ADI Loves Athletes. Nike Loves Stars.

Nike is currently the biggest sport in the world. clothing The manufacturer has a market share of 17%. The second largest producer is Adidas, with a market share of 12%. The market share of the football products of the two companies is much higher, and the two share up to 70%. In each world cup, the two big companies will try their best to use this stage to show their brand charm.

Brandon Gray

The world cup in England is approaching the finish line, and several players in the team have been in trouble.

Lampard and Lambert, the Adidas players in England, have recently received calls from sponsors to tell them not to wear England team with obvious Nike logo in public. clothes Now. The official sponsor of the "Three Lions" is Nike, which is understandable on behalf of the national team wearing Nike. But to Adidas's anger, on the leisure T-shirt without the England emblem, the Nike logo is huge. The Adidas official reluctantly said, "Nike's move is really naughty."

　 Nike longs for football

Adidas needs football.

In the past 66 years, Adidas has been paying the money to ask players to wear it. shoes And pay the team to wear its Jersey and pay the League to use its ball, which was first adopted by Adidas.

If we trace back to the English root of Nike, we will find its original meaning is the Greek goddess of victory. In the bones of Nike, the desire to win business is hidden. In each world cup, the two big companies will try their best to use this stage to show their brand charm. I wonder if the 2014 World Cup costume war Nike can hold its goddess of victory.

Nike is currently the world's largest sportswear manufacturer, with an annual revenue of 25 billion US dollars and a market share of 17%. The second largest producer is Adidas in Germany, with an annual revenue of $20 billion and a market share of 12%. The market share of the football products of the two companies is much higher, and the two share up to 70%. According to FIFA's data, 300 million people play soccer and 1 billion people watch soccer matches. Football has not yet been popularized in Asia, but it shows a growth trend, and the US market is also expanding.

Nike revealed that its soccer revenue reached $1 billion 900 million in 2013.

Adidas declined to publish revenue data, but according to Allman, a sports marketing consultant in Cologne, the company earned $2 billion 400 million in soccer business last year. Nike did not set foot in football until 1994, when the world cup was held in the United States. Although Adidas has lost its advantages in other sports fields, it still sticks to the position of football business. Adidas relies more on the European market, where football is the only truly influential sport. Nike longs for football, Adidas needs football.

　　 The influence of the world cup is declining.

Drag on Adidas?

Adidas has been a sponsor of FIFA since 1970. Last year, the cooperation agreement between the two sides was extended to 2030. According to Allman, Adidas will pay about $70 million every four years for this sponsorship. Adidas also sponsors UEFA, which is responsible for European football affairs, with a slightly smaller sponsorship. Compared to Nike, football business revenue accounts for a higher proportion of total Adidas revenue. Adidas sales tend to soar in the year of competition, for example, in 2010, the world cup was held in South Africa.

The first match of this year's World Cup comes from Brazil to Croatia. Allman said that the cost of sponsoring the team alone is close to 400 million dollars. Nike sponsors 10 teams, the largest number ever, more than Adidas. Nike sponsors Brazil, Portugal and C; Adidas sponsors Spain, Germany and Messi. Like every World Cup since 1970, this year's ball will still be provided by Adidas.

For most people, watching the world cup is a great event, and even worth putting aside the work. Adidas is counting on a good summer harvest. Last year, the performance of Adidas was disappointing all year round, so CEO Haina emphasized the promise he made once: to earn 2 billion euros (US $2 billion 700 million) in 2014 football business. In May this year, Adidas announced its first quarter revenue growth of 27% in football business, and the company expressed confidence in its sales target. But even if it gets what it wants, there is another headache. The world cup is no longer the only global event in football.

Ten years ago, if you lived in Germany, you would watch the German Football League A and the world cup; in England you would watch the Premier League and the world cup. In the past, the best players in the world converged on the TV screen for four years, so it is very meaningful for manufacturers to sponsor such an international event. "Fans cherish history very much," said Walsh, director of Repucom, global sports marketing group. "Adidas has always been a part of football history and has a certain influence."

However, the National League itself has become an international competition. In the Premier League alone, the global income of the season increased by 25%. On Saturday morning, Americans can watch the Premier League through the American Broadcasting Company (NBC), which is bound to see Nike football on the pitch. Walsh said that teams like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are more important now. Unlike in the past, "Adidas" is all right if you tie your name to the world cup. He said.

