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What does a story from professional basketball have to do with angling? Or more significantly if you work for a tackle brand in the USA or Europe, what does it have to do with your business?
Your answer might be: nothing. But the truth is: everything.
The news this month that US basketball superstar Steph Curry has just signed an endorsement deal with Chinese sportswear giant Li-Ning confirms a shift in the strategies of Chinese businesses – and demonstrates where power is heading. The player ended a 12-year deal with US activewear firm Under Armour last year, but instead of signing again with them or perhaps another US brand, Curry agreed a partnership with Li-Ning. He will collaborate on new products and on plans to launch his signature chain of shops in the US and China.
The Li-Ning deal brings a secret about Chinese brand-building out into the open. And as a professional in the angling trade, you need to be aware of what is likely to come next. For branded sneakers read rods, reels and lures.
For decades, the world of brands has been reliably simple. Chinese companies made the products. Western companies built the brands, secured the endorsements and controlled the consumer relationship.
Now that equation is changing.
China’s leading companies increasingly want more than manufacturing contracts. They want market share. They want brand recognition. They want influence. And they are investing accordingly. And if that sounds like a story from another industry, think again.
The Li-Ning deal is not from another world. In fact, Angling International has just featured an interview with one of Europe’s leading tackle show organisers who has just returned from his own fact-finding mission to China to the Shanghai International Lure Fishing Show. By his own admission, Felix Steinacker, the Head of ANGELWELT, Germany’s fast-growing business and consumer fishing event, was blown away by the sophisticated brand-building on show at that Shanghai event.
His message is simple: China is setting new standards in connecting tackle brands to consumers. And not oniy is the ambition there, but just like with the Curry sponsorship, so is the money.
For years, many businesses in our industry have viewed China primarily as the world’s tackle factory. But the manufacturers that once focused solely on production have spent decades accumulating expertise in engineering, design, quality control, automation and product development. Many now possess capabilities that rival or exceed those of companies elsewhere in the world.
The result is that China is no longer simply producing fishing tackle for other brands. Increasingly, it is creating its own products, developing its own intellectual property and building its own global ambitions.
That should not surprise anyone. History shows that manufacturing leadership is often followed by technological leadership, then brand leadership. In the past, trade shows in Beijing and Weihai showcased manufacturing capacity, but now innovation is at the forefront. But what is more significant is that some businesses that were once almost invisible outside China are now actively pursuing international growth and establishing their own identities in global markets.
If you are in the business of brand building in Europe and the USA, you need to pay attention.
This is not a warning that established brands are about to disappear. Strong brands are built over generations and trust remains one of the most valuable assets any company can possess.
But it is a reminder that competitive landscapes never stand still.
Just as the sportswear industry is discovering that Chinese brands are willing to challenge the established order for the world’s biggest athletes, angling may discover that China’s ambitions extend far beyond manufacturing.
The question is not whether Chinese tackle companies can compete. The question is: what advantages do Western brands still have – and how they are going to leverage them to stay ahead?
