Exploring Sponsorship Strategies for Sporting Goods Brands in China
Introduction
As is well known, nowadays sponsorship takes an increasingly important role in sport revenue. The situation is that, sporting goods brands, including Nike, Adidas and Puma, enjoy high returns by high-investigate sponsorship. “The attitude toward both sponsors is significantly influenced by sponsorship awareness, while the attitude toward the sponsor was the strongest predictor of purchase intentions” (Rui Biscaia, Abel Correia, and Antonio Fernando Rosado, 2013). However, in China, the situation is quite different. In the past, most competitions depended on government allocations; now, however, increasing numbers of commercial competitions are privately held to satisfy the public’s growing demand, but privately held companies have always lacked the experience needed to search, collaborate and profit from sponsorship. (QUE Jian, TAN Ling, 2005) It is a good opportunity for Chinese privately held companies, especially sporting goods brands which are relevant closely to sports games to expand influence and popularity. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to present feasible strategies for Sporting Goods Brands in China to obtain satisfying sponsorships in China.
Studies of sports sponsorship in the US are needed for this research, since the American sports market is the most prosperous in the world. Some classic and more recent works include those of Rui Biscaia, Abel Correia, and Antonio Fernando Rosado, (2013). They highlighted the importance of examining actual sponsors. In addition, a survey is a proper way to collect initial information about the situation in the Chinese sponsorship market. In this process, it is helpful ...
... middle of paper ...
...be not that persuasive and suitable. Third, the data collected may be not representative of all global sport fans, because the majority of the participants come from one same country. Granted these, the gap between US and China could also add disadvantage to the strategy.
In the future, it is a good opportunity for Chinese sporting goods brands to continue to make the change in their areas. Sporting goods companies need to deal with the inventory by online sale as soon as possible, then build a new unique upscale brand and make a corresponding increase in design and quality, and then entry an undeveloped market, pan-outdoors, to completely become a high-end brand to generate revenue in the future. Brands must also know their audience and innovate constantly to match consumers’ changing tastes. A brand that raises prices must make a corresponding increase in quality.
In this scenario, the marketing activities of Prince Sports, Inc. will be examined. Prince Sports manufactures a large line of tennis, racquetball, squash, badminton and table tennis products. The company also manufactures clothing, bags and other accessories that would be useful to individuals in those particular sports. The company makes use of multiple different marketing strategies based on the type of equipment, level of expertise of the player and the type of media outlets that are available.
Every sports fan hates to admit the fact that sports are simply business, but it is undeniable that sports are one of the most lucrative businesses in the U.S. Right now the market for women's professional sports is growing rapidly. The best way for women's sporting organizations to promote and sell this market is to align with previously established organizations such as the NBA, NCAA and the USOIC. Although joining with men's organizations is a difficult process that involves compromise, merging with these organizations helps to land big television contracts, gives greater publicity, and brings in endorsements, advertisers and investors. The lack of these benefits was among the key factors in the failure of the ABL. Inversely, these are the reasons for the successes of the WNBA and women's sports in the Olympics.
During the last decade, women have experienced a significant advance in matters of equal rights. Their roles in society have diversified; challenging chauvinistic ideologies and perspectives. However, there are specific areas where male seem to have the predominant role and women are stuck. According to Michael Desbordes in the article “Endorsement by ‘Looks’”, American society has experienced positive changes regarding gender equality in sports, but women still face issues when it comes to sponsorships, because there are gender biases that negatively affect their image as professional athletes. Moreover, the factors that strongly influence sponsors to prefer men athletes over women have direct relationship with American society’s attitudes.
A decade worth of athletes has had the chance to eclipse Michael Jordan in the minds of the consumer. Yet even out of the spotlight Jordan remains the sports personality with the greatest endorsement chops in the U.S.”( Badenhausen).
Sport as a whole has changed in relation to the contemporary American economy by its constant growth and push for revenue. It has become a sort of “you scratch my back, I scratch yours.” type of relationship. I say this because of the amount of time and attention invested into making sport something that appeals to all people of American society rather than just the fans of the action itself. The constant negotiations for television deals, sponsorships, competition with other TV shows, and programs for time slots available within a network all play a large factor.
