China brands tap into nationalism after NBA-conflict - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Li-Ning and Anta, two Chinese shoe sport manufacturers, took a nationalistic twist in their marketing after the US National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Houston Rockets triggered off criticism from China's government. Marketing expert Tom Doctoroff comments on the slippery slope of nationalism in China marketing for Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera:

These companies have also made efforts to tap into rising nationalism among China's youth. 

In the case of Li-Ning, the company rebranded itself and began running advertisements rooted in national pride in an effort to capitalise on political tensions with other countries, Tom Doctoroff, senior global advisor at Prophet, a global brand and marketing consultancy, told Al Jazeera. 

The controversy surrounding the US National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Houston Rockets earlier this year also provided Li-Ning's domestic competitor, Anta, with an opening to burnish its credentials as a patriotic Chinese company, says Doctoroff. 

Anta severed its relationship with the NBA after the general manager of the Rockets, Daryl Morey, tweeted a message in October supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. The tweet provoked a fierce response in mainland China, where state television stopped broadcasts of the league, multiple companies suspended or terminated cooperation and social media was flooded with criticism. 

Both Anta and Li-Ning are trying to "make inroads driven by nationalist sentiments", said Doctoroff. The Houston Rockets incident was a "shot across the bows" of the sneaker industry, the sports teams connected to it, and business in general, he said. 

"If a brand makes a hint at supporting dissolution of what China considers to be its legitimate territory, then the brand will suffer," Doctoroff noted. 

Every brand will have to grapple with balancing "freedom of expression and commitment to maintaining China sales," he said. "Most will be cautious … These are delicate times."

More at Al Jazeera.

Tom Doctoroff is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more branding experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.  

How can foreign brands deal with Chinese consumer boycotts? - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

Getting into hot water with China's consumers, its government or both happens regularly to foreign brands. Business analyst Shaun Rein uses the latest NBA-upheaval to explain how those boycotts work, and how foreign brands can deal with them, according to the Marketplace.

The Marketplace:

China’s nearly 1.4 billion consumers take issues about the country’s territorial integrity seriously. “They go back to what they consider humiliation during the Qing Dynasty,” said Shaun Rein, author of the book, ‘The War for China’s Wallet.’  

“They feel that the Western powers, led by the British, enslaved the Chinese to opium [and] destroyed the country’s economy.”... 

Chinese firms suspended or canceled sponsorship deals with the National Basketball Association last month after Houston Rockets’ general manager, Daryl Morey, tweeted support for protesters in Hong Kong.  

Ecommerce giants Alibaba, JD.com and Suning voluntarily removed Houston Rockets merchandise from their platforms.  

“They’re showing the government that they will support the motherland,” Rein said.
There are some signs that NBA is on a slow route to recovery in China. While Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has not resumed airing NBA games, internet giant Tencent has — except for the ones involving the Rockets.  

Rein, who is also founder of the China Market Research Group, suggested the best way for foreign brands to combat these boycotts and bans is to issue a sincere apology.  

“What we tell our clients is stand up, apologize [and say] ‘We are sorry. We respect China. We respect China’s sovereignty issues,’” he said. “Then afterwards you can say pretty much anything, as long as you’re showing respect to the Chinese people.”  

Rein said the NBA fell far short of that but, even so, that public anger appeared to have subsided after Chinese state media stopped covering the controversy.
There are times, however, when the central government, via the state press, whips up public anger.
In 2016, China felt threatened when South Korea signed a deal with the U.S. to deploy an American anti-ballistic missile shield called the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).
Rein said the government criticized South Korea in the Chinese state press.  

“They basically said: ‘How dare this little country install something that could be an offensive tool against us,’” he said. Chinese consumers took the cue. They stopped buying Korean cars, cosmetics and snacks.  

South Korean supermarket chain Lotte, because it provided land for the South Korean military to build the THAAD system, was the hardest hit.

More in the Marketplace.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more branding experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.  

Investing in China is too risky right now - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

Business analyst Shaun Rein has always been a China-bull, but even he is now advising to put China investments on hold, he tells in the Press Democrat, after Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey was the latest to get into hot air.

 Press Democrat:

With the politically charged trade war with the United States grinding on and the Chinese economy cooling off, the latest NBA controversy was a reminder that many foreign executives say the country of 400 million middle-class consumers is more a minefield than a gold mine. 

