Is Garnett an Anta spokesman?

KG's trip to China in August proved that in numerous aspects, his new owner, Anta, can be as professional as Nike and Adidas, and even better than those two teachers in some aspects, but the road is still long to be truly god-like.

August 3, 2010, Anta Sports Science Laboratory, the staff for the newly signed NBA star Garnett to measure foot data. Photograph by Sun Jiong

August 3, 2010, at Anta's headquarters in Jinjiang, Fujian province, everyone was waiting for the arrival of a big name, NBA star Kevin Garnett KG. a little over two months ago, Garnett terminated his multi-year Adidas sponsorship contract and switched to Anta's embrace.

When the news was announced, many people were shocked, because Garnett signed a lifetime contract with Adidas, and in the field of basketball, the only person who had previously signed a lifetime contract with Nike was Flyer Jordan. Anta did not disclose the amount of money to poach Garnett, but there is no doubt that the price is high.

And before the arrival of KG, Anta headquarters has long been turned into a brand LOGO display show, the general staff wearing dark yellow, the public relations department for the white, responsible for contact with the athletes of the department is light yellow, and even Garnett's bodyguards and come to the media are dressed in Anta T-shirts. Antares employees say it's a company practice that must be done at every big event.

40 minutes later than scheduled, Garnett slowly got out of his car and was immediately surrounded by the Anta logo, and a smiling Zheng Jie, executive vice president of Anta, was waiting in front of the elevator on the first floor to take KG to a 10th-floor conference room for a meeting with the company's top leader, Ding Shizhong.

Walking into the conference room, KG didn't sit down first, but walked over to the window and gazed out at the scenery outside the building -- an assortment of buildings, factories and billboards. "Well, not bad, not bad, it's a nice place, Antares is quite grand."

After a few minutes of small talk, Ding Shizhong began to show KG around the company's history showroom, sports science lab, image store and shoe-making workshop. At the first stop in the showroom, Ding pointed to Kong's portrait and told Garrett, "This is the first sportsman sponsored by Anta, a table tennis Grand Slam winner."

The marriage between Kong and Anta is worth a book.

Ding Shizhong used 800,000 yuan to hire Kong as Anta's brand spokesman in 1999, and put all the profits he made that year, 6 million yuan, into publicity and advertising during the Olympics, half of which went to CCTV5.

Kong, who won a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics, says he is the first sportsman to be sponsored by Anta. The advertising slogan "I choose, I like", and Anta, a small and unknown enterprise, together with the national fame. This case was later regarded as a classic, so much so that the sports brands in Jinjiang, so far, the "star + CCTV5" model as the first choice for brand promotion.

After Kong, Ding continued to introduce Garnett to Anta's endorsers, including NBA players Scola, Francis and Wells, as well as tennis stars Zheng Jie and Yankovic. Of course, Garnett's portrait will soon enter this showroom as well, and will certainly occupy an extremely important position.

"KG is the biggest athlete Anta has sponsored in the 16 years since its birth, and it's very significant that he has directly increased the credibility of the Anta brand in the minds of consumers." Zheng Jie values Garnett's influence, but he also emphasized that this is not a simple signing, but represents that Anta, like Adidas and Nike, will develop its market around stars.

That day, Zheng, wearing the same orange T-shirt as his boss Ding Shizhong, stood next to Garnett and translated every word Ding said to the latter.

After Anta went public in Hong Kong in 2007, it gradually became different from what it used to be, with new divisions and organizations being born and old ones expanding.Zheng Jie came to Anta in 2008, having previously been general manager of Reebok China, a division of Adidas. He was joined that year by another executive, Zhang Tao, whose previous role was as assistant to Lenovo founder Liu Chuanzhi.

Ding Shizhong hoped that the addition of these professional managers would bring more advanced management norms and experience as well as a variety of resources to Anta, and he told Zheng Jie that he hoped that the brand could continue to move forward from its current position in front of Anta, which is also preceded only by Nike, Adidas and Li-Ning.

This vision was later turned into a clear goal: in 2013, Anta was to become the No. 1 brand in China in terms of both sales and branding. Of course, to accomplish this goal, the company needed new drivers. The first impetus was the cooperation with the Chinese Olympic Committee. At the time, Anta was competing with Adidas, Nike and Li-Ning, all of which had a history of cooperation with the COC, but only Anta had zero. Before the bidding, Ding Shizhong led Zhang Tao's team, visited a large number of officials and experts, tirelessly introduced Anta's brand and marketing plan. 2008 June, Anta won the bid as expected, won the Vancouver Winter Olympics, the Guangzhou Asian Games, the London Olympic Games as the representative of the three major events, **** 11 international Olympic events, the rights and interests of the trophy suit.

This is a super sponsorship, because no company has ever been able to have such a close relationship with the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Chinese sports teams in such a complete Olympic cycle. Super sponsorship is naturally super expensive, according to Anta insiders, "no less than the TOP-level sponsorship threshold of the 2008 Olympics," a reference to the 2008 Olympics TOP-level sponsor Lenovo, which cost $65 million.

