Chinese sportswear brand Anta aims to become next Nike

Headnote

Company plans to leverage stronghold in second- and third-tier cities to compete in global market

[FUJIAN, CHINA] Anta, one of China's largest sportswear marketers, hopes its slogan "Forge yourself" will someday be as well-known as Mike's "Just do it" and Adidas' "Impossible is nothing."

As an aspiring global brand, Anta still has a long way to go. But the company plans to fund expansion with an initial public offering later this year in Hong Kong and is taking its first marketing steps. Almost a year ago, Samuel Xu joined Anta as marketing director after client-service jobs at several international ad agencies, most recently Anta's agency, Grey. Mr. Xu, 32, held a review and switched Anta's business to JWT, Nike's agency in China until a 2005 move to Wieden & Kennedy.

Like many local manufacturers, Anta's stronghold is not China's first-tier cities. In Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, its homegrown brand pales next to sophisticated foreign brands and even Li Ning, a leading Chinese sportswear marketer.

"Nike and Adidas have a competitive...