Under Armour Keeps Adding To Asian Sponsorship Portfolio With Volleyball

Zhu Ting is set to front Under Armour campaigns across the Asia Pacific region. The 24-year-old captain of the Chinese National Football team and star of Turkish professional club Vakifbank, is also currently the world’s highest paid female club volleyball player.

Following the announcement, Jason Archer, VP and Managing Director, Under Armour Asia Pacific, added in a statement, “Zhu Ting’s passion to her sport and the spirit showcased in the game represent everything that Under Armour stands for. With our mission to make athletes better, we will continue to help athletes break through old boundaries and create new legends.”

According to the ASN Index, Under Armour has invested slightly over US$11.5m across all Asian markets since Q216, while this figure only represents 0.8% of the market share…nevertheless, the brand focuses on sport sponsorships and its spends for 2018 has grown by almost 80% to slightly over US$5.7m from US$3.2m in 2017.

The brand has allocated much of its sponsorship investment (79.1%) into Japan, particularly with an apparel deal with nation’s basketball federation, however, China, its second largest sponsorship market (21.8%) has been thriving with deals from the likes of Zhu Ting and the Rock & Roll Marathon.

In recent years, the brand has been breaking new ground with campaigns created by ad agency Droga5, including the impactful Unlike Any series, which featured videos of athletes accompanied by original poetry. The possibility of Zhu Ting fronting such a poignant campaign is high.