China Sports Marketing Trends during Tokyo Olympics
【Posted on: 2021 August】
As the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged multiple countries in 2020, most major sporting events slated for 2020 were postponed. 2021 will be ushered in a “sports year” with multiple international & domestic sporting calendar events. For the first time in history, 2 Olympics events will be held within 6 months of each other, superimpose this with European Cup, EPL, America’s Cup, World Championship, National Games, etc. This year will be a feast for sports fans!
Chinese brands favour sports events
Since the first appearance of a Chinese brand in the sponsorship of the European Cup in 2016, in just five years, the Chinese brands have been promoted to top sponsorship. Of the 12 top sponsor seats in this year’s European Cup, Chinese brands have already accounted for four (Alipay, TikTok, Hisense, and Vivo).
Nielsen’s “2021 Global Sports Marketing Trends” report also pointed out that since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, more and more Chinese companies have adopted sports sponsorship as one of the ways to support their brand growth. According to some reports, China Brands will account for one-third of the total growth in the global sponsorship market.
Which brands particularly like sports marketing?
In addition to sports brands, dairy companies are another strong old player. The two giants, Yili and Mengniu, have participated in sports events for a long time, and their participation is extremely high. Yili has become a dairy product sponsor many times. For example, in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and the Winter Paralympics, it is the only official dairy product partner. At the same time, Yili has officially announced that it has become the official partner of the AFC in recent days.
In addition to dairy companies, the beauty company – Perfect Diary also participated in becoming the official partner of the Chinese gymnastics team. In addition, this year YTO Express also officially announced that it will become the official logistics service sponsor of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. This is the first time that a Chinese express company has cooperated in a comprehensive international event.
Rise of E-sports sponsorship
Since the e-sports project was approved as an official event in the Asian Games and other events, Chinese brands have begun to pay more attention to the e-sports event. Brands in multiple fields, such as smart hardware, daily necessities, beverages, automobiles, etc., are taking advantage of e-sports marketing.
For example, in the 2021 KPL King of Glory Spring Professional League, in addition to the placement of a variety of live broadcast and accompaniment products from Tencent, the number of ads in the commentary during the game has increased significantly, and even FMVP and other awards have introduced the advertising co-branding of Vivo smartphone IQOO.
Different from traditional sports events, e-sports events can embed the characteristics of diverse scenes, higher matching, and diverse marketing purposes, and can meet the marketing demands of multiple brands. Over time, e-sports is bound to become the main concern of brand owners.
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