China Sports Brands Use Olympics To Market Retail Companies

Sportswear manufacturers in China, loaded with unsold stock from the '08 Beijing Olympics and now "battling weak domestic demand," have turned to the London Games "to market their wares," according to Celine Sun of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Athletes from at least 10 teams, as well as members of several Olympic committees, have suited up in the companies' sponsored clothing. Peak Sport Products is the sponsor of uniforms and shoes for the Opening and Closing Ceremony for the Olympics squads of New Zealand, Iraq, Slovenia, Algeria, Jordon, Lebanon and Cyprus. Peak Sports Products founder & Chair Xu Jingnan said, "The domestic market is full of uncertainties this year, but the overseas market offers better opportunities." 361 Degrees formed deals with the Olympic committees of Belarus, Croatia, amongst three other countries. The Erke Group is the sponsor for the Olympic national delegates of South Africa, Iran and Uzbekistan. 361 Degrees VP Zhu Chenye said that no clothing maker "would consider missing the exposure offered by the Olympics -- no matter how high the sponsorship cost." Zhu added, "The teams and athletes you sponsor this year will be very likely to decide what partners you are going to work with at the next Olympic Games" (SCMP, 8/4).