Nike vs. Adidas at 2008 Olympics

Adidas is an official sponsor of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing while Nike is not. One benefit that being an official sponsor gives is the right to use the Olympic rings and the official 2008 Beijing logo in your advertisements and marketing material. Adidas is taking advantage of this while Nike is not allowed. But if you take a look at the welcome screen to Nike's USA basketball page you'll notice some interesting text selection. All those swirls kind of look like a bunch of rings, no?

This battle holds cash-money implications for both Nike and Adidas in the hugely coveted Chinese market.

Another unique benefit of being an official sponsor is the right to be the only advertiser in your product line within a certain distance of official Olympic facilities.

The website Shanghaiist writes about the differentiation and how it is starting to be visibly apparent in subway stations.

Nike is not an Olympic sponsor, and one of the consequences of that is restriction of its advertising in Beijing during the Olympic period. Until about a week ago, Nike had a large advertising presence around shopping hot spot Wangfujing, but that changed after the restrictions went into effect July 19.

Check out the before and after images.

Adidas kicked off a number of their ad spots in China already and they're quite interesting.

Beijing 2008: Adidas "Together" Olympic Spot from R2 Studios on Vimeo.

A few more random sneaker tidbits. Nike is holding an MC'ing competition to see who could come up with the best rhyme -- an "anthem" if you will -- about team USA hoops. I listened to a few but couldn't find any gems. Feel free to test your ears for any witty lyrics and share them in the comments.

Comments

[theKrisheim]

nike is official BB partner, thats all they care about.

sorta like reebok having a deal/shoe with jay-z, but when he is sitting courtside at nba finals he is wearing af1s

[TheCoz]

Remember when Nike endorsed athletes from the 1992 Dream Team (Jordan, Barkley etc.) wore USA flags to cover up the logo of whomever was sponsering that year's Olympics? Can't remember if it was Reebok or Adidas. It's sad that athletic competition always have to be the means to a monetary end, even the Olympics.