Basketball, milk and China? It seems an unlikely parntership, but yesterday the NBA announced an extensive marketing deal with Mengniu Milk, China’s top producer of milk by sales volume. We’ve been reading about how China’s large population is increasing the country’s milk consumption. This campaign will further that increase even more.
The league’s presence in China has increased steadily since the Washington Bullets played the national team in exhibition games there in 1979. It is raising its profile further in the run-up to the Olympic Games next year with a local partner that markets aggressively all over the country.
The deals underscore the explosive growth of milk-drinking in China, which has been jump-started by improvements in transportation and technology. To take advantage, both Mengniu and Yili have been promoting the benefits of milk — especially to young people. Mengniu, for example, sponsors a television show called “Among the Cities” that will capitalize on China’s pre-Olympic frenzy by searching for the country’s best amateur athletes. The program’s slogan: “Drink more milk and play more sports — everyone will be his own health champion.”
The NBA campaign will combine elements of American glitz — retired NBA great George Gervin will attend the news conference — with a grass-roots effort to create more milk drinkers. The company will provide a free carton of milk to children at 500 schools in poor and rural areas of China, along with educational materials promoting its products.