China is the second latest economy in the world, every significant brand's future is impacted by its growth (or collapse!); but who's got the time?! A weekly potpourri of ten reads that will make you look like a keen China observer during any conversation about China.

Apple, Björn Borg, Scotland and Australia, Ford, Hermes, brand colors, Bentleys, deleted photos of China's leader riding a Taiwanese bicycle and more... Continue reading...

Back at the start of the year, when consumers were asked what brands popped to mind when they thought of the Olympics, Nike was the number-one answer. Of course, it didn’t matter that Nike wasn’t actually an official sponsor of the event, but why quibble with such trivial details? In fact, Nike did a good job keeping attention on them during the Games themselves with the brilliant pushing-the-rules ad “Find Your Greatness.”

The point is, brands can shell out truckloads of cash to be involved in and event organizers can employ hundreds of “brand police” to ensure their paid sponsors aren’t getting screwed, but that doesn’t mean that when the Olympics end, people aren’t left saying, “I really should drink Coke more often!” or “Wouldn’t it be great to have a little more Panasonic around the house?”

YouGov BrandIndex, a daily consumer perception research service of brands, insists that only two of the partners for London 2012 “broke through in any significant way in consumer perception while a few had “very modest or no significant movement” or even “went backwards,” according to a company release. Continue reading...

While the 2008 Games were in Beijing, it was the London Olympics that provided a mature opportunity for athletic wear names -- both international and domestic -- to brand-build in the China market.

We have already looked at the success Li-Ning had with its "make a change" campaign and Nike's ambush "greatness" campaign, as well as Nike's last second retooling of its Liu Xiang sponsorship.

But what about other Chinese brands like 361°, Peak and Anta? A few had a smashing time in London. Continue reading...

David Beckham was all over the London 2012 Olympics, bringing the torch to the Olympic stadium in a boat, photo-bombing Adidas-sponsored local marketing, "directing" the brand's last commercial, hyping Samsung's Galaxy III and cheering on wife Victoria's Posh Spice revisited turn at the Closing Ceremony. He was even projected onto England's iconic white cliffs of Dover wearing only his H&M skivvies, a controversial stunt that foreshadowed the latest phase of his underwear campaign for the brand that continues this week.

Nine larger-than-life 11-foot statues of Beckham are coming to Los Angeles, New York's Flatiron District and San Francisco as H&M looks to drive sales of Beckham's bodywear line. (Follow the hashtag #HMBeckham for details on a related contest.) He's also the Paralympics brand ambassador for British grocer Sainsbury's, with a new campaign breaking Thursday that promotes the Games' UK telecast on Channel 4. Check it out below.Continue reading...

London 2012 official sportswear partner Adidas released a mock music video on Sunday, in keeping with the Olympics' closing ceremony tribute to British music through the years. The video features members of Team GB including track and field star Jessica Ennis and Sir Chris Hoy. It's "directed" by David Beckham, with the British Olympians lip-synching Queen's "Can't Stop Me Now," and features the Twitter hashtag #stagetaken — a reference to the brand's "Take the Stage" campaign. 

"Our presence in and around the Olympic Games was fantastic," stated Herbert Hainer, CEO of the adidas Group, in a press release wrapping up the brand's London 2012 efforts and results. "It translates into record Olympic merchandise sales and a record year for the adidas Group in the UK. This clearly sets the stage for us to achieve market leadership in the UK by 2015."

An end-of-Games promotion from adidas invited fans to share their most "all-in" moment from the Games to win a pair of limited-edition London 2012 shoes from its Olympics customization studio as you can see below:Continue reading...

Olympics sponsor Adidas customized the red adiZero shoes worn by Britain's Olympics darling Jessica Ennis in gold, following her Heptathlon win on Saturday. (Check out how they did it below.) Adidas is also touting the Barricade 7.0 shoes that Andy Murray wore to beat Roger Federer in the men's tennis final on Sunday — marking Great Britain's first Olympic gold medal in tennis since 1908.Continue reading...

Jamaica Celebrates as World's Fastest Man and Woman Retain Olympic Titles

Jamaica celebrates its 50th anniversary of freedom today and it couldn't be better timed. Coming on the heels of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce's 100-meter gold medal on Saturday to retain her title as world's fastest woman, Jamaicans continued the celebration after Bolt won his fourth Olympic gold medal Sunday, this one for the 100-meter dash in London. Before Bolt defended his World’s Fastest Man status and showed off all his post-race antics and unbelievable smile, the Puma-sponsored sprinter had himself a chicken wrap from McDonald’s, according to USA Today. This admission bodes well for Bolt’s wallet as he will likely be a much-sought-after pitchman in the wake of the Games, even as he disagrees with LOCOG's controversial Rule 40 governing athletes' personal sponsors. Only 25 years old, he may have another gold in him four years from now in Brazil. He's certainly not shy; having just passed one million Twitter fans, his bio reads: "The most naturally gifted athlete the world has ever seen."Continue reading...

"Some journalists have been surprised to see Olympic workers taping over the logos on their Dell and Apple computers, since neither company is bankrolling the games, and the U.S. women's soccer team has been told not to hand out its media guide because it has 12 small logos of its sponsors — which are not official Olympics 2012 backers."

The absurd levels to which Olympic organizers are going to erase any and every possible non-sponsor brand name from peaking out came to its absurd apex on Saturday during the archery competition. On his way to the bronze medal, Chinese archer Xiaoxiang Dai was forced to put neon-yellow tape on his hat to cover its nearly invisible, black on black logo for… the Chicago Bears. Continue reading...