Chinese marathons dump foreign brands
April 20, 2021 Category China News Round-up, Weekly
Several marathons in China’s major cities have abandoned foreign brands – including Adidas and ASICS – that had incited outrage on Chinese social media for their discriminating stance against Xinjiang’s cotton. The organizers have replaced the brands with local ones as the provider of the runners’ resources such as T-shirts. The Shanghai Half Marathon – held on April 18 – which had originally appointed Adidas as the provider of the players’ resources, told its players no sports clothing would be promoted at this event. The organizers of the Xi’an Marathon on April 17 have replaced one of their brand partners ASICS with Xtep, a Chinese sportswear brand. Participants received a message saying that the organizers are not able to provide the clothing for the marathon before the event as the materials provided by ASICS cannot be used any more. ASICS was also ditched by the Wuxi Marathon, which was held in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, on April 11. According to a statement on April 1 by Hui Pao, a Chinese sports operating company, the Wuxi marathon has decided to terminate its cooperation with ASICS for the event, cancel its advertising rights and stop using all the materials and products of the brand.
None of the event organizers gave a specific reasons for replacing Adidas and ASICS, but it is widely known that it is due to the companies’ statements that they will not source cotton from Xinjiang. Adidas has been subject to boycotts in China after making statements discriminating cotton from Xinjiang, while the Japanese brand ASICS also enraged Chinese people for actions regarding this issue. “Chinese people should have a backbone. Our domestic products now are as good as and even better than international brands,” a Wuxi Marathon player, who asked not to be named, told the Global Times. “It is now the best time promoting a domestic sports brand.”
As China’s domestic brands catch up with foreign brands in the Chinese market in terms of quality and marketing, they are emerging as stronger competitors to global brands and may eventually replace them as major sponsors, said Zhang Qing, CEO of Key Solution Sports Co., a consulting firm for the sports industry in China. “In selecting the sponsor for a public sports event, it is key to consider the brand’s reputation,” Zhang said. “When brands like Nike and Adidas have offended the public’s feeling, they are not likely to be chosen to represent the event.” According to Zhang, while foreign brands are losing ground among Chinese consumers over Xinjiang, domestic brands have been gaining market share for improved quality and design. For example, Anta Sports, a Chinese sportswear brand, accounted for 15.4% of total market share in 2020, ranking third after Nike and Adidas. Out of the top 10 biggest sportswear companies, four are Chinese brands, including Li-Ning, Xtep and 361 Degree, Zhang said, as reported by the Global Times.
- KURT VANDEPUTTE (UMICORE) APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE FLANDERS-CHINA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (FCCC)
- Webinar: “Knowing Your Chinese Partner” – May 26, 2021, 10 am – 12 am
- EMA starts rolling review of CoronaVac, WHO approves Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use
- The Global Times warns not to politicize the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI)
- Hainan to become biggest duty-free market in the world