All hail Li-Ning, truly one of China’s greatest brand names. Li-Ning sportswear is extremely popular throughout China, and during its rise to fame the brand even had the likes of Adidas and Nike worried.
Recently, the World Brand Laboratory published the “China’s 500 Most Valuable Brands” report, and attributed the Li-Ning brand with a value of 12.734 billion RMB.
Now China’s largest sportswear supplier is taking the plunge as it launches an attack on the two sportswear giants, Nike and Adidas in their biggest market – USA. Here is the advert:
The commercial features the hilarious comedy actors Gerry Bednob and Donnell Rawlings. I think it’s really funny, but some Chinese websites have stated that Chinese ex-pats living in the States will be grossly offended by the ad.
Personally, I find this is ridiculous as I am sure they will see the funny side of the commercial, as it clearly mocks the ignorance of many US citizens and their prejudice towards China. What do you think?
Despite its humour, Li-Ning’s advances will no doubt strike a little fear into American citizens. It may be seen as a metaphor for the growth of the Chinese economy, with Nike’s potentially pending market share decline representing the USA’s economic woes.
Although in saying that, many Western readers have probably never heard of Li-Ning. Well, this Chinese sportswear supplier sponsors some pretty big sports stars including:
– Baron Davis (Basketball)
– Shaquille O’Neal (Basketball)
– Jose Calderon (Basketball)
– Hasheem Thabeet (Basketball)
– Yelena Isinbaeva (Pole Vaulter)
– Ivan Ljubicic (Tennis player)
In case you are interested, the firm also sponsors numerous Chinese olympic teams as well as the USA Table Tennis team.
To find out more about Li-Ning and its first steps into the American market check the US website at http://www.li-ningusa.com.
