Nike Liu Xiang Essay

Crisis Management in Celebrity Endorsement assemblage 3 Shweta Zacharia Kern Rachita Swarooparani Nike * Worlds leading supplier of acrobatic gear * A major sponsor of various global sports events and high-profile athletes and athletic teams * Entered into China in 1980 Considered to be the coolest strike off in China- success ascribable to clever marketing Liu Xiang * One of Nikes most important brand ambassadors in China * First endorsement signed in 2002- he won his first World Championship * New television commercialised (TVC) launched in 2004- he won a gold medal at Athens Olympics- Stereotypes are meant to be broken What went wrong in this order of battle? Nike spent heavily on high-profile advertising campaigns centred on Beijing Olympics composings *It alike invested a lot of money to design new sportswear and footwear for Liu and other athletes specifically for the Beijing Olympics * Liu was considered to be more valuable than Yao Ming (Chinese basketball game Team ) as he was believed to have a higher chance of defend his title from Athens Olympics- so more money was spent on him * A couple of days before the event, Liu quit the race callable to an Achilles injury after a false start by some other athlete * This was believed to be a big blow to Nike as Liu was the substructure for their program What was the reaction to this? * Mixed emotions spread by dint ofout China. Some of them were harmonized while others were angry as the news that Liu was injured was kept in the dark till the last moment. * Online posts on a major Chinese portal even criticized Nike by saying that Nike forced Liu non to participate, as the odds in favour of Liu winning the race was unfavourable. Liu made a public apology and expressed his interest in the sport. His desire for achievement is tranquilize burning in him and he will soon cede back to the sport. What did Nike do? * The day after Lius detachment, Nike placed a full-page tweaked advertisement depict ing Lius love of sport disdain setbacks * Subsequently, a revised TVC was launched under the same theme- rage sport in spite of setbacks What is expected to happen now? Although Lius existing contracts might not be terminated immediately, in order to avoid public backlash, his withdrawal might affect advertisers decisions on renewals. Questions that need to be answered * Would Nikes Love Sport despite Setbacks tweaking strategy work?Yes, we think it will work. * Would Nike be able to crack Lius withdrawal from the Beijing Olympics into an opportunity to that boost its brand image? Yes, Nike might be able to turn this crisis into an opportunity to further boost its brand image if it continues with Liu. This will perish it an edge over other sports gear-brands, which have contracts only with successful players and kibosh them once a better player comes into the picture. Nike can project itself as a partner to the player through thick and thin. This will attention to make it a trusted brand. * What alternatives did Nike and other global brands have to derogate the losses from Lius withdrawal? 1.Nike and other global brands can still endorse Liu barely reduce the amount spent on him. 2. though Liu was injured, they can still keep Liu in their campaigns, making him support the coming(prenominal) champions in the sport. 3. By keeping Liu (though he was injured), Nike can prove to the customers that Nike is with them through thick and thin. * Would Nike and the other sponsors drop Liu from their future campaigns? No, we think that they should not drop Liu from their campaign so soon but stick to the theme that they have adopted in this crisis. This is in keeping up with the intuitive feeling of sportsmanship never give up. Tough times do not last, but tough people do