The basketball player's endorsement marks the first time Li Ning has a US personality backing its name. With Jones on board, Li Ning is seeking to tap into pro basketball's growing popularity in China and is expected to add more NBA players to promote its products based on its three-year deal with the NBA, inked in early 2005.
The endorsement deal is also seen as a major step towards lifting the China brand's profile outside its home market, as Jones will be seen wearing Li Ning's athletic wear at NBA games televised globally. Scheduled to visit China later this year, Jones will appear in advertising, with wax statues of the athlete displayed at Li Ning stores.
This season, he will help promote three Li Ning shoe designs and sportswear in six colours, including the newly launched, Chinese-inspired Fei Jia ('soaring iron') shoe, which retails for around US$45 in China. The Fei Jia shoe uses the company's 'cushion and bounce' shock absorption technology and is designed to appeal to young Chinese consumers.
"We know from research that the youth market sees this Chinese approach as unique and as a fresh idea," said Luis da Rosa, business director on the Li Ning account at Leo Burnett. "Nike tried it with its shoe before, but the way the shoe was developed was seen as superficial. The Chinese graphic on the (Nike) shoe was also just a limited edition line promoted by LeBron James."
The 30-second television commercial -- 'Inkable' -- to promote Fei Jia was directed by Singapore-based Tong Bing. It shows a drop of ink turning into a traditional Chinese pattern as a basketball player dribbles the ink drop like a ball.
The campaign is supported by print, in-store, outdoor and on-court advertising (including floor stickers and ads on basketballs) and comes as the company plots a major retail expansion ahead of the 2008 Olympics.
