Li Ning "married" with the NBA into the vast space of professional sports marketing

Li Ning Co., Ltd. and the American Professional Basketball Association (NBA) recently signed a marketing cooperation agreement and entered a broad field of professional sports marketing. As a result, Li Ning will have the right to use NBA players and competitions to promote its brand in marketing activities in mainland China.

Faced with a huge market for profitable Chinese urban youth, two heavyweights who need each other more and more need to come together through this agreement.

For Li Ning, as the Nike and Reebok brands continue to make serious breakthroughs in the Chinese market, the NBA has brought about an international and most charismatic branding effect. The company’s chairman and founder, Li Ning, said that in China, the NBA’s top image of the world’s top events and its popularity have greatly benefited Li Ning.

For the NBA, Li Ning will provide them with opportunities to enter small and medium-sized cities in China. The influence of traditional media or international sports apparel brands in these areas is often difficult to reach. Since the Houston Rockets signed with Chinese star Yao Ming in 2002, the popularity of the NBA in Chinese cities has skyrocketed. Ma Fusheng, general manager of NBA China, said that Li Ning has a leading market share in small and medium-sized cities in China. Bringing NBA brands and activities to these cities will expand the influence of the NBA.

Ma Fusheng said that Li Ning paid several million dollars for three seasons of the contract, but he declined to give details.

This transaction enabled Li Ning to be on the same level of sports sponsorship with Nike?p Adidas?p Reebok. These companies have already won the NBA global sponsorship rights (in which, only Reebok exclusive use of NBA in sports shoes and clothing And team logo rights). Li Ning can now use the NBA logo and NBA player image in brand advertising and promotion, and can participate in NBA activities.

However, Li Ning still needs to find specific NBA players, sign contracts and pay for them. The most suitable candidate Yao Ming is currently the spokesman for Reebok. In October 2004, he even launched a signature shoe at an exhibition competition in Shanghai.

Ma Fusheng said that Li Ning’s use of these rights in China will be more proactive than Adidas and Nike. Of course, this needs to be observed.

Li Ning’s advertising agent Leo Burnett, a managing director of advertising company Zheng Jiaqiang, said that television advertisements emphasizing that Li Ning is an NBA partner will soon be broadcast on Chinese national television. Nike has not yet officially responded to this. Nike claimed to have replaced Li Ning as China's best-selling sportswear brand, but declined to disclose its actual sales in China.

In spite of the competition from Nike, Li Ning has increased its sales with the popularity of basketball in China. In the first six months of 2004, the company’s sales exceeded RMB 789 million ($ 95.3 million), an increase of approximately 52% from the same period in 2003. Li Ning Company successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last year.

The alliance with the NBA is not Li Ning's first use of international basketball as a medium to increase its influence in the country.

When the Chinese men’s basketball team played against the Spanish team at the Olympic Games last summer, there was an incredible scene on the TV screen: The Chinese team wore Nike sportswear while the Spanish players wore clothing produced by Li Ning.

Many Chinese have watched this game and suddenly they also realize that Li Ning is also an international brand. Previously, Nike and Adidas were too strong in the Chinese basketball and football market, and Li Ning could not replace it. Now, with these sponsorship activities, the Li Ning brand's network is growing.