Parker of the San Antonio Spurs wears Peak. Photo: Courtesy of Peak

With hundreds of millions of basketball fans still savoring the excitement of the 2013 NBA championship finals, the Chinese sports brand Peak is surging ahead in manufacturing capacity and resolve to keep up with demand for their NBA star-endorsed products, Tony Parker's Lighting TP9 and Shane Battier's VII sneakers.

As the NBA's official marketing partner in China, Peak signed contracts with many team members in the NBA finals, including Shane Battier of the Miami Heat and Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs. Combined with Peak's endorsement deals with nearly 20 other NBA players, this makes them the third-largest sports brand supporter of the NBA.

As the tournament progressed to an epic finale in Game 7, the popularity of Parker and Battier exploded. The shoes they wore during the NBA finals - Parker's Lightning TP9 Limited Edition and Battier's Battier VII - have been all the craze among NBA fans. Peak is working overtime to mobilize enough factories to meet the urgent need to restock shelves with the shoes.

According to Xu Jingnan, the company's chairman, Peak has more than 6,000 stores in China. "Parker's and Battier's signature shoes have sold out in more than 50 percent of the stores, causing dealers to increase orders," said Xu.

Excellent brand marketing has also caused this dramatic increase in sales. After the opening rounds of the playoffs, Peak built buzz around the champions by shooting commercials featuring Battier and Parker. "Wear Peak, Win the Championship" became the slogan of NBA fans.

During the NBA finals, Peak invested a great deal of money to air these commercials on the two most popular broadcasters of the game in China. As a result, Peak's stores and marketing techniques became another important platform for communicating the brand's concept between the playoffs and the finals.

"We're continually working to improve design and manufacturing processes to provide fans with better shoes," Xu said. "Peak has made basketball shoes for 24 years. We have already signed deals with FIBA, the NBA, and more than 20 NBA players."

Global Times