Scoring on China's Sports fields

For volleyball fans it is using viral internet advertising to try and reach a younger audience. "That has proved very popular as has a blog for fans to ask players questions, and we have also produced a series of Japanese-style manga cartoons to introduce team members to the public," says Marcus Kam, head of sports marketing at Adidas China. Its most high-profile move has been signing up as equipment supplier to the Chinese team for the 2008 games. Another firm signed up as an official International Olympic Committee (IOC) "top partner" is Chinese computer maker Lenovo. Xie Long, the company's head of Olympic sponsorship, says: "We believe sports - specifically the Olympics - is the most powerful platform for us to promote Lenovo to the rest of the world." The firm is trying to promote itself in China in cross-promotion with other IOC partners such as Visa, Coca-Cola, and Kodak. It has also signed up with Brazil and Barcelona star Ronaldinho to give it reach to another segment of the Chinese population.

Adapted from BBC Business News - July 2006

chinese translation | japanese translation | korean translation