As Confucius says, “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away a few small stones.” Even the great philosopher, however, might struggle to do what Chinese sports brand Anta must do – develop a marketing strategy capable of competing with Adidas and Nike’s.
Because, according to ISPO.com, even in its home market of China “Anta Sports is number three behind Nike and Adidas.”
But it turns out, the $29.75 billion market-cap brand has a plan.
According to Retail in Asia, Anta aims “to become a leading multi-brand sportswear & equipment group in the world…with its “Single focus, Multi-brand, Globalization” strategy.”
Anta first released its 5-year strategic targets in 2021. And, digging into them, one thing jumps out – their C-suite hope to outflank Nike and Adidas by focussing on the next generation of consumers.
The Jinjiang-based company’s own press release clearly states, they want to “lead Generation Z.” They plan to “target emerging sports favoured by Generation Z by working closely with high-quality idols and athletes with strong sports attributes.”
In practice, that’s going to mean paying as many of the next wave of young athletes as possible to wear Anta shorts, shirts, and shoes. Or, alternatively, signing up a smaller sports talent pool, but making sure it includes all the biggest names.
After that, Anta is already building its brand amongst Generation Alpha (the demographic following Generation Z, currently including all children born in or after 2010) with its successful Anta Kids range.
And, as well as judicious investment in establishing brand-loyalty amongst the consumers of tomorrow, the company has bought wisely. Acquiring Finnish competitor Amer Sports, for 4.6 billion euros.
The fact that Amer owns already well-known brands like Salomon, Peak Performance and Atomic, may have been a key reason for the purchase.
So, as well as building their own brand name, Anta is shrewdly investing in stand-out sports names people already know.
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” Another Confucian insight. As Adidas and Nike will have gathered by now, Anta won’t be.