http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2008/07/13/Reebok_banking_on_Yao_ad_campaign/UPI-31961215988726/ Reebok banking on Yao ad campaign Published: July 13, 2008 at 6:38 PM BEIJING, July 13 (UPI) -- Reebok is trying to sell more shoes in China with the help of an NBA star from the Asian nation, the company says. The athletic shoemaker has begun an advertising campaign using Yao Ming, the 7-foot-6 center for the Houston Rockets and player on the Chinese Olympic basketball team, The Boston Globe reported Sunday. Already footwear companies Nike, Adidas, New Balance and others have long advertised in China, while Reebok was busy trying to woo buyers in Europe and North America. Last month, Reebok erected a 40-foot-tall statue of Yao Ming next to one of its massive billboards overlooking Beijing's busiest shopping district. On Tuesday, at some of its 800 stores in China, Reebok will unveil a limited-edition Yao Ming sneaker as part of the company's largest-ever advertising campaign. "With a huge global event like the Olympics, and with Yao as such a huge figure for the country, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as we make our charge into China," said Todd Krinsky, Reebok's vice president of sports and entertainment marketing. Reebok is dedicating about 14 percent of its revenue to marketing in China, which is slightly above the 10 percent industry average.
I just want them to make a pair of shoes for him that actually support his feet. If foot injuries end his career, how does that help anybody? I don't care if the shoes are three inches thick and a foot wide, get it done. Reebok looks terrible with Yao getting consecutive foot injuries.
don't they know big men NEVER sell shoes? i don't even know what kind of shoes yao wear outside of the reebok brand. i mean i can recognize the lebrons, kobes, wades, tmacs... from afar. i don't know what shoes duncan or shaq or amare wear. the only marketable big men shoe that has sold well is the KGs.
huh? you are talking about selling shoes in China not here. They only have one NBA superstar and Yao is much better and more popular there than Yi is.
No one wants Yao's shoes... especially when they are from Reebok. Average kids just don't model their game after a center... especially Yao who rarely show up on sportscenter. Then you have stories like these: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4242600.html http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=143844&page=1&pp=20 Yao just made a really poor decision when he signed with Reebok...
um i'm sure they sell the lebrons, kobes, wades, melos, jordans, tmacs, arenas... there bro. and those will outside yao's shoes, at least to the young population. yao is an icon over there no doubt. but selling shoes is not a big man's thing. it never was and never will be.
Id be interested to see that statue. Sounds like it's not too much smaller than the Sam Houston Statue
Well I don't know how tall the Sam Houston Statue is. But Big Yao's statue hoisted above Reebok's sales outlet in Wangfujing, the most busiest shopping district of Beijing, is HUGE...... 11 meter tall !!! .
Actually, Reebok had launched a suite of Yao Ming gears in January/February time frame, including the ATR ELITE KFS series. There are 2 versions: one with the matching Rockets red color, which Yao Ming had been wearing since the NBA All Stars in February and the other is a limited version for the Olympic, with the dragon design contributed by Big Yao himself. Yao Ming is now wearing this shoes to get accustomed to it for the Olympic. The ATR ELITE KFS series (which Yao Ming wore at the 2008 NBA All Stars) The Olympic version
OOPPSS...... I'm sorry. Big Yao was already wearing the dragon-designed ATR Elite KFS during the 2008 All Stars in New Orleans. The only difference between the Olympic version and that All Star version was the Olympic version will be golden insteads of black.
That dragon decoration is badass. Beside the fact that I'll never buy a pair of Reeboks for basketball again. I dont like how on the all star shoe the dragon is starts so high above the arches, the design is great but it looks disproportionately small on the shoe. and it's only on one side of the shoe On the Olympic version they fixed the problems with the allstar shoe but now there's that ugly banding running through the design and that nappy Reebok basketball on the tongue. I'm liking the idea and execution of a dragon for Yao's shoe though it'd be cool to see what Nike could do with it