“The political risk is so high right now it doesn’t make sense to keep investing in China. If you’re not already here, you have to think three, four, five times harder about whether it’s worth coming,” said Shaun Rein, the Shanghai-based founder of the China Market Research Group who has advised clients such as Apple, Samsung, Fidelity Investments and luxury group Richemont. 

Rein, an author known in China for his pro-Beijing views and support for hard-line President Xi Jinping, said the political atmosphere had become so charged that even he is advising companies to leave. “It’s killing my business, frankly,” he said, “but you can’t put all your eggs in this basket anymore.”

More in the Press Democrat. Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more experts on the ongoing trade war between China and the US? Do check out this list.  

Copy-paste NBA strategy into China might work - Jeffrey Towson

Jeffrey Towson

While copy-pasting foreign business strategies into China often failed, Peking university business professor Jeffrey Towson makes an exception for the American NBA strategy, he writes on his LindenIn page. "A clever long-term business strategy," he says.

Jeffrey Towson:

These are boom times for sports in China. An increased national focus on health and fitness is coinciding with a big increase in entertainment consumption. And the State Council has set a goal of making the sports industry a 5 trillion yuan ($750 billion) sector by 2025. So stadiums and fields are being built, European soccer teams are being purchased and Adidas is opening stores as fast as possible. Sportswear has even become the fashionable attire in China this year. 

Against this backdrop, baseball is playing a long game to become a major spectator sport in China. And while America's favorite pastime has long been all but ignored in the world's most populous nation, this may finally be changing. Major League Baseball, the U.S. professional league, has been quietly and patiently making all the right moves in China. The National Basketball Association is really the model for sports success in China. It is wildly popular, with over 30 million regular weekly viewers and more than 200 million tuning in for big games. Even President Xi Jinping has said he watches the NBA in his spare time. How basketball went from a mostly local activity to mass-market entertainment in China is an important business question. 

The NBA's success is frequently attributed to retired Chinese star Yao Ming. This is mostly incorrect. Certainly Yao was a unique phenomenon who catapulted the sport upwards but the NBA had already been in China for over 15 years before Yao joined the Houston Rockets in 2002. Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls and the Olympic "Dream Team" were already well known in China by that time. 

The NBA's success in China has actually been more about a clever long-term business strategy, which is what MLB appears to be replicating.

More in Jeffrey Towson´s LinkedIn page.

Jeffrey Towson is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

 Are you looking for more strategy experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.       

Related articles

• NBA expands video replay role for upcoming season
• NBA's Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame
• Silver says NBA labor deal progressing toward finish
• NBA star vandalizes Great Wall

NBA puts soccer to shame - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons by Fantake via Flickr

The NBA has become a tremendous success in China, both in popularity and as a money machines. Unlike soccer, tells Rowan Simons CNN, a leading expert on soccer in China, who points at corruption scandals as the main reason.
In CNN:

Earlier this year the former head of the Chinese Super League, Nan Yong, and his deputy Yung Yimin, were arrested on charges of match fixing and bribery.

The scandal has been a huge boon for basketball, and in particular the NBA, in China. It has overtaken football as the most watched sport in the country -- the NBA estimates 450 million people now tune in -- and more than 300 million play the game.

"The NBA in China is massively successful and puts football to shame," explains Rowan Simons, author of Bamboo Goalposts, a book about his attempts to set up amateur football clubs in China.

"The NBA set up NBA China, selling 11 per cent [worth $253 million] to ESPN and Disney. It has several hundred employees. The head of NBA China is Tim Chen [former CEO of Microsoft China].

"It's a big investment play for hearts and minds of Chinese sports fans. They are working with the Chinese government to get a basketball court into ever village in China," added Simons. 

"Marketing, franchised teams, sponsorship, AEG building the stadiums; it's all coordinated in one NBA push. Then you look at football. Internationally, football has no representation in China. Manchester United has one office in Hong Kong."

Commercial
Rowan Simons is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.

Related articles

• Former NBA MVP Iverson considering China move (cbc.ca)
• China's rich: no time to spend money on charity - Rupert Hoogewerf (chinaherald.net)
• Why Yahoo cannot ignore China - Paul Denlinger (chinaherald.net)