TMTPOST—China delivered formidable performances in the just-concluded Paris Olympic Games. Zheng Qinwen secured China's first Olympic gold in women's tennis. Pan Zhanle led the Chinese team to break a four-decade dominance by the U.S. swim team. Such breakthroughs are setting a stage for international and Chinese brands to compete for sponsorships and endorsements in the China market.

Zheng has emerged as the endorser of ten brands, and Pan has five big-name endorsements on hand. Other familiar names, such as table tennis player Sun Yingsha, star diver Quan Hongchan, and table tennis player Wang Chuqin, have also locked up commercial deals. The intense competition among brands to align with these star athletes has featured some spectacular marketing maneuvers.

Nike strategically positioned itself in advance by signing Zheng a decade ago. Others, like Bawang Tea, inked deals just before the games and emerged victorious in the commercial race. However, there were dumb brands as well. Chinese dairy brand Yili stumbled by prematurely revealing promotional materials that described a gold winner a sliver one, leading to its apologies to the public and thus ridiculed by consumers.

A Showdown Between Nike and Adidas, Anta Laughs Last?

Nike was the first major brand to bet on Zheng’s potential. At just 10 years old, she won the U12 group at the Nike-sponsored National Junior Tennis Championship in Wuhan, followed by a double victory in singles and doubles at the National Junior Tennis Rankings at 11.

In 2015, at the age of 13, she officially signed with Nike, marking the beginning of a long-term partnership that continues to this day. Nike, known for its sharp eye in identifying promising athletes, saw a substantial return on its investment when Zheng won the Olympic gold.

As the world’s most prominent individual sport, tennis holds significant commercial value. Zheng's success is likely to place her among the year's top-earning female athletes. However, despite Nike's early investment, Adidas managed to alter the narrative by signing a deal with China’s national tennis team, making it the official sponsor of the team for the Paris Olympics. As a result, Zheng had to replace her Nike attire with Adidas gear, following the principle that national team sponsorships trump individual contracts.

But the rivalry between these two sportswear giants didn’t end there. While Zheng donned Adidas on the court, Nike ensured her entire coaching team wore Nike slogan T-shirts, reclaiming some ground.

The battle for visibility reached its peak with Zheng's tennis shoes. Originally wearing Nike’s Vapor X, Zheng had to switch to Adidas, but not entirely. Given that athletes need time to adapt to new shoes, she continued wearing Nike but covered the logo with tape. However, a close-up shot during a match revealed the unmistakable Nike swoosh underneath, sparking online commentary like “Real strength can't be hidden,” highlighting Nike’s clever trick.

Adidas, despite its efforts, couldn't prevent Nike from regaining attention, leaving the former a bitter sweet upper hand. However, the ultimate victor wasn't Nike or Adidas, but Chinese brand Anta, the sponsor of China's Olympic podium outfits. As Zheng stood atop the podium in Anta gear, it was clear that the Chinese brand had outmaneuvered the global giants.

This competition around Zheng underscores how coveted star athletes are. To date, Zheng has reaped endorsements from at least ten brands, including Nike, Ant Group (Alipay), Rolex, Wilson, Swisse, McDonald's, Yili, Gatorade, Bawang Tea, and Lancôme, spanning sectors from sportswear and luxury goods to beauty products and food and beverages.

As Zheng's Olympic triumph continues to add to her commercial appeal, some predict that her earnings could surpass those of freestyle skier Olympic champion Eileen Gu, or even peak above former tennis star Li Na. While Zheng’s commercial potentials are appealing, how brands can harness the Olympic buzz in the current media and market landscape is equally eye-catching.

Navigating the High-Stake World of Olympic Marketing

Yet, the rivalry between sponsors require them to be even more meticulous, as Olympic competitions are highly unpredictable. For example, Yili untimely celebrated Zheng’s and Sun Yingsha’s anticipated victories in outdoor billboards, only to be met with public backlash when the actual results showed they underestimated Zheng’s potentials and overestimated Sun’s strength in the pre-printed congratulatory messages.

While it’s understandable for brands to prepare promotional materials in advance, the unpredictability of sports, especially the Olympics, demands a high level of sensitivity to diverse public sentiments. A misstep in timing or message can quickly escalate into a public relations crisis.

After Yili’s blunder, social media was ablaze with criticisms. This incident underscores the double-edged nature of Olympic marketing—handled well, it can be immensely rewarding; handled poorly, it can backfire.

In the digital age, the Olympics represents a massive pool of potential online traffic. However, it’s essential to understand that Olympic marketing has moved beyond the television era. Declining TV ratings are no longer a new phenomenon. In today’s fragmented and fast-evolving media landscape, Olympic marketing is facing rapid changes and must adapt to new media’s rules.

Undeniably, the Olympics still hold unique marketing value. The question is how to capitalize on this traffic surge effectively. As shown by the strategic moves of Nike, Adidas, and Anta, successful Olympic marketing requires meticulous planning.

The most advantageous position in Olympic marketing is to become an official global partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). However, these slots are limited. For 2024, there are only 16 worldwide, with Alibaba and Mengniu representing China.

This limitation puts pressure on other brands, especially Mengniu’s dairy rival Yili. Yili’s Olympic marketing, therefore, became more challenging, with higher stakes in overcoming sports marketing first movers.

The Games of Big Brands

A look at the past 20 years of Olympic sponsorships shows that it’s predominantly big corporations that vie for visibility. Even outside the circle of official sponsors, the brands engaged in Olympic marketing are typically industry leaders.

A prime example of this trend is the prominence of Louis Vuitton at the Paris Olympics. From the custom torch storage case to the medals and French athletes' uniforms, LV’s presence was ubiquitous, culminating in a global showcase that many dubbed "LV’s global ad premiere."

This significant exposure comes at a hefty price—LV reportedly invested 150 million euros in sponsoring the Paris Olympics. Such substantial investments have become the norm for major brands vying for Olympic attention.

In contrast, smaller brands find it increasingly difficult to join the game and get a piece of the action. The sheer scale of investment required to make a mark in the Olympics is often prohibitive for smaller players.

However, Chinese brands have rapidly ascended the global stage, learning to leverage Olympic exposure effectively. Brands like Anta and Li Ning have successfully utilized the Olympics to break into the international market. For example, in 1999, Anta, then a small brand, invested 800,000 yuan to sign table tennis player Kong Linghui as a brand ambassador. His victory at the Sydney Olympics catapulted Anta’s revenue from 20 million yuan to 200 million yuan, solidifying its position as a leading Chinese sportswear brand.

Today, Chinese companies are venturing overseas, with a growing focus on international business. The alignment of Olympic value with China’s global ambitions makes the rise of Chinese brands on the Olympic stage inevitable.

Alibaba Cloud, for instance, clinched a significant win by becoming the technology partner for the Paris Olympics, surpassing competitors like AWS and Microsoft Azure. Since 2018, Alibaba Cloud has collaborated with the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) to develop OBS Cloud.

In Paris, Alibaba’s cloud technology supported over two-thirds of the Olympic live broadcast signals, marking a significant shift in how the Olympics are broadcast globally.

The Olympics is not just a global sporting event but also a platform for cultural, technological, and commercial exchange. The event offers a massive audience and deep market value, providing brands with a unique opportunity to showcase themselves.

However, the stakes are high, and only those with substantial resources and strategic acumen can truly capitalize on this opportunity.