Adidas disagrees. During a recent tour of China, Adidas ceo, Herbert Hainer, said Adidas would add 2,500 stores in small Chinese cities over the next five years. Adidas will launch NEO, a teen casual line at half the usual Adidas price.
At Adidas' advertising agency, TBWA, executive vice-president of Asia-Pacific, Ian Thubron, expects global brands to find it easier to move into lower-tier cities than for domestic brands, such as Li Ning or Anta, to penetrate tier-one cities.
"It will be difficult for them to premiumise their product to stand alongside Adidas or Nike," he said.
The global brands, in contrast, have worldwide networks of resources to help them hold their tier-one territory, while reaching out to the emerging middle class in the hinterlands.