Lining'S "Historic Step": Signing The NBA Star

For the signing of the contract, the US multimedia has been given a "historic step" evaluation.

Why does a seemingly ordinary contract attract widespread attention from foreign media, or even evaluate the potential of changing the history?

Signing ideas

Lining has signed new Evan Turner, a breakthrough in the eyes of the Chinese brand in the eyes of foreign media, because it is the first time Chinese brands monopolize NIKE and ADIDAS for high quality star resources.

According to the US NBC, over the past few years, people have been discussing American sports brands, such as the "commercial invasion" of China by NIKE.

But things are changing now. China's Li Ning Co has signed a multi-year contract with Evan Turner, the top seller in 2010, to make Turner its spokesperson.

For Chinese brands, this is a great leap forward.

Because before China's sports brand, it is not willing to directly fight against international brands such as NIKE or ADIDAS, and sign top stars or new recruits. Usually their strategy is to wait for players to become veterans and sign them at a reasonable price.

So did Li Ning Co's previous strategy. They signed Shaquille ONeil and Byron Davis.

These people, when they signed the Chinese brand, have signed second, third or even fourth contracts with sponsors, and the appeal and influence are already on the decline.

Turner signed Lining differently, and his cooperation with Lining was his "virgin treaty" in NBA.

Turner will play Lining's boots for NBA in his rookie season, helping Li Ning Co to promote in the United States.

He will own his signature shoes and costumes and sell them all over the world.

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This practice is often used by NIKE and ADIDAS in the past. Now, the sudden emergence of Chinese brands will inevitably make many American media lament that Chinese enterprises must face up to the competition with world-class sports brands.

"This is an important moment for Lining to change her brand strategy," said Li Ning Co creative director Brain Cupps. "Signing such a talented young player like Turner is Lining's signal to the world basketball field, which marks Lining's promotion of her basketball brand to the whole world."

A Li Ning Co official said: "in order to stand out in the same industry, you must have the best players in the world to become the image spokesperson, and Turner is the person we value."

And Evan Turner also said: "I am very pleased to receive the favor and support of Li Ning Co. I can't wait to show my strength on the pitch.

I know this is a growing brand and I feel honored to be part of it. I believe it can create a better future for more young players. "

Lining signed a new branch of Evan Turner, which is a breakthrough in Chinese brands in the eyes of foreign media, because this is the first time Chinese brands have broken through the monopoly of NIKE and ADIDAS on Quality Star resources.

In the United States, the appeal of stars can never be underestimated.

Turner's arrival will definitely change the Chinese basketball products in the local market of the United States because Turner is a potential superstar.

And Turner is the first to sign a contract with the basketball products company, which is a precedent for Li Ning Co in terms of its development strategy and future market planning.

From the beginning of next season, Turner will wear Lining's boots in the NBA arena, and the Lining brand will witness the coming of tomorrow's star from maturity to maturity. If turner can develop super star such as Kobe, then the military badge will have half of Lining brand.

The first place that Li Ning Co developed in the United States is Portland, which has its flagship store.

In order to expand its sales volume in the US market, Turner will wear more and more Lining brands to attend meetings and basketball carnivals.

This is a very necessary marketing tool for the consumers who value the star effect.

The recognition of star effect also attracts other sports brands in China.

In early August, Anta brand arranged for their newly signed star Garnett to "basketball for China, Kevin Garnett China trip".

In 8 days, Garnett went to three places in Beijing, Xiamen and Shanghai to participate in the fans' meeting, visit factories, museums and shoot advertisements.

Similarly, PEAK has also gathered many NBA stars to come to China to promote brand promotion.

Artest, Kidd and Battier, including 9 active NBA stars, are all the spokesmen of PEAK, who also rushed to China this summer to "gold rush".

It is understood that these NBA players have attracted many fans wherever they go, and their enthusiasm has even shocked the stars who used to see the big game.

The role of stars in promoting brands is evident.

Passionate about NBA China brand's collective struggle

Chinese enterprises are so enthusiastic about the NBA market that their aim is not just a few spokesmen.

Behind the spokesperson is the vigorous development of overseas markets.

In recent years, China's sports shoes have gradually entered the NBA market, and have been recognized by NBA.

Lining, Anta and PEAK, the three most powerful companies in China, sign up for NBA stars every year.

Now, apart from the newly signed Turner, Shack ONeil, Byron Davis, Jose Calderon and hassin Thabit are all members of the NBA family.

And Anta also grabbed Kevin Garnett from ADIDAS, as well as the previously signed Scola and retired Francis. Anta's investment in NBA is also increasing.

Another Jinjiang brand PEAK is spared no expense in the NBA market. They announced in two months ago that after the successful signing of Houston Rockets' Karl Landry and Minnesota Timberwolves Kevin Leff in November last year, the NBA stars signed with PEAK have reached 12.

