PEAK Xu Zhihua: Integrating Into NBA Needs More Than Courage.

22 reported daily

(hereinafter referred to as "record"; Xu Zhihua referred to as "Xu".

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Strategic vision of internationalization

Reporter: PEAK's landing on NBA has aroused great repercussions in China. What kind of considerations do you make to make such a choice?

Xu:

Moreover, after decades of operation, foreign brands have taken an absolute advantage over the possession of international sporting events, which is an unavoidable dilemma for the promotion and dissemination of national brands.

PEAK is in the leading position in domestic sporting goods manufacturers, especially basketball equipment, whether technology or brand, but it is also facing such challenges. Just now, we know that NBA has such an opportunity to enter, after careful planning, and finally decided to officially land.

Reporter: for PEAK's domestic counterparts, or we usually feel that NBA is a high level arena, and in the United States, the entry threshold must be very high. Is this the case?

Xu: for many brands in China, NBA looks like an insurmountable peak and is hard to enter.

Indeed, everyone knows that NBA stands for the highest standard of basketball in the world. NBA teams are also looking for partners when they are looking for partners. Fortunately, PEAK has stood the test.

But on the other hand, when your company has reached a certain height, it is not very difficult to enter NBA.

Through contacts with NBA officials, we found that they were very interested in our domestic brands entering NBA.

And from the point of view of communication, NBA has not been monopolized by any sporting goods company. He is a good communication platform and we have every opportunity to enter.

Legendary roundabout landing

Reporter: now many readers are concerned about what kind of operation means PEAK enters NBA. Can you talk about this? I think this is a strong reference for many domestic brands.

Xu: PEAK landing

Reporter: so when did you go there?

Xu: at that time, I had not decided to go to NBA, because the United States had not yet entered our short-term target market planning, and at the beginning, because of the unfamiliarity, we always felt that NBA was still some distance away from Chinese enterprises. We originally planned to enter NBA in a year or two.

But I still maintain close ties with my friends in the United States, often by telephone.

While we were sponsoring the "Stankovic intercontinental basketball Champions Cup", I invited Mr. George W Laurence to the scene.

When he saw PEAK sponsorship again, he was very excited and urged me to go to NBA and tell me, "maybe there's a new sky over there."

I think our domestic enterprises should always participate in some international exchanges so as to find more opportunities.

That's the case. Later, I thought it was a good suggestion. I visited the United States in the middle of June and contacted NBA officials.

After a period of understanding, they are also very interested in China's sports equipment and brand, because NBA is vigorously developing the Chinese market, so that we have established some close ties.

Later, after the efforts of both sides, we finally reached an agreement with the Rockets.

Reporter: can you invest 4 million dollars at a time? Is it very stressful? And you said, the United States is not your current market focus, so you don't feel very risky about investing so much in a non target market?

Xu: any investment is risky. Entering NBA is not only an opportunity for us, but also a great challenge.

If there is no pressure, it is absolutely false and true. It takes a lot of courage to make this decision.

But it is because of the tremendous pressure that we are forced to play the NBA card beautifully and not waste resources.

At present, the United States is not our main target market, but the audience and influence of NBA are not only in the United States, but its influence is global.

Like some countries in China, Europe and Asia, they are very concerned about NBA and have a lot of rebroadcast. So it will bring many invisible benefits to brand brand communication, because our own brand has entered the European market.

More importantly, PEAK can enter the NBA home, indicating that our overall strength has reached international requirements.

I think one thing to pay special attention to is that brand operation is different from terminal promotion. It does not require you to invest in today, it will be rewarded immediately, but it is a process of edification. It pursues "sneak into the night with the wind, moistening things silently", so that consumers can continuously recognize and ultimately choose.

So we can invest $4 million. On the one hand, we must take the road of internationalization. It shows that China's sports equipment brand has begun a new awakening.

Because NBA stands for the highest level of basketball in the world, and PEAK is a professional supplier of basketball equipment. This combination enables consumers to see the courage PEAK has and the international vision of PEAK, because our goal is not to establish its own influence in the domestic market. Our goal is to develop PEAK into an international first-class sports equipment supplier.

Such a goal requires us to have advanced vision to operate. This is also a necessity for us to enter the NBA, but the time is earlier than we expected.

Reporter: when does PEAK plan to enter the US market?

Xu: very soon.

PEAK will officially enter the US in the agent mode. The agent is Mr. George W Laurence, our guide to NBA.

He suggested that when PEAK entered the NBA, there were plans for this. PEAK really entered NBA, and it also made him believe in our strength, so the cooperation behind it was very enjoyable.

He inspected PEAK in all parts of the country, including production line, workshop and sales system. At present, we have signed a cooperation intention. In a certain period of time, he will be the general distributor of PEAK in the United States, and we will be able to see PEAK's store in Houston in April.

We must first create an international brand, and then open up the international market.

Without brand support, the international market is hard to break through.

Chinese style brand warmth

Reporter: Why did you choose the Rockets? Is it because Yao Ming is in the Rockets?

Xu: except for the Rockets, I can not think of the other team that is more suitable.

As we all know, Yao Ming's rockets and domestic fans are most concerned about the Rockets.

This is also a very important factor for our landing on NBA. Yao Ming is a Chinese, representing a height of Chinese basketball. And PEAK is a Chinese brand. It also represents a height of Chinese basketball equipment. It is not a very clever point to let them meet at NBA.

Reporter: but Yao Ming is already a spokesman for the brand image of a multinational sporting goods company. Can PEAK use Yao Ming to make an essay?

Xu: it is impossible to make use of Yao Ming's essays, nor have we considered how to use Yao Ming, because this is not a problem we should consider.

But Yao Ming is a Chinese player, and domestic fans, even those who do not watch the ball are also very concerned about Yao Ming.

But in the NBA arena, the competition is very cruel. We just want to add a little warm feeling on his playing field.

If PEAK can add a bit of Chinese symbol on the field, it will not make Yao Ming look lonely. We hope that when he is at home, the characters around him can make him feel more home.

Although we can not use Yao Ming to carry out any advertising, but according to our earlier understanding, the Rockets' competition is the most concerned competition among all the domestic media, including CCTV, and it is also the most frequent broadcast team.

In this way, we not only let the fans of the United States and Europe recognize PEAK, but also let domestic fans add some Chinese elements when watching the NBA or Yao Ming competition, which can further close the relationship between PEAK and domestic fans, and further promote our domestic market.