The latest in basketball footwear will be modeled by the NBA's
elite at next week's 2006 NBA All-Star weekend and for the first
time, a Chinese footwear company will be making strides in the
sports shoe showcase.
The world's top sports brands will be sported from February 17
to 19: signature Nikes on Kobe Bryant and Lebron James, Adidas on
Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady, and Reeboks worn by Allen Iverson
and Yao Ming.
These stars will be playing in this year's game, which will be
broadcast in more than 200 countries and regions across the
globe.
But there's another player making his mark at the basketball
showdown in Houston, Texas.
Cleveland Cavalier Damon Jones will go as a spectator, but
mostly as the first NBA ambassador of China's largest sports
footwear and apparel maker, Li-Ning.
By recruiting Jones, Li-Ning, founded by and named after China's
Olympic gymnastic gold medallist, is making its first major
appearance on a pair of NBA feet this year.
Extending its efforts to gain international and professional
credibility for its brand, Li-Ning recently signed Jones to a
two-year contract to endorse the company's shoes and apparel.
With Jones, Li-Ning has acquired a basketball star known as much
for his outsized personality as his three-point shooting. For
Jones, this is a unique opportunity to parlay his love of
overstatement into profit.
Fittingly, Jones described the endorsement arrangement with
Li-Ning in grand terms during a telephone interview with China
Daily.
"Being the first player to market these shoes and being
different from everybody else who wears Nikes and Reeboks, I'm kind
of a trendsetter," he said.
"I'm kind of a pioneer of sorts, trying to bridge that gap
between the US and China."
In a written statement, Li-Ning's CEO Zhang Zhiyong called the
contract a "jump-off point" for his company to enter one of the
world's top commercial events.
In recent years, Li-Ning has been increasing its sponsorship of
athletes and teams to develop its brand image in a fierce China
market, where it is one of the top three in market share along with
international brands Nike and Adidas.
Li-Ning not only sponsors China's national ping-pong,
gymnastics, shooting, diving and weightlifting teams as well as a
host of Chinese soccer players, but also Spain's men's basketball
team.
At the beginning of 2005, the Chinese company signed a marketing
partnership agreement with the NBA that opened the door for
Li-Ning's footwear to be worn and promoted by NBA players at games,
in advertisements and other appearances in China. Nearly a year
later, the company signed Jones.
Jones is not the typical basketball endorser. He is neither a
tantalizing prospect nor is he considered one of the premier
players in the league. Jones, who was not selected when he came out
for the NBA draft in 1997, has played with several teams before his
breakout season with the Miami Heat last year, which landed him his
current four-year US$16.1 million contract with Cleveland.
Mainly a complementary player specializing in three-point
shooting, he so far has not played very well this year, with both
his points per game and three-point shooting percentage down
(though so are his minutes per game).
This has not tempered his personality, however. Described as
"part marksman, part showman, part point guard" on the NBA website,
he has proclaimed himself "one of the best shooters in the world"
and "one of the best-looking," saying that if he were not a
basketball player he would have been a model or actor.
It's this penchant for self-promotion that Li-Ning wants,
according to Jones.
"I think something they were looking for going into this deal
was getting exposure. What more exposure can you get for a brand
than a guy who is very outspoken and likes to have fun and is
always in front of the camera?"
Li-Ning did not respond to e-mailed questions on its decision to
sign Jones as its first NBA endorser.
Even though Jones may not be an All-Star, Martin Alintuck,
managing director of public relations firm Edelman China, said he
believes the endorsement deal could still be a significant boost
for Li-Ning's branding efforts, especially among Chinese
consumers.
"Although the initial impact of sponsoring a role player such as
Jones might be limited in the US and other international markets,
being the first Chinese brand to have an active NBA player wearing
its apparel on and off the court will help elevate Li-Ning in the
eyes of Chinese consumers as a leading Chinese brand," said
Alintuck.
The main challenge for Li-Ning and other less-established
apparel brands is competing with leading brands such as Nike,
Adidas and Reebok, said Alintuck, because of their well-established
reputation for quality, innovation and fashion appeal.
"The Jones deal can help spotlight the brand's quality and
fashion appeal among Chinese consumers," he said.
Alintuck added that if the Jones deal is successful, Li-Ning
could become an attractive option for established NBA stars,
"placing (the company) in a strong position for future branding
efforts."
In China, the NBA has 22 TV partners and one radio partner.
As for why Jones who openly acknowledges that he knew little
about the Li-Ning brand before being contacted by the Chinese
company would choose to endorse a brand virtually unknown in the US
over Payless, he cites the chance to stand out from his
colleagues.
"I thought it was a great opportunity because not every day
you're able to endorse a brand that is away from your country,"
Jones said.
"I wanted to be unlike all the rest of the players in the NBA. I
wanted to sign with a shoe company that was starting from the
ground up, and hopefully, we coming along can take it from a ground
level to a really great company in years to come."
"I'm global now," he said. "It's going to open up a lot of
opportunities for me in the Chinese market and in the US market.
Hopefully, Chinese people really enjoy the way I play the game of
basketball, and I get other endorsement deals outside of basketball
because of it."
Opinions among Chinese basketball fans about the deal are
divided. Jones' signing has generated attention for Li-Ning
footwear among some, but also criticism by others.
Twenty-six-year-old Li Jingcheng of Beijing, for one, doesn't
know who Jones is and isn't interested in what his shoes are
like.
Jones looks to change this kind of perception when he comes for
a 10-day multi-city promotional tour in China this summer.
"It's going to be an opportunity for me to come over and meet
the Chinese people and show my face," Jones said. "I think I'll
probably be doing some clinics, and some autograph signings, so the
Chinese people who watch me on TV and buy the Li-Ning shoes, get a
chance to meet with me or be around me."
(China Daily February 11, 2006)