2008 Olympics: Who Cheers More?

As  athletes  stroke  the  sporting gold  at  the Beijing Olympic Games,  those  big-name  sporting  brands hope  that  the  effort  or  cash  spent  in  preparation  for the Games would  also  be  proved  lucrative. However, sometimes, things are unpredictable, just like "anything is possible".

Being  one  of  the  of  ficial  sponsors, Adidas,  involved with  the Games  since 1928,  determined  to  secure  a  bigger  slice of  the Chinese market, where  it  is  in strong competition with Nike.

"The Beijing  2008 Olympic Games will serve as a platform for the brand to become the leading sports brand in China," said Erica Kerner,  director  of Adidas's Beijing  2008 Olympic program me. Through  a  combination  of  TV,  pr int , outdoor, public  relations,  digital,  point-of-sale  and roadshows across  the  country,  the"Im possible  is Nothing" Olympic marketing campaign  aims  to  bring  sport  engagement with Chinese consumers to a new level".

Especial ly  on  July  5, Adidas  opened its  largest Brand Center worldwide, with a  size  of  3,170m²  occupying  four  floors, inside  the  new Sanlitun Village Shopping Center in Beijing, featuring a range of unique interact ive  elements  that will provide  consumers with  a  truly special retail experience.

As  for Nike, maybe,  2008  is a  tough  year.  After  losing  the partnership with the Games, along with  the  increasing  cost  of  raw material  and  the  appreciation  of RMB exchange rate, Nike suffers a great cost pressure and depression in 2008. So that, Adidas, among the global sporting brands competition for the Games, has already won for a while,  or  the millions  of  dollars spent  on  sponsorship  and  i ts athletes,  as well  as  television  and other advertising began to perform its effect.

Nevertheless,  as  the Games began, Adidas felt a little unhappy. Li Ning, the 44-year-oldg ymn ast champion and his sports  brand may  not  be widely known wor ldwide,  but  that  is changing  quickly  after what  some advertising insiders have described as  the  greatest  case  of  "ambush marketing" in Olympic history.

Billions  of  people  around  the world watched  on  television  as Li  few  hundreds  of  feet  high  into the  air  and  "ran"  around  the  top of  the  "Bird's Nest"  (the National Stadium)  to  light  the Olympic cauldron  on August  8,  the most stunning climax of  the spectacular opening  ceremony  of  all  time. At that  time,  Li Ning,  aroused  the interest  of  billions  to  know  his stories,  his  achievement,  and  also his sporting brand: Li Ning.
 
Besides  the  highlight  at  the opening ceremony, the brand Li Ning also  supplied  the  kits  for Chinese shooting,  table  tennis,  diving,  and gymnastics  teams, which  could be  considered  as  the most  gold-medal  competitive  programs  for Chinese  athletes. According  to  the statistics  of  2004 Athens Games, those  four  teams gained nearly half of  the  total gold medals. Of course, this  time,  the  results  is much more heart-  stirring,  as  the  information released by  the Li Ning website, 25 gold medals were achieved by these four  teams  (of  them,  four  came form table tennis, seven came from diving, fve came from shooting, and nine from gymnastics.)  Comparing with Adidas, Nike shows more favor  on  supporting various athletes and sports  teams, rather  than  establish  relationship with offcial activities directly. Some insiders  pointed  out  that,  every year,  the money Nike  spent  on each team and athlete will be much more  expensive  than  that Adidas sponsors  an Olympic Games.

To  date, Nike  signed  long-term strategic  cooperation  deals with more  than  ten  famed sports stars. During  this Game, Nike  supplied kits  for 20 sports  teams with high-popular i ty,  such  as  basketbal l , swimming, weight  lifting,  boxing, athletics, and so on, aiming to gain the  focuses  sharing with other sports brands as much as possible.

However, when we were watching Liu Xiang, the China's frst big  track  and feld  star, withdrawal from the110-meter hurdles painfully, or Usain Bolt,  the  fastest man in the world, waving his bright golden  Puma  shoes  amusedly, I  think ,  at  that moment ,  the executive  of Nike  began  to  think about  their  new market  strategy probably or prayed the other teams or stars could perform better.
      
Someone joked that, during the Game, the athletes would compete in Nike or Li Ning, but they would be  awarded  the medal  in Adidas. Anyway,  this is  jus t  a  brand competition  during  the Olympics. Out  of  the  game,  the  competition in markets is much more  fercely, for  there  are  not  only  just  those three members.