“Our requirements have changed, but we will continue our co-operation in a different form to suit our business needs,” said Charlie Xu, deputy general manager of marketing at Mizuno China, denying the opportunity to further explain the nature of those changing requirements.
Sources have claimed that the partnership ended acrimoniously, something that Xu denies. “I personally have a lot of respect for the people at Nitro, and we will continue to work with them on a project basis,” he added. Maxus will continue to handle the media part of the account.
Despite ambitious plans, Mizuno is perceived as struggling in the China market. “Sales are growing albeit at a much slower rate than Nike, adidas, and Li-Ning, but that’s more because of the low-price of Mizuno products and retail openings rather than thanks to innovative marketing,” said a source.