PEAK President Xu Zhihua said he will continue to search for more NBA stars.

In the summer of 2010, the NBA stars went to China for gold rush to become a unique and beautiful scenery.

Behind this scenic line is a huge sum of money paid by many sports brands in China.

Someone has roughly estimated that the NBA star has at least 60 million dollars (about 407 million yuan) in China this summer.

Signing NBA stars is the key.

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As the leading brand of domestic sports brands, Lining's advertising and marketing expenses accounted for 15.4% of his income in 2009.

In 2009, Lining's total income reached 8 billion 300 million yuan. According to this ratio, Lining's advertising cost was as high as 1 billion 291 million yuan.

At the beginning of 2010, Anta announced the annual report of the 2009 fiscal year, revealing the trend of advertising and publicity investment.

Anta's advertising and publicity expenses in 2009 still reached 746 million, according to its 5 billion 800 million yuan turnover in its 2009 earnings report.

According to Anta's advertising promotion plan in 2010, the promotion fee in 2010 will be even more expensive.

Similarly, PEAK, who has taken the NBA route, has increased its investment in advertising and marketing since its listing in Hongkong in late September. Its advertising and promotion expenses accounted for a percentage of its revenue in recent years. It also increased year by year, from 6% in 2006 to 11.3% in 2009.

In the last quarter of 2009, PEAK's investment in media advertising, brand promotion and marketing activities reached 116 million 200 thousand yuan.

According to the development of these companies, there will be only a lot of advertising and marketing expenses in 2010.

With the backing of powerful funds, the Chinese brand's NBA road will be able to walk like this.

Chinese enterprises are so enthusiastic about the NBA market that their aim is not just a few spokesmen.

Behind the internationalization is the vigorous development of overseas markets.

Take Lining as an example, as early as 1999, Lining put forward an international development strategy. In those days, the group participated in the ISPO sporting goods fair to prepare for the European market.

In June 2000, Lining won the equipment sponsorship of the French gymnastic team, and subsequently expanded his franchise in 9 European countries, including Spain, Greece and France.

By 2004, Lining products had been sold in 23 countries and regions.

Although Lining's sales in overseas markets still account for only a small part, the determination to become an international brand has made people see the hope of this brand.

At home, Anta and PEAK have already started the process of internationalization. Anta has signed the Chinese Olympic Committee to appear in the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games and the future London Olympic Games. PEAK, as always, focuses on NBA marketing.

In recent years, the efforts of Chinese sports brands are obvious to all. Lining, Anta, XTEP and other companies have been listed in Hongkong. With the strengthening of their strength, the brand name of the company has become more and more famous.

In particular, Chinese stars such as Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian have increased the market share of NBA in China. Chinese national sports brands also have more and more opportunities to show their faces in the NBA arena.

The words of Anta President Ding Shizhong may represent the determination of these Chinese private enterprises to infiltrate NBA continuously. He said: "we must pay great attention to the competition with strong international brands."

Strength behind the signing of brand upgrade

With the growth of strength, Lining is gradually moving towards mainstreaming and strength in selecting sports events, sponsoring sports groups and signing endorser.

This is the inevitability of brand development, and it is also a manifestation of strength improvement.

The enthusiasm of Chinese brands to overseas markets is largely due to the need to upgrade their brands.

According to Lining's latest first half annual report, in the first half of this year, Lining realized business income of 4 billion 505 million yuan, an increase of 11.2% compared with the same period last year, while the income of ADIDAS Greater China market was 3 billion 460 million yuan, down 16% compared with the same period last year. Lining's sales in China surpassed ADIDAS again.

Since 2007, Lining has been rebuilding its brand for more than 3 years.

A series of initiatives to help the brand become the ultimate winner in the fierce competition, set a distinct benchmark for the development trend of the industry.

In order to improve the quality of products, in November 2008, Lining officially listed the "Lining Sports Science Research Center" in the company headquarters, under the sports biomechanics laboratory, shoe machinery testing laboratory and foot type and shoe last type research laboratory.

This indicates that Lining has truly stepped into the international advanced ranks in the field of sports science research.

Based on the research results of the lab, Li Ning Co shoes have surpassed their competitors in many aspects, such as resilience, land grabbing and so on.

The Li Ning Co "Lining bow" shock absorption technology platform is a good illustration.

The design of "Lining bow" is inspired by the crystallization of Zhaozhou Bridge in ancient China. Now it has been applied to professional categories such as running, basketball, tennis and so on. It is a technology patent of Li Ning Co and a concentrated presentation of its shoe technology.

Another example is badminton, one of Li Ning Co's fist products, which is also internationally leading in terms of professionalism.

Taking the index of broken debris rate as an example, in order to provide excellent products, the Li Ning Co organized more than 3000 people to test badminton and test them from all angles.