Sport Obermeyer is a high-end fashion skiwear design and merchandising company headquartered in Aspen, Colorado. Over the years, Sports Obermeyer has developed into a dominant competitor. Sports Obermeyer's estimated sales in 1992 were $32.8 million. The company holds 45% share of children's skiwear and 11% of adult Skiwear market. Sport Obermeyer produces merchandise ranging from: parkas, vests, ski suits, shells, ski pants, turtlenecks, and accessories. These products are sold throughout U.S. department stores in urban areas and ski shops. With increasing demands and rising competition, Sport Obermeyer needs to have an edge on the market. Starting in 1985 with a joint venture in Hong Kong called Obersport, the company began to increase productivity to meet their new demands. Recently, a number of contractual ventures were added and a new complex in Lo Village Guangdong China have enhance production but increase the level of difficulty on the planning and production stages. The Sport Obermeyer case describes the forecasting, planning and production processes of a global skiwear supply channel. The case provides an in-depth description of the planning and production processes Sport Obermeyer and its supply channel partners undergo each year to develop and deliver Obermeyer's product line. The case will emphasis on the nature of the information that flows among the members of the supply chain and the timing of key decisions and events in order to have a successful inventory line.
Sports teams around the world value the importance of keeping their consumers (fans) happy and engaged. The NFL’s New England Patriots are very active in the community and have expansive social media sites and online tools to keep their consumers engaged and connected to all things related to the franchise. Over in Europe, the football franchise Manchester United has created a large following and making sure their consumers are engaged is one of the franchises’ main strategies (Emirates24/7). According to Forbes 50 most valuable sports teams of 2013, both Manchester United (#2 at $3.165 Billion) and the Patriots (#6 at $1.635 Billion) are included on that list. This paper will highlight how both New England and Manchester are identifying their consumers and how their activities are targeting those consumers.
Conway, Chris. "A Sports Marketing Success Story." Sports Networker. Sports Networker, 2012. Web. 8 December. 2013.
Nike is a very large brand, due to its size its target consumer is usually very broad. The brand motto is “Just Do It” which is meant to target ordinary people, showing that anyone can be an athlete and encourage health. This links it back to the Health Conscious City Dwellers as some of them do not necessarily exercise regularly but the NikeFuel bracelet makes exercise a part of the consumer’s everyday activities. Nike is usually associated with achievers, they endorse elite athletes in order to reinforce this ideal but also utilize the idea that it is possible for anyone to achieve greatness with the right amount of work. The NikeFuel’s slogan is “Motivation on your wrist”, sticking with Nike’s ideals of always encouraging
Choi Joon Seo, a 31-year-old Korean who worked as regional marketing manager for Nike in Hong Kong, resigned his job so he could pursue his dream of building his own sports marketing company. (Jung et al. 2000)
While sports for the spectators are merely entertainment, the economics of the industry are what drives businesses to become involved. Sports have become more of a business entity rather than an entertainment industry due to the strong economic perception of the over all industry. There are several instances in which economics may contribute to the effect on the sports industry, such as: the success of a team, the price of a ticket, the amount of money an athlete will make, and the amount of profit a team will make. The success of an...
This report will focus primarily on the internal and external macroeconomic analysis coined with a critical analysis of Sports Directs business and corporate level strategy before recommendations are made. This will highlight how the organisation can sustain their competitive position in todays increasingly globalised, hypercometitive market (Hanssen-Bauer & Snow , 1996).
Sports started more for entertainment, however, its growth has transformed it into one of the biggest industries in the world fighting to be the most powerful and profitable (Pederson 2011). There has been the advocacy for women’s opportunity, the extension of marketing recruitments, and the redefinition of international sports giving poorer countries the chance to host global events due to their economic growth in recent years (Pederson
According to global industry analyst, the world sports clothing industry is anticipated to exceed $126 billion by 2015, Because of more active lifestyle, with older demographics and woman becoming more energetic, this drives the market. The entire sports clothing industry is highly filled with so many brands like Nike, Adidas, Umbro and Reebook all over the world competing, even the high leading brands have to work twice has hard in other to keep their share in the market because most of this small firm have quality products and also a very fine marketing style which has increased competing style in the industry. All over the world people demand more versatile wear, which indicates that’s retailers continue to produce new style of sports clothing for both men and women.
The commercialization of sports is illustrated by the amount of money that is involved in sport. Stakeholders in the sector are using lots of money to improve their performances with an objective of making profit. Sport has changed its form and dimension and longer only a source of entertainment, but a...