However, Ding Shizhong believes that these payments are worthwhile, Anta has gained the official status of China's sports, just like Adidas is the official sponsor of the Olympic Games, everyone is trying to master the excellent event resources, to catch up with the leaders must start from obtaining exclusive access to the excellent resources.

Garnett, on the other hand, is another superior resource or motivation brought by another executive, Zheng Jie. Within both Adidas and Nike, there is a team that works with athletes. Some of these staff members are even retired athletes from the sports world, and they are able to know the needs and personal situations of the athletes.

There are two examples circulating in the industry, as long as "Tiger" Woods has a little bit of dissatisfaction with the clubs, Nike will throw a lot of money to repeatedly repair, as long as the "flying man" Liu Xiang's feet a little bit uncomfortable, nearly a meter high sneaker design drawings may be instantly The first time I saw this, it was a very good idea to get the ball rolling," he said.

After Zheng Jie came to Anta, Anta's only original public relations department was divided into two into a brand marketing center and sports marketing center, the latter of which is a team dedicated to serving athletes. The focus of this team is to cultivate a relationship with athletes. Basketball Department Commissioner Pei Long is a member of the Sports Marketing Center. At the end of last year, they started close communication with Garnett's agent, and they had someone to take care of KG's friends and relatives during his trip to China, with the goal of making them feel at home in the country.

The most important thing is that they have to explain to Garnett the boots that Anta has designed for him, and listen to his own advice. That's crucial, not only for the star's feelings, but also for the marketing of the product. When Garnett endorsed Adidas, he expressed his opinion on the control, technology, color and appearance of his boots.

Garnett's opinion was emphasized several times, and finally brought back to the company by the Peyronies earlier this year. A 34-year-old basketball player, the requirement for sneakers is to never let the ankle be injured, because an injury is likely to lead to retirement. Protection and then protection, in order to reassure Garnett, Anta specially arranged for his Jinjiang trip to measure his feet.

Garnett took off his shoes, rolled up his pant legs and stood on a plantar pressure test system that Anta bought at a high price to scan the foot model, then the staff used a tape measure and rope to note down a series of data, such as foot length and width, so that the production of his new shoes could officially begin.

While Garnett's feet were being measured, Pan and his colleagues were waiting for the data in another room of the lab, where they work at Anta's merchandise management center, which is responsible for designing KG's basketball shoes for the new season. Chun Pan's last job was at Nike, and most of his coworkers, including those at the Anta Sports Lab, also jumped ship from Nike or Adidas.

"Any pair of shoes from Adi or Nike in China, we can design it, because that used to be our job." Although they are now targeting a different consumer group, and they no longer design shoes for first-tier cities, but for consumers in second- and third-tier cities, the approach and principles are the same.

Based on the feedback from the Peyronies, Garnett's new combat shoes, the bottom surface of which uses Anta's newly-developed rebound and anti-shock materials, and the counter under the tongue uses a special material of mesh, which maintains the comfort of the shoe itself while providing tight protection for the ankle.

These materials plus the size of Garnett's feet, get all the data, Pan Chun they must design the final version as soon as possible, in accordance with the company's plan, this shoe has been listed as Anta this year, the heavy launch of goods, the fourth quarter will be on the shelves.

This is the second step in the process of acquiring celebrity resources and developing products around them. Zheng Jie just arrived at Anta, the brand, merchandise, sales of the three blocks are basically divided, Zheng Jie vigorously promote Anta to establish a complete sales path, "I do not want to Anta simply sell a pair of shoes, or sell a piece of clothing to consumers, we should be to provide a concept or lifestyle." Now, this complete sales system in Anta has been initially formed, Zheng Jie's goal is Anta also like Adi or Nike, to become a master storyteller.

So Pan Chun's work plays a role in Anta's process - the company decides on the theme of the celebrity endorsement according to its needs, Pan Chuns design according to the theme, the branding department then delivers the theme to the media through activities, and finally the stores display and place the merchandise according to this theme.

Sun Xianxiao is the third step of the work, he is the commissioner of the brand marketing center of Anta, his group participated in all the planning programs of Garnett's China tour. How to make this pair of shoes in the country have a loud promotion opportunity? The Expo is a good platform, and doing activities here will undoubtedly attract a lot of media attention.

They don't want Garnett to be a simple celebrity tourist, just rubbing a little lace on the Expo news. Anta would like nothing better than to hold an event at the Expo press center to get a grandiose site and plenty of attention, but the Expo press center has rules against posting a corporate event here, not for any amount of money paid.

The idea had to be worked around.

In order to open the Expo, Sun Xianxiao and his colleagues collected a lot of information in the early stage, and learned that Zhou Hanmin, deputy director of the Expo Bureau, likes basketball, and also knows Garnett and the Celtics, which allowed them to find a breakthrough point. Sun Xianxiao and his colleagues thought of "gift-giving", there are friends from afar, to give a gift to the Expo, a polite gesture, the host is not good enough to reject people outside the country. So, Anta senior contacted Zhou Hanmin, explaining the intention to turn a commercial show into a journey of cultural exchange.

