Why Did Michael Jordan Come To China For Nike?

Eric Gao has been in the crowded crowd for several hours, only to see the brand leader of his beloved shoes.

The 18 year old student is standing outside a Rome building in old Shanghai. In the building, Michael Jordan is privately visiting the place where he was rearranged to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his shoe brand.

This exhibition, called "flying space", shows the first flying Jordan shoes, an old Wheaties box, and a collage from the Hongkong entertainers on the Jordan logo (number 23 Jersey, the phrase "I came back" and six championship rings).

For example, in 1990s, the popularity of Fei Le shoes has soared, but this brand just attached its image to a couple of professional basketball players in the United States instead of doing more valuable things. Its sales volume finally declined rapidly.

Adidas, Nike, and perhaps Jordan, the most important reason for their popularity for decades, is that they shape themselves into a brand designed for athletes.

"To become an evergreen basketball brand, the most important product's performance," said David Weiner, an analyst at Deutsche Bank.

Nike's problem proves this: even for a successful brand, it is difficult to manage their image in China.

On the one hand, no one will complain about the sharp increase in sales; on the other hand, the overheated sales in big cities will bring the risk of future sales decline.

This is exactly what Nike's new Jordan centred marketing campaign has to do: watch out for Jordan to become a fashionable craze.

Gao has no way to enter the exhibition, but he is eager to see Jordan. However, this does not mean that the legend of the Chicago bulls is his favorite player. His favorite player is Lebron James -- but because of his shoes.

Gao may be the sneaker-head of American fashion people.

At first, the price of Jordan shoes in mainland China was only around $100, but its classic price soon exceeded $500, of course, if you could find them.

Gao has ten pairs.

"I like its first shoe, then second, third, fourth," he said, "then eleventh and twelfth."

I love Jordan shoes.

"To some extent, consumers like Gao are the reasons for the" flying space "exhibition.

This is part of Nike's sustainable marketing. The company creates its iconic brand to ensure that it can sell shoes at high prices - by alerting the Chinese consumers that these shoes sell performance, not just for fashion.

Matt Powell, an analyst at NPD (new product development), is a veteran sports industry observer. He once described flying Jordan as a "high-end and conspicuous consumer brand," so it is only a matter of time before the brand enters China's undeveloped luxury market.

In the streets of Shanghai and Beijing, Jordan shoes have evolved into a fashion in Bronx district or Beverly shopping center.

"Everyone in this place is dressed in Jordan," exclaimed Blake Griffin of the Losangeles clippers during his October NBA season in China.

In China's big cities, Jordan's

It is also a good idea for all kinds of people, including girls in short skirts, men in tight pants, couples who are shopping in the city's high-end stores, and mothers with rich pushchairs.

Although only the first pair of Jordan sneakers appeared in China in 1996, they are now everywhere - in some areas, they are even more common than any other region in the United States.

Near the old city center of Beijing, in each of the five shops close to each other, each store has a price of 4500 yuan (715 dollars) wrapped in cellophane.

One of the shopkeepers, who has been in business for two years, said that although tariffs and limited supplies made the shoes much more expensive than the US, they still sell well.

Fake goods are everywhere, but for a country that is good at imitation, the only difference between fake and genuine is probably its low price.

It is not only the largest basketball market in the world; the trend of the tide can rapidly sweep over 20 million cities in the world.

Although Nike did not disclose the financial situation of Jordan brand, in the recent fiscal year, China's footwear market created Nike's highest growth record - 26%, to 2 billion dollars.

In the last quarter, in the area known as "Greater China" by the company, including Taiwan,

And Macao, Nike's sales grew by 30% over the same period last year.

With the gradual cooling of Western Europe and the US market, the region is rapidly becoming an important market for the company with a market value of more than 100 billion.

Nike has recently said that the Jordan brand has created about $2 billion 200 million in sales worldwide this year, and the company expects sales to reach US $4 billion 500 million at the end of 2020, because the Jordan brand is opening up some other markets in the world.

In fact, these shoes are too popular, and even bring a potential hazard to Nike: they may become a fashion of temporary fanaticism.

For example, Gao, who loves collecting sports shoes, buys most of his shoes for everyday wear, but not for sports.

Success has been achieved through the support of this type of customer. This is a mixed blessing: if Jordan shoes are too hot in the streets and streets, the brand will lose its connection with basketball, and this connection will make it have credibility.

"We do not want this brand to become a fashion brand," Nike Jeanne spokesman Huang said.