Author | Fu Kong The much-anticipated Paris Olympics is getting closer and closer. Hearty sports events have always been a hot topic on the streets, and they are also the best springboard for brand building. The perfect jump at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics made Gu Ailing...

Author | Not empty

The much-anticipated Paris Olympics is getting closer.

Exciting sports events have always been a hot topic on the streets and are also the best springboard for brand building.

A perfect jump at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics made Gu Ailing directly become the most popular sports star in the Chinese market.

In the latest 2023 income list of female athletes released by Forbes magazine, Gu Ailing ranked second with US$22.1 million, of which US$22 million came from off-field endorsements.

Gu Ailing is not only endorsed by many sports, food, and home furnishing brands, but is also favored by high-end luxury brands such as IWC, Tiffany, and LV Louis Vuitton. On January 26, Porsche officially announced Gu Ailing as its global spokesperson.

Talented people emerge from generation to generation, and this sentence is also applicable in the sports circle. Summer has come and cold has passed, the memory of the Beijing Winter Olympics has gradually faded, and the summer atmosphere in Paris has become increasingly intense. The focus of the sports world is changing. In addition to Gu Ailing, the emerging sports stars in China are also attracting the attention of brands.

This young player in 2002 also enjoys the reputation of "genius girl". At this year's Australian Open, Zheng Qinwen entered the Grand Slam final as a dark horse, becoming the second Chinese female player to reach a Grand Slam singles final after Li Na. Although

ultimately lost to defending champion Sabalenka, her strong competitive performance and confident and determined image are all releasing commercial potential to the outside world that cannot be underestimated. The relevant person in charge of Yili commented in response to an interview with China Business News, "She (Zheng Qinwen) is occupying a more important position in the world of tennis at an immeasurable speed."

Not long ago, she became the first to board the world's Formula One Zhou Guanyu, a Chinese driver in the Formula 1 race (referred to as "F1"), has also made intensive official endorsements, including luxury brands such as Hublot, Hennessy, and Dior, as well as national consumer brands such as Anmuxi and McDonald's.

With the Paris Olympics just around the corner, world-class traffic and attention await China’s rising sports stars, which will inevitably take away the share of brand endorsements. In contrast, ice and snow events will remain dormant until 2026. Can Gu Ailing hold on to the commercial arena? Who can become the next sports star?

In the sports circle, the birth of a superstar is mostly inseparable from the three major elements of "time, location, and people". In the case of Gu Ailing, personal choices at key nodes played a crucial role.

Gu Ailing, a Chinese-American mixed race who has lived in the United States since she was a child, made an important decision before the Beijing Winter Olympics: she chose to give up her identity as an American athlete and represent the Chinese team. At a time when nationalism was on the rise, this choice not only greatly increased Gu Ailing's impression points, but also became the cognitive basis for subsequent word-of-mouth fermentation and promotion out of the industry.

One of the most obvious comparisons is the athlete of the same period, the talented boy Su Yiming, who is one year younger than her. Even though the two have performed well in the Olympics, Gu Ailing is clearly at the forefront in terms of national buzz and the amount of brand cooperation.

Gu Ailing’s slender, healthy figure and delicate face are deeply loved by the fashion circle, and her confident and positive temperament shown in her words and deeds are in line with the spiritual pursuits of the younger generation, becoming an excellent way for brands to leverage the young market . In addition, skiing, a project with a mainly middle-class audience, and Gu Ailing’s educational background from a world-class university also make her attractive in the high-end market.

Gu Ailing participated in the gq men of the year party｜Photo source: Weibo @frog princess ailing

Before sports events, brands often adopt a "bet" strategy. During the Beijing Winter Olympics, whether it was performance on the field or personal conditions, Gu Ailing was a popular player for brands to bet on, and has won more than 30 brand endorsements.

Along with the overwhelming attention, there is also a comprehensive personal trial of Gu Ailing by public opinion. Among them, the issue that has attracted the most public attention is Gu Ailing’s nationality.

