Chinese sportswear battle intensifies

In January, Chinese brand Anta agreed a deal with women’s tennis player Jelena Jankovic. Since then, Li Ning has reportedly agreed a sponsorship contract with Russian Olympic champion and pole vault world record-holder Yelena Isinbayeva, with sources close to the deal estimating its value at US$1.5 million annually for five years.

Meanwhile, US sports apparel giant Nike is in talks with China’s beleaguered football Super League over a potential $200 million sponsorship deal that could cover the coming decade.

Anta’s deal with Jankovic, which will be promoted via a campaign through JWT, is designed to boost its profile within China, according to marketing director Xu Yang, who predicted that the deal would “uplift our brand image and credibility in the tennis category”. That rationale is echoed by Jimmy Liang, operations director at Leo Burnett Shanghai, which handles Li Ning.

“Sport celebrities bring credibility, aspiration and trust quickly to sports brands and are good platforms for communicating attitudinal messages in such a category.”

Hass Aminian, director for business development at Sportfive Singapore, believes deals with global stars will become increasingly important for this sort of brand, as coverage of global sports increases in China.

However, the emergence of Chinese labels able to compete at this level poses a challenge for smaller global brands such as Reebok and Puma, according to Terry Rhoads, MD of Zou Marketing, a China sports consultancy headquartered in Shanghai. “The endorsement game in China is escalating quickly and prices for the most marketable international athletes are rising. Endorsement deals for global icon athletes are starting at $1 million per year in China and that’s making athlete sponsorship an expensive investment for these brands,” he said.

The challenge for smaller brands is finding a positioning, according to Mark Heap, MD at PHD China. Converse has tried to do this by linking with the fledgling Chinese indie music scene, and New Balance focuses on running.

Nike’s deal, meanwhile, appears curious on the surface. The Chinese Super League has had operational and commercial problems recently, and the Chinese national football team has not qualified for the 2010 World Cup. And, according to Rohan Lightfoot, business director at Carat China, it comes at a time when basketball is increasing in popularity. “There is no guarantee that the state of football in China will improve. It’s a gamble for Nike to align with a local sports property currently struggling in China, and the trend is not in their favour,” he said.

However, Aminian argues Nike is playing a long game. “Chinese football is in such a mess, but Nike is looking beyond this to the next 10 years, to build up Chinese football and support the team. So in this situation, while everybody else gives up, it opts to go in and wait for the Chinese football team to recover.”