Changing The Concept Of Sports: Localization Strategy Of Nike

But market watchers say that Chinese consumers themselves have become an important obstacle. Outdoor sports such as football and basketball have little attraction in densely populated towns, and fitness clubs have always been regarded as the domain of the rich.

Blair said that there were many people who had a sense of movement in China, but they had not yet participated in it.

The concept of sports in China is different from that of most Americans. Many people ride bicycles to work but wear everyday clothes and no one can ride in elastic fiber clothing. The state requires the primary and secondary school students to take 40 minutes to exercise every day, but this exercise is nothing more than a physical exercise rather than a sweat.

In recent years, the gym has become more and more popular in China, and the sports equipment retailer has enjoyed an increase in sales volume. But market watchers say that a large proportion of the population does not have western style enthusiasm for exercise.

Li Guanqun, a 27 year old editor of a government website in Beijing, can explain the challenges Nike faces, especially the challenges it faces in the female population. Li Guanqun said she might buy a pair of sports shorts a year, but she doesn't wear them very often. She said that running was really too tired.

This challenge is daunting, said Tang Shide Torsten Stocker, Monitor Group's Hongkong representative office.

Nike, which is often regarded as fashion brand in China, is also facing increasingly fierce competition from traditional clothing companies such as Gap Inc., Sweden Hennes & Mauritz AB. Like all enterprises in China, it has to deal with rampant brand name counterfeiting.

Nike and Adidas AG are the first foreign garment manufacturers to expand in the Chinese market. Nike takes advantage of China's basketball frenzy and provides sponsorship to LeBron James stars in China's great American Basketball Association (NBA), such as Lebron James. Nike is now the world's largest sporting goods company by sales volume, according to data from Euromonitor International, a market research firm. Nike's sales grew by 8% to 13 billion 540 million yuan (2 billion 120 million US dollars) last year, according to Euro information consulting. Nike generally does not list specific sales in China.

Nike said it could focus on the sales of Chinese basketball fans in China, but if Nike could replicate individual and group sports culture in North America and other places, its sales might be another level.

Nike brand president Dan Sen (Charlie Denson) said in an interview that 10 years ago, no one would have thought that Chinese athletes could become world stars, but now more and more Chinese people are taking part in world events and people are more interested in sports.

Last month, Nike released a series of running products inspired by athletics star Liu Xiang, hoping that consumers could buy products such as Nike LunarGlide Liu Xiang Storm Fly running jackets at a price of 899 yuan ($141) under Liu Xiang's inspiration.

Nike is reluctant to unveiled its plans to increase its number of stores. Including franchised stores, Nike has 7500 stores in China selling its products.

Blair said Nike plans to enter small cities in China and sell canvas sneakers and sweat bands to consumers who have just heard of Nike brands. In August this year, Nike launched the first extreme sports shop in China to sell skateboards and skiing products in Shanghai. Nike says it is looking at other extreme sports shops.

In order to train consumers' demand for snowboard equipment, Nike plans to organize a snowboarding competition in the ski resort in the outskirts of Beijing in 2012, and will build its own venues. Nike plans to use Snowboard products to make Chinese consumers excited about this new sport. Last year, Finland snowboarding athlete PITU (Peetu Piironen) stepped on Nike snowboard to show his "U" pool skiing skills.

In the next few years, Nike intends to strengthen its partnership with the Chinese government, develop school sports programs and expand running clubs in universities. In 2009, Nike set up several running clubs in 11 universities in six cities in China, and said that the number of club members has increased. In order to attract female consumers, Nike held special training courses for female consumers in the gymnasium of seven cities in Nanjing and Chengdu in August this year.