In the current international public opinion environment, nationalism and patriotism are constantly surging. Gu Ailing's nationality issues, interviews and speeches, etc. will often trigger heated discussions on social media. What is affected is not only Gu Ailing's national favorability, but also the brand's consideration of the safety of athlete endorsements. Once sensitive topics are involved, it is tantamount to entering a brand minefield.

In order to calm the public opinion storm, Gu Ailing also made it clear in the interview that she plans to continue to represent China in the 2026 Winter Olympics.

However, her daily life, social interaction, and entertainment are still based in the United States. She usually only returns to China when needed for competitions and brand cooperation. On the one hand, the geographical gap of keeps distance between Gu Ailing and Chinese users. On the other hand, the brand's landing rights are likely to be compromised due to Gu Ailing's traveling back and forth, which will also affect the final conclusion of Gu Ailing's brand cooperation.

In addition, Gu Ailing’s astonishing number of brand endorsements has greatly increased his business income, but it has diluted the marketing value of a single brand . After all, Gu Ailing’s energy is limited and it is difficult to ensure the frequency of interaction with all cooperative brands, and his in-depth brand participation is limited.

Chopped Pepper statistics found that on Gu Ailing’s personal Weibo account, Gu Ailing only interacted once with Midea, Fruit and Vegetable Garden and other brands during the official announcement video.

Extending Gu Ailing's brand endorsements vertically along the timeline, it can be found that compared with first-line brands with intensive official announcements before and after the Winter Olympics, as the popularity of the Winter Olympics fades, Gu Ailing's ability to expand high-luxury brands has declined. In 2023, Gu Ailing even had to lower the brand threshold and cooperate with lifestyle brands represented by Fruit and Vegetable Garden.

Gu Ailing also needs to face the practical problem of limited commercial value of the project itself.

Ice and snow sports belong to the field of extreme sports. Due to their own nature, there are few extreme sports-related events and insufficient influence. In January this year, Gu Ailing participated in the X Games World Extreme Games despite being injured. It can be regarded as the top event in the field of extreme sports. However, in terms of the maturity and spread of the event, it is far from enough to support Gu Ailing's leapfrog. four-year Olympic cycle.

As China’s sports world continues to develop, new young forces are growing rapidly, and stories of genius girls and genius boys are no longer rare.

Zheng Qinwen, who also has a healthy complexion and high self-confidence, turned to professional tennis in 2022 and his performance has been rising. In 2022, Zheng Qinwen advanced to the top 16 of the French Open and won the WTA Rookie of the Year, becoming the first Chinese to win this honor. In just two years, Zheng Qinwen has reached the top 8 of the US Open and Australian Open, and is known as the "Rocket Girl". Off the court, Zheng Qinwen is well-spoken and full of fighting spirit. He can also export his fluent English expressions to the world, showing his potential in the international market.

As far as the brand is concerned, Zheng Qinwen’s greater appeal lies in the fact that tennis, which she is deeply involved in, is one of the mainstream international sports, and it is second to none in terms of exposure and national popularity.

For a brand, whether it is choosing a spokesperson or sponsoring an event, the main purpose is exposure. The more intensive the events and the higher the attention, the higher the enthusiasm of brand sponsorship, and the commercial value of athletes in this event will also be easier to increase.

Take tennis as an example. As one of the three major commercial ball sports in the world, tennis-related events are held almost all year round and maintain high popularity around the world. Brands are naturally keen on this.

In this year’s Australian Open, many consumer brands are participating. Luckin Coffee has become the official exclusive coffee partner of the Australian Open in China and Southeast Asia, and Luzhou Laojiao has been exposed as a joint sponsor and official partner of the Australian Open for many years.

Because of this, tennis is also the top-earning sports event for women, and it has topped the Forbes list of highest-paid female athletes all year round.Among the top ten highest-paid female athletes in 2023, except for Gu Ailing, the other nine are tennis players.

