Businesses switch focus to online campaigns and sponsorship
Chinese businesses have been quite reserved in marketing campaigns concerning the Rio Olympic Games, due in large part to the changing way people access event information as well as the country's slowing economy, experts said on Tuesday.
With the Rio Games under way, most businesses in downtown Shanghai have failed to roll out Olympics-themed products or promotions.
"People's enthusiasm for the Rio Games doesn't seem as high compared with the 2008 and 2012 ones, so we'd rather launch special set meals for Qixi," a restaurant manager surnamed Wang, who preferred to keep her full name anonymous, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Qixi, nown as Chinese Valentine's Day, fell on Tuesday, this year.
Only a few big-brand sporting goods stores such as Li Ning and ANTA have been seen selling Olympics-related products, with Team China or Olympic banners on display.
In April, ANTA Sports Products Ltd announced the ad campaign "Go Surprise Yourself" for the Rio Games and unveiled sportswear specially designed for China's national teams, including gymnastics, weightlifting, wrestling, judo and boxing.
"Olympics-themed marketing campaigns are not common in the streets this year, because companies are now more willing to spend money on online campaigns since people who pay attention to the event access the information mostly from online media and social media platforms," Zhang Qing, CEO of Beijing Key-Solution Sports Consulting Co, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
For instance, Le Sports, the sports arm of China's leading online video provider Le Holdings, launched an Olympic channel that began broadcasting on July 28.
Also, compared with the past, businesses seem more rational in their Olympics-related campaigns because the public's interest in the Rio Games is waning, Zhang said.
"I don't mean that people don't pay attention to the Olympics, but their focus is changing. The gold medal count doesn't seem that important to many people," he noted.
Now they care more about the fun or entertaining side of the Games, such as the Western athletes who are using Chinese traditional cupping therapy to deal with muscle and back problems.
According to Chen Jian, president of the Beijing Olympic Economic Research Association, consumption demand has been subdued against the backdrop of China's slowing economy, and for some businesses, it may be seen as unnecessary to throw money into a campaign that may not generate much return.
"To a certain extent, previous media coverage about Rio's security, sanitary and infrastructure problems has also contributed to the low business enthusiasm in the sports event," Chen told the Global Times on Tuesday. "But the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympic Games has shown these concerns are overstated."
Hot sponsorship
Despite low enthusiasm among domestic businesses toward Olympic marketing campaigns, Chinese companies remain an active sponsor in the Rio Games, as they aim to expand their brand awareness.
For example, 361 Degrees, a Chinese sportswear company, replaced adidas as the official sponsor to provide uniforms for nearly 100,000 Olympic and Paralympic staff.
Other Chinese brands that sponsored the event include Honav, Gree, Yili, Mengniu, RIO, Li Ning and Peak Sport, domestic news portal winshang.com reported on Sunday.
According to a report from fxnewscall.com, sponsorship income for the Rio Games reached a market value of over $1.5 trillion, the highest in the history of the Olympic Games.