In the afternoon of Aug. 4, Garnett became the first "guest" at the Expo press center, and he gave Chen Zhu, the director of the Expo Bureau's activities department, a sneaker designed for him by Anta as a gift, and Chen Zhu gave him three "Haibao" as a return gift. Witnessing this process were more than 20 media invited by Anta and another 20 media under the Expo Press Center. It was a lively scene that Sun Xianxiao did not expect.

CCTV5 reporter Li Ning, during Garnett's trip to China, has been following all the activities, he also participated in Nike, Adidas and other business activities organized by other companies, and the activities organized by Anta, in his opinion, has become more and more old and mature. Kobe Bryant, who came to China at about the same time as Garnett, is the spokesman for Nike and has a slightly higher reputation than Garnett, but the news exposure of Kobe's China tour is much lower than that of KG's China tour.

Obviously, the "Chinese wisdom" behind the Expo event is not available to international sports brands, which is an advantage for local companies. Anta didn't stop at the success of the Expo, and on Aug. 5, they'll have one last show at the city's commercial strip, Grand Gateway Plaza.

As the fourth stop on his China tour, Garnett was scheduled to have his hand molded at the Gateway store and then go to the hollowed-out lobby in the middle of the mall for a short interaction with fans. As word spread, the Anta store on the Gateway was filled with KG fans, armed with signing pens and cameras, expecting to get autographs and photos with their idol.

But the staff of Anta Sports Marketing Center did not want to make any mistakes at the end, they have been arranging the route for KG to enter the stadium since noon, and an hour before entering the stadium, Anta and specially instructed the security guards of the mall, "to start from the exit of the elevator, we have to stop the crowds on both sides of the aisle". "There must not be a single mistake!"

Next point at 4:30, KG stepped out of the elevator. Amidst a chorus of vociferous shouting, he didn't notice that he had just walked past the Adidas store, once his old employer.

In the Anta store stayed less than a minute, Garnett went to the first floor of the hall, all floors are full of people, the enthusiasm of the Chinese fans than the Expo's grandeur, more than the Anta surprise, thousands of people chanting "KG, KG" shouting endlessly, Anta an employee exclaimed to reporters: "We this store ushered in the highest popularity in the history of the day, far more than here Nike and Adi."

KG's stay at the Gateway lasted less than 15 minutes, but the roaring atmosphere made Anta's staff feel satisfied. Everything looked beautiful.

From acquiring advantageous sports resources, packing sports stars, launching product concepts to brand image campaigns, to the final product design and terminal display, Anta can do it as professionally as Nike or Adidas, and even better than these two teachers in some aspects.

But the question is, will Anta make shoes that cost more than 500 yuan to compete with these two in the same location?

Zheng Jie's answer is no, "the second and third-tier cities are still the base of Anta", regardless of the function or price of the product, Anta aimed at the mid-range market demand. Wrote the book "Anta, never stop" sports brand consulting expert Chen Shixin, also believes that Anta is unlikely to throw away its own advantages in second- and third-tier cities, and Anta put forward China's first, "in fact, want to go beyond is not an international brand, but Li Ning."

Zheng Jie also said that the Italian sports brand FILA, which was acquired by Anta last year, is the only complement to Anta's products in the high-end, and the Anta brand does not go upward. "Going upward, do you think the competition will be small?" Zheng Jie asked rhetorically.

Time to go back to August 3, young Xiaowen lives in Xiamen, heard the news that Garnett is coming to Jinjiang, he came early to the door of the Anta company waiting, but the security guards will be him and more than 10 other fans blocked in the portal, even if Garnett went to visit the image of the factory here, they can only be waved through the glass window to the KG.

"There were only 10 or so fans, so why don't you let us go get an autograph? I like KG, but I hate Antares." Xiao Wen complained. Also at the Gateway, when the host said, "Let's shout for KG," the crowd roared, but when he said, "Let's shout for Anta," the crowd was silent.

Chen Shixin said brands should not be above the fray, but should provide an opportunity or platform to communicate with consumers. But the least KG China tour is to interact with the fans, in addition to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center and the shooting of CCTV5 "Peak Basketball Road" activities with the fans have a brief greeting, KG most of the time are arranged to CCTV5, NBA Chinese Link and other media interviews.

Zheng Jie said they have done their best, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center is too many people to arrange for the superstar to interact with the fans in depth, in case of accidents, the consequences are unimaginable. However, Nike is obviously more courageous, Chengdu line, Nike arranged for Kobe in the back of the Zimen Basketball Park for the young players on the training class, who know the weather is not good suddenly started to rain, everyone is worried about Kobe will leave, but Nike did not persuade Kobe, but let the latter pick up the microphone: "I started playing basketball from the age of two years old, there is no situation that can prevent me from playing the ball. This rain right now is nothing, I'm not leaving."

The words better publicize the cowboy culture behind the Nike brand than the "Just do it" of the TV commercials. Compared with KG's many media interviews, Kobe spent more time at Changchun University of Science and Technology, Jinan University and West Lake Gym to communicate directly with fans. To achieve a godlike resemblance to international brands, Anta seems to have a long way to go.