评论
打印
The Olympics are only the beginning for Nike's aggressive plan to grow in China
When you think a team of US basketball, you think Nike. We're here launching in Rockefeller center, with me now is the brand president of Nike, Charlie Denson.
A big redeal going into the 2008 Summer Games, what does it mean for Nike to be in China and supporting a team of US basketball?
Well, for us, the Beijing Olympics is something we've been working on for, er, for years. And I think this story, this US basketball team's story is gonna be one of the biggest stories in China. These guys are gonna play as a team and they are committed to going up that gold metal.
And of course they’ll take on China in the first round. So it should be interesting, but, tell me about the structure of Nike and the Olympics, I mean, on parallel, what you've done before creating footwear apparel across so many different sports this year, but what is the structure of your deal? How it’s a difference this year than the previous games?
Well, this year is a little bit different, because we're sponsoring 22 out of the 28 Chinese federations. And we've actually created a new product for all 28 sports, including BMX in Beijing. So it's a little bit difference than it has been in the past and we have some of our traditional relationships with, like, US basketball, US track and field, the Russian track and field federation and things like that. So, we, we've worked over 3000 athletes and preparations of the games. So it's a great opportunity for us.
You know when we spoke of a few months ago, you talked about how important China is in terms of the amount revenue brings in for Nike. What are your plans in terms of Nike’s staying in China host the Olympic Games?
Yeah, it's something that we've committed to, ever since the Beijing was awarded the games. China, we've been in China for over 30 years as a manufacturing partner and a commercial partner. And one of the things, China represents a second largest country in the world. Today is a fast growing market, and we’re expecting that'll continue after the Beijing and we're staying committed and to our relationship with Chinese consumer.
A lot of people out there are calling this an extreme team after the disappointment in 2004. What does it mean in terms of Nike revenue sponsorship, er, the tie-up if they don't win versus if they win? Does selling all of the apparel depending on a gold medal this summer?
Well, I, I, winning always helps, and certainly this team is committed to that, to that, er, from Jerry , coach K, you know all the way done on all the players, I've never seen a group of, of, talent, this type of talent. This committed to something is just been amazing so far, so, but, but I think it's a, you know, win or lose is gonna be a great story, but I wouldn't better against them.
Over the biggest challenges for Nike, going into this massive, er, sponsorship of the summer games in China, the biggest hurdles is that you guys had overcome?
Why, I think, uh, we didn't really look at the hurdles but the biggest opportunity was to introduce new product in 28 different sports. I think, this represents our biggest series of innovations or innovation launches in the history of the company at any single event. And we had our very large design team worked for several years in anticipation of them. So, you know, you'll see the lightest basketball shoes ever made, the lightest track bike ever made. The uniforms that all the athletes will be worn will be considerably lighter than what it has ever been uniform before. So for us, it's what we do and what we enjoy and we are really looking forward to.
