The Campaign

After 2011, the first year in the LI-NING’s history that saw a dip in profits, the company sought not only to increase revenue but also to revitalize its brand image. The 2012 London Olympics was seen as the perfect opportunity to achieve both objectives, using the games as a way to revive the Olympic spirit that the company itself was founded upon twenty-two years ago. Some 4 billion people would watch at least some part of the Olympic Games, representing huge opportunity for companies to leverage this global event. Although, obtaining sponsorship opportunities can be difficult, LI-NING was able to do just this and set about looking for ways to maximize its potential. The difficulty for LI-NING was that there was no guarantee of mass media exposure because of the uncertainty of the athlete’s performance during the Olympics. LI-NING decided that to meet these challenges they would join hands with a PR agency to work towards a fully integrated plan that would allow them to create their own narrative. This narrative would allow them to circumvent some of the major obstacles and set out a communications plan that would intrinsically tap into the Olympic spirit. Through sponsorship with the elite Chinese athletes we created the “Five Gold Medal Teams of China” and used well-timed media releases along with aggressive event coverage to maximize exposure. Through this, LI-NING was able to generate buzz not only through traditional channels, but also on popular social networks.

The Brief

LI-NING wanted to use its new brand slogan of “Make the change” as the pivotal point to its sponsorship at the 2012 London Olympics. Its aim was to use this central brand image to leverage the sporting success of the elite Chinese athletes it was sponsoring and to ignite patriotism of the Chinese people. This association of Chinese success and patriotism is particularly strong when associated with the Olympics where Chinese have a history of sporting success. This would inspire the same brand association as it had done in 2008.

Results

LI-NING’s branded Olympic photos appeared frequently in the mainstream media, along with related news photos appearing in 90% of Olympic coverage by Chinese media. Among the numerous photos, the focal point pictures were “Five Stars Light up London,” “Full Ice Force,” and “Five Gold Medal Teams of China” which were covered extensive by many of the major media outlets.. In the London Olympic Games, LI-NING generated more than 20 TV broadcasts. More than 4500 news releases were run by print media, with total PR value reaching more than 1.2 billion Yuan. Moreover, PR value for online media coverage exceeded 60 million Yuan and media value of microblogs relayed reports worth more than 48 million Yuan. The value of LI-NING brand’s Baidu index scored as much as eight times higher than that of its competitors. LI-NING brand’s return on investment for public relations during the Olympic Games was around 350 times.

Execution

In order to execute the carefully constructed strategy, Li-Ning: • Carried out systematic communication centered on LI-NING’s Olympic Games marketing, concentrating on the most influential sports media • Met timely demands for information about specific events such as the torch relay and London Olympic Games. • Onsite LI-NING execution teams obtained first-hand material such as photos of event coverage and stadium tidbits. LI-NING teams that were back in the Beijing office coordinated with the front-line teams in London to get firsthand information and distribute press releases and photos in a timely fashion.

The Situation

2008 represented the culmination and pinnacle of sports within China. Years of development and sporting triumph was capped when Beijing hosted the 29th Olympiad. LI-NING’s journey was not so dissimilar. When founder Li-Ning lit the torch at the opening ceremony it was the culmination of 18 years of development and sporting success. Yet by 2011 much of the Olympic legacy had disappeared and the company experienced a drop in profits for the first time in its history. Thus, the 2012 Olympic Games in London became a great opportunity for LI-NING to enact its new brand slogan, “Make the Change.”

The Strategy

The strategy was designed to take various strands and integrate them with an overarching narrative, such as: • Integrate the Olympics brand with LI-NING to improve its brand awareness and reputation • Use Mr. Li Ning, the founder of LI-NING Company, to intertwine with the Olympics in a way that resonated with consumers • Combine powerful images and emotive storytelling to enhance the LI-NING brand. • Incorporate the Chinese dragon and the spirit of sports fully into a high-tech product design that distinguished LI-NING from its competitors and resulted in valuable publicity. Have the athletes utilize this new design behind the LI-NING brand. • Build an all-encompassing communication platform that incorporated TV, print media and online media, with a special emphasis on the digital media platform such as SINA Weibo.