On 30 July, in the table tennis mixed doubles final of the Paris Olympics, the Chinese team made up of Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha won the championship. Before the opening of this year’s Olympics, many brands, such as Yili and Procter & Gamble, recognised that the ‘Sha Tou’ combination of Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha had the potential to win and invited them to be their spokespersons. The origin of the name for this duo is also very interesting: Wang Chuqin’s nickname is ‘Big Head’ or ‘Big Tou’, combined with Sun Yingsha’s name including the word ‘Sha’, leading netizens to affectionately call them the ‘Sha Tou’ combination.
After ‘Sha Tou’ won the championship, Yili immediately sent out a flood of blessings, celebrating with posters in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Xi’an, Wuhan, and Chongqing overnight. Yili also lit up the big screen in Beijing, Wuhan, and Chongqing, and released the ‘Sha Tou Championship Song’, along with a super-fiery MV to commemorate the glory of winning gold.
As China’s national sport, table tennis, also known as ping pong, has always garnered immense attention from the Chinese people. This was the first gold medal won by the Chinese table tennis team in this year’s Olympics, and it holds special significance. Three years ago, at the Tokyo Olympics, table tennis mixed doubles were included in the programme for the first time, but the Chinese team failed to beat the Japanese players and lost, taking home the silver medal. Since then, mixed doubles have become an obsession for the Chinese table tennis team. The ‘Sha Tou’ combination, of which many netizens have pinned high hopes, has consistently been a hot topic on the Internet.
Before the opening of the Olympic Games, Yili sent its blessing to the ‘Sha Tou’ combination. On 10 May, Yili released a set of Chinese-style blockbuster photos featuring Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin, followed by a custom-made bus parade with their photos, creating a mobile flash mob that became a visual focus on the streets. Yili gained a lot of exposure and attention after ‘Sha Tou’ won the championship.
Yili’s brand image appeared several times under these Weibo topics: #Sun Yingsha & Wang Chuqin mixed doubles gold medal# gained 760 million views and #Yili’s Sha Tou Championship Song# gained 260 million views. The Sha Tou Championship Song was reposted by China Central Television News, Sina Sports, and other media outlets. The topic #Yili genuinely celebrates Sha Tou# (伊利为莎头真走心) also gained 67.62 million views. The media commented: ‘Yili, as the pride of the national brand, walks side by side with Sha Tou, from behind the scenes to the front of the stage, every support is cohesive with the respect and perseverance of the dream.’
On 31 July, the Chinese diving team’s women’s double 10-metre platform achieved seven consecutive championships, and Yili promptly sent a pre-recorded video blessing to the champion. The Weibo topic #Yili cheers for China’s athletes# has accumulated 8.06 billion views. As the official dairy partner of the Chinese sports delegation, Yili quickly captured the hot topics and transformed the hot events into brand events through the comprehensive presentation of the championship celebrations, consolidating Yili’s position in Olympic marketing and deepening its identity as the companion of the Olympic athletes.
