2008 Adidas Olympic betting miscalculation in a dilemma

“With Hu Jia in 2008, there is no possibility” and “with Sui Feifei in 2008, there is no possibility”... Just before adidas Olympics staged in full swing, its advertising spokespersons have appeared in different situations one after another: Injury and diving team member Hu Jia’s eye injury has been outside the threshold of the Olympics; although Zheng Zhi’s popularity has increased, whether or not he can lead the underperforming Chinese men’s football team to turn over due to the Olympics is also worrying...

As adidas's own slogan: There is nothing impossible. The three spokespersons, two may be far from the Olympic stage, and Addie’s abuse of the Chinese flag to mark the trademark, was questioned by the media. Adidas’s betting on the Olympics is in a difficult situation. Compared to its overall strategy for the 2008 Olympic Games, whether it is miscalculated, only Adidas himself. Can count.

Focus one:

Will the overall strategy be affected?

Just as Hu Jia and others waited at the Olympics threshold, Adidas's advertisements began to change quietly. Most of the television broadcasts are Zheng Zhi’s Olympic advertisements. Because of the current situation, Zheng Zhi’s popularity and performance are still the most reliable.

Adidas Group CEO Herbert Haina has said that Adidas's goal is very clear, in 2008 to strive to become China's largest domestic sports brand. According to Bo Wenkang, Managing Director of Adidas Greater China, the 2008 Olympic Games plan is Adidas's largest marketing campaign in China so far. The Beijing Olympic Games is "a leaping development platform" for Adidas. Adidas expects to reach a sales target of 1 billion euros in China in 2010, with a global sales target of 10 billion euros, and all this will depend on the Beijing Olympics pulling the market.

The strategic deployment of Adidas' 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is mainly divided into three levels. The first is to provide sports equipment for all staff members, technical officials and volunteers of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, and to strengthen the long-term cooperation with the Chinese Football Association, the Volleyball Association, etc.; second is to serve the Beijing Olympic Games in China. Sports delegations provide clothing; third, they sign contracts with many sports stars and use the “star effect” to drive each stage of their Olympic marketing. The "star effect" is the earliest, longest lasting, highest frequency of occurrence, and the only marketing method that can run through the months before and after the Olympics. It is also the most accessible and most concerned point for ordinary consumers.

In this sense, the effectiveness of Adidas's Beijing Olympic marketing will depend to a large extent on the signing of contract stars. Now that the future of these signing stars is uncertain, the overall Olympic marketing strategy will inevitably be compromised. In an interview, the reporter noticed that Adidas had to come forward with various spokespersons for various activities and posters to be published, becoming a matter of caution.

Focus 2:

Is the brand effect too risky?

The cases of mutual achievement between sports brands and sports stars have long been numerous. But for most businesses, signing sports stars is more like a "gambling", and few people can understand the secrets.

International sports brands betting on the competition of Chinese sports stars have already begun. For example, before the Athens Olympics, Coca-Cola had used $300,000 to sign Liu Xiang, who was not known at the time; Nike also won a contract with Liu Xiang with 4 million yuan. After Liu Xiang unexpectedly won gold, the two companies actually made a big profit. At this time, if other businesses want to sign Liu Xiang again, they must pay a price of 10 million yuan.