In January 2008, Li Ning Co set up a design and R & D center in Oregon as the front stop for Lining brand to enter the US market.

In January 2010, Lining opened the first store in the same place and opened the "Chinese Kung Fu" series of featured products.

In Southeast Asia, the badminton products and equipment of Lining brand are more and more popular.

In June this year, Li Ning Co launched a new logo and new slogan. Some experts pointed out that this is an important measure for Li Ning Co to aim at overseas and realize the brand youthful state.

Li Ning Co's stakeholders said that the biggest achievement of the brand remolding was to take the lead in completing the problem of "brand roots", which has been difficult to solve in Chinese companies.

It is reported that "sensitivity, balance, endurance, precision" will become the characteristics of Lining brand, "these are things that no one can take from us, but also make Lining brand different from other international brands."

Li Ning Co CEO Zhang Zhiyong said.

As an important part of brand remolding, Lining's long-term plan is also seen in the choice of spokesperson.

From the original Spain and Argentina national basketball team to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Spain and Sweden delegation partners, Lining has sponsored many sports teams at home and abroad; the two Olympic champion Russian female athlete Ye Linna Isinbayeva is also one of Li Ningpin's spokesmen, while in NBA, shark O'neal, Byron Davis and so on are also under Lining.

In the event of Lining signing Turner, people feel more directly about Lining's further promotion of the spokesman's strategy, from the edge star to the potential giant, which shows that the Chinese brand has a long-term vision for the overall situation.

With the growth of strength, Lining is gradually moving towards mainstreaming and strength in selecting sports events, sponsoring sports groups and signing endorser.

This is the inevitability of brand development, and it is also a manifestation of strength improvement.

According to the plan of Li Ning Co, in 2009 ~2013 was the preparatory stage for Li Ning Co internationalization, focusing on strengthening international capabilities. In 2014, ~2018 was the stage of full internationalization. At that time, Li Ning Co will become the top 5 Sports Brand Company in the world, and the international market share will account for more than 20% of the total sales.

This year, Lining and Turner completed his son's covenant. This contract passed a strong signal to the industry at home and abroad, that is, Chinese brands have begun to change their thinking and take an important step in the all-around competition with international brands.

This is a manifestation of the brand upgrading of Chinese enterprises, and the step out of the Chinese brand with the aim of developing overseas markets and establishing an international image is the dual embodiment of confidence and strength.

In a good situation, there seems to be some problems that can not be ignored.

In addition to China, ADIDAS achieved two digit growth in the first half of 5 years in Europe and other international markets, while Lining's international market performance was not good enough.

Lining's semi annual report shows that the sales revenue of Lining brand in the international market is 46 million 830 thousand yuan, accounting for only 1% of the total revenue of the company.

Although Lining has opened their first store outside Asia in Portland this year, there seems to be a lot of gap between them and become the top 5 in the world. What we lack is not just time.

The meaning of Turner

China sports brand signing NBA stars, whether domestic or international, is not a new thing.

But Lining's signing of Evan Turner really caused a great response. At this time Turner had more symbolic meanings.

Turner, who completed the signing with Lining, is a true future star for Chinese brands.

In the past few years, whether Lining signed a contract with O'neal or Davies, or PEAK signed a contract with Kidd, Battier, Anta and Garnett and Francis, these players have been or have already gone to the top. From a market point of view, they are on the downhill road. Compared to Turner, they have not had a brilliant future. More importantly, their cooperation with Chinese companies is no longer their "signature", and Turner is different, this contract is the signature of his career.

Turner is the only potential star signed by Li Ning Co so far. It is the "virgin star" signed by many Chinese sports brands.

From signing the old star to potential star, Lining brand represents the pformation of Chinese enterprises' development mentality.

Over the years, the competition between Chinese sports brands and international brands has been comprehensive and normal, and the growth of strength has also made Chinese brands have a strong and positive confrontation.

In the past, the marketing ideas of Chinese brands were still conservative. Even if they took part in international competition, they were somewhat shy. This can be seen from the sponsorship sports teams and sports events. One or two, Chinese brands are more important to two or three players and athletes.

It is no wonder that when Lining signed the NBA top spot Turner this year, foreign media were keenly aware of this change.

China's brand has begun a positive campaign of international sword.

In this year's World Championships, Durant, who is also the champion of the world championships, is making a great difference. This makes people look forward to this year's top spot Evan Turner. What surprises the Chinese brand Lining will bring to the attention of the rookie of this year? If all goes well, turner can develop brilliant stars like Durant and Kobe. In his brilliant journey, he will not be able to erase the important role of Lining, which is far from being described in simple words.

More profound significance is that through the arrival of Turner, the information that Chinese brands want to convey to the world will be able to create all miracles after the accumulation of Chinese brands.