Adidas with Messi

Tackling Nike stronghold

Even in the year of the world cup, Nike has been very skillful in advertising. Without mentioning the "FIFA World Cup," people know that this is a major global event. Nike's advertising and promotional activities have been very successful, even giving Nike a unique feeling.

In fact, Adidas still takes the lead in this unique world event and gains more profits. But Nike is dragging its only rival into an old and expensive competition: see who can sponsor as many good teams and players as possible.

Adidas has been counting on Messi this summer, and the company has paid more attention to him than any other player. (a senior officer resisted the word "God", but agreed to use the word "God Man". Messi has won more golden ball than any other player. In a Adidas store near heksein al Kha, near Nuremberg, you can buy German national uniform and Messi's Argentina uniform. There are two famous sayings on the wall, one from Messi and the other from Adi Dassler.

In 2011, Adidas signed a sponsorship agreement with Columbia and extended the contract to 2022 last year.

Columbia is currently ranked fifth in the FIFA world rankings, and the middle class is growing.

A year and a half ago, Adidas began consulting with retailers in Columbia, assessing their needs one by one in terms of the sales of their national uniforms in the past. Adidas also has his own algorithm to calculate the demand for the uniforms based on the odds of Columbia winning the world cup. Adidas also hoarded a team of unfinished players' names in Columbia. If any player performs very well this summer, he can print his name at the eleventh hour. Because some international players are playing in the European League, their jerseys are available in Berlin, and even in Dortmund, where he is going to move.

Some people in Columbia live in the US. Adidas knows where they are and also prepares goods for them. Adidas Bruce, director of the US football business, said the company sponsored Mexico to attract fans from the US team. "The Mexico national team has a large number of fans in the United States," he said. "Mexico's football tickets are always sold out, and their fans base in the United States is very solid." The Mexico Team Jersey is the best seller in Adidas in the United States. All the football related products in the company sell best in California, Texas and Arizona.

The super purchasing power of American consumers has made the United States unexpectedly become the largest single market of Adidas soccer products, accounting for 15% of the company's global soccer revenues. In May this year, Adidas's chief executive, Haina, announced that the US regional football sales achieved "two digit" growth, while acknowledges that Nike's growth is even higher. Nike sponsored the US national team uniform, but Adidas was the exclusive sponsor of the professional football league in the United States. In 2005, it also took over Nike's youth training camp in the United States and renamed it the "Adidas generation". There is only one soccer player really influential in the United States, and he is not American - Messi.

　　 Adidas loves athletes.

Nike loves stars.

Walking with Adidas staff Bauman in Adidas's Park, I mentioned a period of his career. In the first two years before entering the twenty-first Century, Bauman worked for Nike and was responsible for sales of football shoes in Germany. He tried to find some diplomatic terms to compare the two companies. He said Nike was "more American". I asked him, what does this mean? He hesitated for a few seconds, "more marketable."

From Nike's new advertisement, we can see that the company always has the advantage: spending small money can also do great things. In the summer of 2012, Nike launched an advertising campaign to "discover your greatness". In the same year, Adidas spent $two hundred million to sponsor the London Olympics. Nike did the same in 1984. That year, CONVERSE sponsored the Losangeles Olympic Games, while Nike took a video advertisement with her signer as the leading actor. The background music was Randy Newman's "I love Losangeles". Today, Nike has already put CONVERSE in its pocket.

　　 Sports marketing Consultant Allman said, "in a sense, C Luo is more like a star than a football player. And Adidas signed Messi more like a player. Adidas loves athletes, and Nike loves stars.

In the Champions League semi-final this year, Nike set up an exhibition hall in Madrid. On the floor above the exhibition hall, Nike placed several old wooden display cabinets in a hut, two leather chairs and a box. The display cabinet is a product of fictional organization "Nike F.C.". Nike F.C. is the "Nike Football Club". Its clothes are suitable for players to wear on the ground. The photos of the players in the club are black and white. Nike has been producing soccer equipment for only 20 years, but the same as the cement stand painted on the upper floor, the room is designed to evoke memories of the old days.

A picture of Brazilian Ronaldo in a showcase. He scored two goals in the World Cup finals against Germany in 2002, and won the match for the team in Brazil. Beneath the photo are the Nike Mercurial sneakers worn on the spot and an old Nike football, with his signature on the ball, which looks as if it was the match ball at that time. But in fact, the 2002 World Cup match is the Adidas's meteor. If you can pretend that you are sponsoring the competition in more than a decade, then there is no reason to pay for the world cup.