Li Na, who won the Asian Women's Singles Grand Slam, verified the good commercial value of tennis players to the outside world many years ago. In 2011, Li Na won the French Open for the first time, and the Chinese sports world was in shock, with brand endorsements pouring in. That year, Li Na was selected into the top ten highest-paid female athletes in the world by Forbes magazine. As her career continues to rise, Li Na's peak income was once even comparable to that of football superstar Messi.

At present, the sports attributes of Zheng Qinwen’s cooperative brands are relatively obvious, such as the sports drink Gatorade and the nutrition brand Swish. The exploration of Zheng Qinwen's feminine side and personalization has yet to be developed. For example, there are relatively few brand cooperations in the fields of beauty, skin care, and home furnishings.

Of course, Zheng Qinwen’s commercial value also needs more solid and stable results as a foundation . On the day when Bawang Chaji officially announced the cooperation, Zheng Qinwen also made his first appearance in the WTA Madrid 1000. Unfortunately, Zheng Qinwen eventually retired due to injury.

Industry insiders revealed that in contracts for brand sponsorship spokespersons, competition performance is listed as an important assessment factor. Once the performance is poor, it will also affect the brand's willingness to cooperate. In contrast, Gu Ailing's performance on the court is more stable and is a choice with a greater chance of winning for the brand.

Not only genius girls are emerging, but genius boys are also unstoppable.

Before the Beijing Winter Olympics, Su Yiming, who was one year younger than Gu Ailing, had not yet shown his talents. With the results of two medals in the Winter Olympics and the continuous upgrading of competition difficulty, Su Yiming gradually became famous.

is similar to Gu Ailing’s story. Su Yiming’s image of becoming famous at a young age has attracted the cooperation of many first-line brands. After the Winter Olympics, his agent publicly stated that he would reject a large number of brand invitations every day. However, Su Yiming's commercial value has still achieved considerable growth. At that time, compared with Gu Ailing, the real winner of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Su Yiming was still significantly behind.

However, unlike Gu Ailing’s sensitive nationality, Su Yiming is a native Chinese athlete. After the Beijing Winter Olympics, he chose to enter Tsinghua University for further study. Since last year, Su Yiming has gradually returned to the competition and revealed his ambition to compete in the 2026 Milan Olympics. The difference in gender advantages between men and women will inevitably affect the careers of athletes. In this regard, Su Yiming has an advantage. The industry is more optimistic about Su Yiming's performance in the 2026 Milan Olympics, and his commercial value has the potential to catch up with Gu Ailing.

As an F1 driver in 1999, Zhou Guanyu successfully completed his home debut in Shanghai in April this year. Under the aura of the world's top motorsports, Zhou Guanyu's commercial value continues to explode. 6 Krypton once analyzed Zhou Guanyu’s fan portraits with the help of huge arithmetic and found that most of Zhou Guanyu’s fans come from first-tier cities and new first-tier cities, have stronger spending power, and are more willing to pay for brand value.

Taking advantage of the home field advantage, F1-related topics have reached a new peak in the domestic market. A large number of high-end brands have also targeted Zhou Guanyu's business potential and launched a variety of cooperation.

Lululemon, a yoga pants brand focused on female users, has locked in Zhou Guanyu as early as last year and officially announced him as the brand ambassador. During the hot topic of F1, lululemon jointly planned a special exhibition and limited edition commemorative items for the home show with Zhou Guanyu during the hot topic of F1. . This action of is regarded by the industry as a positive signal to expand to male users.

Picture source: lululemon WeChat public account

The young and energetic sports star is still growing strongly. In addition to the competition field, they will also compete in the larger commercial market.

2024 is destined to be another year when the sports market explodes.

Swimming World Championships, Football European Cup, Paris Olympic Games, Badminton World Tour Finals... various events are coming one after another. With the support of various events, the commercial value of sports athletes is also rising.

In addition to national consumer brands such as Yili and Mengniu, a large number of high-end brands and new consumer brands are setting their sights on athletes .Before the Women's World Cup last year, Italian luxury brand Prada officially announced that it would become the official partner of the Chinese Women's Football Team. During the Asian Games last year, on the day Wang Shun broke the Asian record and won the gold medal in the 200-meter medley, Luckin had already started distributing endorsement materials. This year, lvmh Group spent 150 million euros to sponsor the Paris Olympics.

