The footsteps of the Paris Olympics are getting closer, and the movements of sports brands are also becoming more intense.
The two giants Nike and Adidas have successively launched their brand sponsored athlete equipment for the Paris Olympics in Paris. The Olympic equipment of PUMA and lululemon has gained considerable discussion on social media platforms through their unique design.
In addition to traditional Olympic events such as the three major balls, swimming, weightlifting, athletics, and shooting, the 2024 Paris Olympics will welcome four new events - breakdancing, skateboarding, rock climbing, and surfing. After the International Olympic Committee approved the new Olympic project proposal, sports brands have corresponding product layouts.
Breakdancing is widely regarded as the most visually appealing of the four new Olympic events. From the perspective of major categories, street dance belongs to the category of sports dance. In addition to street dance, sports dance also includes modern dance (waltz, Viennese waltz, tango, foxtrot, brisk step) and Latin dance (rumba, cha cha cha, samba, cowboy, bullfighting dance).
And even in sports dance, breakdancing, which was the first to enter the Olympics, is considered one of the most ornamental events. Because breakdancing emphasizes the dancer's strength, speed, and coordination, while also placing great emphasis on creativity and personal expression. In commercial competitions outside of the Olympics, tickets to top tier breakdancing events are often hard to come by.
Interface News found that both Nike and Adidas have invested in this project. Nike launched its first breakdancing shoe, the Nike Jam, in April. According to Nike, the brand invited multiple professional dancers to participate in Nike's sports research laboratory experiments, and ultimately developed the brand's first breakdancing shoe.
Adidas continues to play its best "star card" in new projects: the brand has signed the current number one star in China's breakdancing industry, Liu Qingyi. 19-year-old Liu Qingyi made it to the Paris Olympics with her gold medal in women's breakdancing at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. Previously, Liu Qingyi won the women's championship at the Outbreak 2022 Street Dance Competition and the runner up at the 2022 World Breakdance Championships.
Liu Qingyi is China's first world top breaking dance champion and also the recipient of China's first ever breaking dance world championship medal. She represents the highest level of breaking dance in China and is expected to stand on the podium at the Paris Olympics. It is worth noting that the Olympic equipment contract for the Chinese breakdancing national team has been won by domestic sports brand Tebu. Although the personal contract belongs to Adidas, Liu Qingyi will wear a special team uniform to participate in the Paris Olympics at that time.
As for the other three new projects, not only Nike and Adidas are concerned, Vans、 Pathfinder, Andma and other brands have also opened new product lines for projects such as skateboarding and rock climbing. After all, for brands, developing products for new Olympic projects is an important growth opportunity.
New Olympic events often have high attention and exposure, and audiences are likely to develop a strong interest in them. These levels of attention and exposure are the media value that sports brands can gain.
At the same time, new Olympic events can also stimulate consumers' curiosity and desire to try. Viewers may develop a personal interest in trying out new projects while watching their competitions. Brands that have already developed and launched new products before the Olympic Games will undoubtedly have an advantage in this competition and win more market share.
The new "Four Little Ones" of the Paris Olympics have attracted a large number of brands to enter, and some potential emerging projects that have not yet officially entered the Olympic family have also been launched by some brands.
For example, Pickleball, an emerging event listed as a performance event at the Paris Olympics, is highly likely to become an official event at the 2028 Olympics. Due to the similarity in rules, gameplay, and tennis, the development of badminton products is not difficult for brands that have been deeply involved in tennis for a long time. Professional tennis brands like Head have launched a series of badminton products in recent years.
According to the American Pickball Association, the number of participants in American Pickball increased by 85.7% year-on-year to 36 million in 2022. With the increasing audience, sports brands such as Nike, Adidas, Skechers, and others have successively launched specialized sports equipment, and sports stars such as James and Durant have also invested in their own sports teams.
Taking Sketch as an example, this American brand has been testing multiple badminton events in China in 2023, including the National Pickball Grand Prix. "Firstly, the brand has launched products specifically designed for the sport of sports, and then there will be promotion at the public level, with the deployment of events being a very important part," said Xu Bujiong, Sports Marketing Director of SKECH China, in an interview with Interface News