Sticking to China's 25-Year Nike Hope to "Capture" the First Gold of Beijing Olympic Games

"Nike has been in the Chinese market for 25 years." Nike brand global president Charlie Denson said in a recent interview. "The Chinese market is not only Nike's largest global raw material procurement market, but also the company's largest outside the United States. Market, annual sales accounted for approximately 4% of Nike’s total sales, and has exceeded US$1 billion.”

He said that Nike is very confident about the Chinese market and is full of confidence in Nike's marketing strategy. "Nike is the number one brand in China and will continue to maintain its leading position." His confidence stems from Nike's long-term strategy of focusing development on athletes and consumers.

Recently, Nike also held a competition launch ceremony for 22 Chinese sports teams sponsored by Nike in Beijing. These include track and field, basketball, swimming and weightlifting. Nike is also very much looking forward to wearing a "Nike" game suit weightlifting team for the Chinese team won the first gold.

It is able to sign cooperation agreements with 22 of the 28 Olympic entrants in China and provide them with exclusive competition equipment. This kind of achievement makes the peers somewhat "kissing."

Behind Nike's success in the Chinese market is the result of 25 years of painstaking operation. Nike was founded in 1964. From the base camp of American track and field sports, University of Oregon athlete Phil Nitt and his coach Bill Ballman founded the company now.

“Grassroots origin”—Nike often describes it like that, and from the very beginning of its creation, focusing on the same “grassroots” athletes and consumers has continued to this day. In the course of many years of development, Nike has become the world's largest sports goods company, but it is still "marginalized" in the world's top events.

"The 2000 Sydney Olympics is an exception." Charlie Danson told reporters. Nike became one of the sponsors of the Sydney Olympic Games due to the withdrawal of the sports sponsor Reebok at the time, which was the first time that Nike had sponsored the international competition. Since then, Nike still adheres to its own routines and is not keen to name or sponsor events.

Trevor Edwards, Nike’s vice president of global brand management, told reporters that “sponsoring sports events does not bring better service to athletes. Nike is more concerned with serving athletes.”

He said that the cooperation with 22 Chinese sports teams will allow Nike to better understand the needs of Chinese athletes. Such experience is very precious to him. "Nike will not sponsor an event with high expenses." Charlie Danson's answer is equally positive.

When Nike first came to the China Track and Field team in 1982, he provided athletes with their products, then listened to feedback and returned to Japan for revision. This is the repeated revision of this time and again, not only took products that meet the needs of Chinese athletes, but also opened up the road to Nike in China.

Now, what Nike needs to do is actively look for better ways to serve Chinese consumers and let them experience more innovative products. Trevor told reporters.