It is less than a hundred days away from the Paris Olympic Games, and the brand sports marketing war has begun. Different from previous Olympic Games, the "luxury content" of this year's Paris Olympic Games is significantly higher.

As a senior partner of the Paris Olympic Games, lvmh not only designed two hard-shell cases for the Olympic Games, athletes participating in the Paris Olympic Games can also receive a top luxury product while receiving medals; the medals for this Olympic Games are from jewelry brands Chaumet, whose founder was Napoleon's royal jeweler; high-end leather goods brand berluti "favored" the Olympic Games opening ceremony in the form of sponsored equipment.

From the perspective of sports, brands prefer sports with high national popularity and strong development or top athletes with higher reputations.

Table tennis, diving, swimming, weightlifting and other sports are rich in champions, and the national reputation is also higher, which meets the needs of brand safety and stability. Taking table tennis as an example, the men's team Fan Zhendong and the women's team Sun Yingsha are both popular players for the Paris cycle singles gold. In addition, the popularity of young player Wang Chuqin is also rising, and the number of brand cooperation has increased.

In the three major sports, compared to the men's team, the women's basketball, women's football, and women's volleyball teams are more discussed and have a greater winning rate for medals. Among them, the Chinese women's basketball team has performed well in the international arena in recent years, winning the World Cup runner-up, Asian Cup championship, and Hangzhou Asian Games championship. Athletes such as Li Meng, Han Xu, and Li Yueru have all become brand darlings one after another.

Picture source: Peak Sports WeChat public account

Judging from the vertical schedule of the Olympic Games, first-time gold medal athletes are also popular positions for brand bets. Yang Qian, a shooting athlete who won the first gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics, won cooperation with more than ten brands such as Estee Lauder and Xiaomi Civi 1s after the Olympics.

According to the schedule previously announced by the Paris Olympic Organizing Committee, the first gold medal of the Paris Olympic Games will be born in the mixed team 10-meter air rifle in the shooting event or the women's synchronized 3-meter springboard in the diving event. In the mixed team 10-meter air rifle event, 17-year-old Huang Yuting and 18-year-old Sheng Lihao are undoubtedly the best combination currently. Among them, Sheng Lihao has already shown his talents at the Tokyo Olympics, and even broke the men's 10-meter air rifle world record at last year's Asian Games. This time he competes in the Olympics for the second time, and the brand's chances of winning are not low.

In addition, this year's Paris Olympics will also add four new emerging sports: break dancing, surfing, skateboarding and competitive rock climbing. These youth-oriented sports are bound to arouse heated discussions among young users, and are worthy of early deployment by the brand. Currently, Chinese surfer Yang Siqi, who is only 15 years old, has qualified for the Paris Olympics.

What is certain is that after the floodgates of commercialization are opened, more and more athletes will join the competition for brand business. However, the "Matthew Effect" of sports athlete-brand cooperation is still very obvious. In addition to several major advantageous projects, has less well-known projects such as archery and kayaking, but has achieved outstanding results and is still rarely favored by brands.

Even though top athletes appear frequently, the number one brother and sister in China's sports world has been absent for a long time. What this actually reflects is the shortcomings of my country’s current athlete business ecosystem.

From the perspective of the athletes themselves, compared with overseas athletes, Chinese athletes lack IP awareness and are unwilling to sign with a professional agent team. In fact, both Gu Ailing and Zheng Qinwen are signed under the well-known brokerage company img, and they use the resources and operational capabilities of the brokerage company to build long-term IP. On the other hand, a large number of domestic professional athletes prefer to leave the management of business cooperation to their families. For example, boxer Zou Shiming currently has his wife manage the business cooperation.

The whistle of sports marketing has already sounded. This is not only a contest of athletes’ commercial value, but also a test of brand insight.Who can become the next Gu Ailing? Who can bet on the next Gu Ailing? The Paris Olympics will hand in its answers soon.