Chinese sports brands bet big on a podium finish in Rio
But spending millions promoting your name at a major sporting event is no guarantee of success, warn analysts
China’s top sportswear brands have been pulling out all the stops to fully-exploit this summer’s Rio Olympic Games.
But market watchers remain divided on whether their endeavours — in some cases costing millions of dollars — will be enough to boost what have become flagging sales, at home and abroad.
361 Degrees International, one of the country’s biggest sportswear manufacturers, will certainly have the largest physical presence in Brazil, after more than doubling the number of places its goods are sold in the country over the past year, to nearly 900.
The firm is also an official sponsor of the main games, and the accompanying Paralympics, and the deal means it is supplying official clothing to all the Rio 2016 volunteers, technicians and people who participate in the Olympic torch relay.
However, analysts doubt whether this huge investment in sales and marketing will deliver the goods.
Hong Xue yu, a researcher at GuoTai JunAn International, said: “It’s possible that sales of 361 Degrees in Brazil may not increase as quickly as it expects after the expansion of its sale points, because the economy there is weak, and their own local brands are also very competitive.”