The Beijing Olympics is fast approaching and this early, most companies who want to place their ads and endorsements in this monumental event are trying strategically to place themselves and capture a piece of the market. For Germany based Adidas, there is a battle at hand and that of which is to give rival company Nike a run for their money.

Nike is a known brand in China and surely they have the obvious advantage as far as branding and marketing is concerned. But while that is a given, do not discount Adidas just yet. They are pulling out the stops and are surely focusing on getting a bigger piece of the Olympics exposure.

The investment is risky but in business, you have to take it. Exposure is everything especially when you talk about the Olympics where the whole world is watching.

“Every brand is taking a calculated risk at the Games,” says Kevin Adler, chief solutions officer at Engage Marketing, a sports-marketing firm in New York. “Is there a risk that Adidas faces more of a backlash than other marketers because of its China-centric marketing? Yes.”

The larger mission of the ad campaign is to help Adidas in its battle with Nike for the Chinese consumer market. Adidas executives say that the company will surpass Nike in market share by the end of this year. Adidas plans to have 6,300 stores in more than 650 cities in China including a 10,000 square-foot superstore in Beijing — and expects to have about €1 billion ($1.58 billion) in sales.

(Source) The Wall Street Journal

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