olympic flame on a three-minute slow-motion run to the top of the Bird's Nest, where he lit the Olympic cauldron. The company's stock went up the next day, and Li Ning will always have his stamp on what seems to be an especially important part of the Olympics to Chinese fans.
Li-Ning's storefronts were generic during the games, but there was nothing generic about its opening ceremony product placement.
Li Ning also had its name on the uniforms of China's diving and table tennis teams, who delivered dominant performances, as well as the Spanish national basketball team, which gave Team USA a tough match before losing in the gold medal game.
Nike
Nike's two biggest bets on Chinese athletes were Yi Jianlian and Liu Xiang. Yi was solid but not explosive, averaging 9 points a game. The Chinese national team, wearing Nike jerseys, didn't really exceed expectations, but certainly didn't come up short, making it to the quarterfinals before losing to Lithuania. But Chinese fans were more excited about catching a glimpse of Team USA, who were also sporting Nike's hot new jersey, available in stores all over Beijing.
Nike had to deal with the toughest spin job of any Olympic marketer this year—how to salvage its investment in China's biggest sports star, Liu Xiang, when he didn't even compete in the games. Nike's immediate answer--a full page ad celebrating the love of sport even in defeat--succeeded in becoming part of the stream of catharsis after Liu bowed out. Nike got some negative publicity for its efforts to hunt down netizens who alleged that the shoe company had coerced Liu to drop out rather than lose to Robles.
Nike hedged its big-name bets by backing lesser-known athletes as well.
But Liu and Yi weren't the only athletes that Nike put is name behind. It was all over team China, and ready with full-page ads in China Daily and front-page ads in Titan sports news when any of its athletes won a medal or had a strong performance. Swimmer Zhang Lin (silver medalist), boxer Zou Shiming (gold medalist) and beach volleyball duo Tian Jia and Wang Fei (silver medalists) were just a few of the lower-profile high-achieving athletes that Nike celebrated in its Olympic campaign.
Puma
Dollar for dollar, Puma might have gotten the most of its Olympic investment. Its hopes ran on two spiked shoes-- those of sprinter Usain Bolt, who loped across the finish line to set the 100-meter dash world record. China loves a winner, and Bolt and the dominant Jamaican team were very well-received in Beijing. Jacques Rogge can complain all he wants, but most Chinese don't mind a guy who's willing to revel in his moment.
Speedo
If you weren't wearing a Speedo LZR Racer in this Olympics, you might as well never leave the Water Cube's warm-up pool. Nine out of every 10 swimming gold medals went to LZR wearers. The only complaint that people had about the LZR was that it made swimmers too fast, world records too common. The suit was considered such an integral part of success that Nike agreed to let its swimmers wear LZRs instead of Nike suits. Speedo doesn't have a big presence at Chinese sports retailers—swimwear here tends to be generic instead of branded—but China, along with the rest of the world, has no choice but to see Speedo as the leader in swimwear technology.
Tags: Adidas, athletics, Beijing Olympics, Hu Jia, Li-Ning, Liu Xiang, marketing, Nike, Olympics, Puma, Speedo, Sui Feifei, swimming, Tian Jia, Titan, Usain Bolt, volleyball, Wang Fei, Zhang Lin, Zheng Zhi, Zou Shiming
Field hockey China's last chance for team gold
Friday, 22nd August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Both the women's basketball and volleyball teams lost in semifinal games Thursday night,. The basketball team was handled easily by Australia, 90-56, sending coach Tom Maher's team to play Russia for the bronze on Saturday. Australia had a
balanced attack with five players scoring in double figures. China's high scorer was Bian Lan with 20. Australia held Miao Lijie, averaging 19.5 points going into the game, to just 10 points and two made field goals. The Australians face the USA Saturday in the final.
The volleyball team lost to Olympic favorite Brazil, 3-0, on Thursday. The first set was the hardest fought, with Brazil emerging 27-25. The Chinese team got progressively weaker, losing the next two sets 25-22 and 25-14. China plays Cuba for bronze on Saturday.
China's top team sport performance thus far in these Olympics was in beach volleyball, where its two women's pairs claimed silver and bronze.
Field hockey results page
Basketball results page
Volleyball results page
Field hockey team image: BOCOG
Tags: basketball, Beijing Olympics, field hockey, Miao Lijie, Olympics, Tom Maher, volleyball
In the gym and on the beach, China's women still in the hunt for volleyball gold
Thursday, 21st August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
UPDATE: The USA's Walsh and May-Treanor defeated Tian and Wang, leaving China with silver and bronze in women's beach volleyball.
A win against Russia Tuesday night put China into the semifinals of the women's volleyball competition. Defending Olympic champion China won the quarterfinal in three sets, 25-22, 27-25, 25-19.
China's semifinal pits it against Brazil, undefeated in these Olympics.
Brazil's men's team knocked China out in the quarterfinals. The women's match is scheduled for 8:00 tonight Beijing time. Cuba and the USA play in the other semifinal and the gold medal match takes place Saturday.
In beach volleyball, an all-China semifinal ended in victory for top seeds
Tian Jia (田佳) and Wang Jie over Xue Chen and Zhang Xi. Xue and Zhang went on to win the bronze, defeating a Brazilian duo, 21-17, 21-19. As this post goes live, Tian and Wang are taking on America's Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, in what should be a very competitive gold medal contest.
Related:
China's women aiming for beach volleyball gold
Tough road for China's beloved women's volleyball
Image: Jieyang.gd.cn
Tags: Beijing Olympics, Olympics, Tian Jia, volleyball, Wang Jie, women's volleyball, Xue Chen, Zhang Xi
Women's volleyball face USA tonight
Friday, 15th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
In its match against the USA tonight, China faces coach Lang Ping, a key player on China's 1984 gold medal-winning team. She is known in the United States as "Jenny," and despite leaving China to coach one of its volleyball rivals, remains beloved on the mainland.
