Professional sports marketing Li Ning and the NBA brand "married"

Li Ning Co., Ltd. and the American Professional Basketball Association (NBA) recently signed a marketing cooperation agreement and entered a vast 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 its marketing activities in mainland China.

Faced with a huge market for profitable Chinese urban youth, two heavyweights who are increasingly in need of each other have come together through this agreement.

For Li Ning Company, when brands such as Nike and Reebok are making serious inroads in the Chinese market, the NBA has brought about an international and most charismatic branding effect. Li Ning, chairman and founder of the company, said that Li Ning has benefited greatly from China's top NBA image and popularity.

For the NBA, Li Ning will provide them with opportunities to enter China's small and medium-sized cities. The influence of traditional media or international sportswear 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 increase the influence of the NBA.

Ma Fusheng said that Li Ning paid a few 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 Adidas Reebok as these companies have already won the NBA global sponsorship rights (in which only Reebok’s exclusive use of NBA and ball in sports shoes and clothing 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.

But Li Ning still needs to find specific NBA players, contract with them and pay for it. Yao Ming, the most suitable candidate, 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 agency, Leo Burnett, managing director of advertising company Zheng Jiaqiang, said that television advertising 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.

Despite faced with competition from Nike, Li Ning has also increased sales with the popularity of basketball in China. First six months of 2004? The company's sales of more than 789 million yuan (US $ 95.3 million)? An increase of about 52% over 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 people have watched this game. They suddenly realized that Li Ning is also an international brand. In the past, Nike and Adidas were too strong in the Chinese basketball and football market. Li Ning cannot replace it. Now with these sponsorships, the Li Ning brand's network is growing.