A win tonight against the Americans or Sunday against Japan would clinch China's spot in the next round. China hopes a little home advantage in these Olympics will help it repeat its Athens gold medal performance, but competition is fierce this time around, with Brazil as the favorite and five other teams seriously challenging for medals. Olympic volleyball, like basketball, begins with two six-team pools, whittled down to an eight-team playoff after each team plays five games.
Here are China's leaders in four statistical categories over three games (more stats available here):
Spikes
1. Wang Yimei – 39
2. Zhou Suhong – 24
3. Ma Yunwen – 24
Kill blocks
1. Ma Yunwen – 11
2. Zhao Ruirui – 7
3. Feng Kun – 4
Aces
1. Zhou Suhong – 7
2. Ma Yunwen – 5
3. Zhao Ruirui - 3
Digs
1. Zhang Na - 41
2. Zhou Suhong – 36
3. Feng Kun - 18
Image: BOCOG
Tags: Beijing Olympics, Olympics, volleyball, Zhao Ruirui
U.S. volleyball coach's relative stabbed to death in Beijing
Sunday, 10th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Todd Bachman, father-in-law of a U.S. Olympic volleyball coach, was stabbed to death in Beijing Saturday. His wife Barbara was also stabbed and is in the hospital with injuries described in a statement from the IOC as "serious and life-threatening." The couple's Chinese tour guide, a Chinese woman, was also injured in the attack.The assailant, a 47-year-old from Hangzhou, jumped to his death from the Drum Tower, the famous tourist site where the assault occurred.
The Bachmans' daughter, who was also present at the attack, is Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon, wife of United States Olympic men's volleyball head coach Hugh McCutcheon.
Tags: Beijing Olympics, crime, Drum Tower, Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon, Hugh McCutcheon, Todd Bachman, volleyball
Meet China's Olympic athletes
Tuesday, 29th July 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (2)
You know basketball's Yao Ming (姚明), athletics' Liu Xiang (刘翔) and the Chinese diving team. But did you know that China has a gold medal contender in light flyweight boxer Zou Shiming (邹市明)? And have you met Feng Kun (冯坤) and Zhao Ruirui's (赵蕊蕊) supporting cast on the Chinese women's volleyball team?To help you get to know Team China, China Sports Today has just added a database of Olympians and other top athletes from the Middle Kingdom. From golf to table tennis (ping pong) to gymnastics, you'll find basic information on key competitors, along with video when possible. To get started, follow this link or click on "Sports" on the bar above. For some sports, the list of athletes comes at the bottom of the sport's page, following some background information about China's history in that sport.
If you don't see who you're looking for, go to our Contact Us page and we'll do our best to add your athlete ASAP.
Tags: athletes, boxing, diving, Feng Kun, Liu Xiang, Olympics, volleyball, Yao Ming, Zhao Ruirui, Zou Shiming
Flashback: China 2004 volleyball gold
Tuesday, 22nd July 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
In the process of putting together China Sports Today's YouTube playlist, I stumbled across this video of a great sports moment: the fifth and final set of the 2004 women's volleyball gold medal match between China and Russia.For more China sports video, check out our YouTube playlist, which includes past competition, commercials and interviews with athletes in sports from archery to wushu.
Tags: video, volleyball, YouTube
Tough road for China's beloved women's volleyball
Wednesday, 16th July 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
Among the home crowd, women's volleyball is one of the hottest tickets at these Olympics. With the exception of badminton and table tennis doubles, it is the only team sport where China has any history of Olympic success, winning gold in China's first Olympics in 1984 and again at the most recent Summer Olympics in Athens.
Zhao's smiles on the court are common and contagious to her teammates.
Coming off of gold in Athens, and returning top players like Zhao and Feng Kun (冯坤), expectations are high for Chinese women's volleyball in Beijing. But there will be nothing easy about the team's road to any medal, let alone gold.
The FIVB (Federation Internationale de Volleyball) World Grand Prix, which concluded in Yokohama, Japan, over the weekend, showed just how fierce competition is in this sport, with the top six teams all serious medal contenders. China finished in fifth place.
Brazil won the tournament with a 5-0 record; Cuba took silver at 4-1; Italy won bronze with a record of 2-3. Also finishing ahead of China was the United States, led by China's 1984 gold medalist Lang Ping (known in the United States as Jenny Lang Ping). In head-to-head competition, the United States beat China in a five-setter (25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 21-25 and 17-15). China also lost to Italy, Cuba and Brazil. Its only win came over Japan.
The field for the 2008 Olympics is broken into six-team pools. China's includes Italy, Japan and the United States. China's round robin schedule is as follows:
August 10, 8:00 p.m. v. Bulgaria (Capital Indoor Stadium)
August 12, 8:00 p.m. v. Venezuela (Capital Indoor Stadium)
August 14, 8:00 p.m. v. Japan (Capital Indoor Stadium)
August 16, 10:00 a.m. v. USA (Beijing Institute of Technology)
August 18, 8:00 p.m. v. Italy (Capital Indoor Stadium)
The best of the above games will be the last three. China should definitely be among the top four teams from that pool, which will put them into an eight-team single-elimination playoff, with the losers of the two semifinal matches playing for bronze. Tournament play begins August 20 at Capital Indoor Stadium. The bronze and gold medal matches will be played August 24, also at Capital Indoor Stadium.
Image: Zhaoruirui.com
Tags: Feng Kun, Olympics, volleyball, Zhao Ruirui
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