Olympics sponsors put marketing plans into action

Corporate sponsors of the upcoming Rio Summer Olympics are using marketing to connect with audiences through the personal stories of athletes and their families. Remember 'Thank you, Mum' from the last Olympics? That was Procter and Gamble's memorable marketing idea, connecting with consumers on an emotional level by showing how mothers provide vital behind-the-scenes motivation for athletes. Here's a video about P&G's support from the Olympic sponsor page.

P&G doesn't just market the Olympics sponsorship under its corporate umbrella. Many of its billion-pound consumer brands will also have a tie-in campaign for the Rio summer games. 'One of the myths is that the Olympics is more of an image-building opportunity', P&G's brand director of Olympics & sports marketing said at a recent sports marketing conference. 'Over the last three [Olympic] games, we’ve seen how it is a business-building platform for brands'.

BMW, like many sponsors, is not only sponsoring Olympic teams, it's focusing its marketing efforts on selected athletes. For example, BMW is creating marketing communications to follow medal-contenders and up-and-comers alike on the Canadian team, including high-jumper Derek Drouin. Each athlete chosen for BMW's marketing treatment will receive a BMW to drive.

Visa International is a long-time Olympics sponsor with experience marketing its financial services in conjunction with sports sponsorships. This year, it teamed up with another sponsor, Swatch, to allow attendees in Rio to pay using a smartwatch app. Like so many other sponsors, Visa has its own roster of athletes that will be the face of its marketing efforts.

Watch for more marketing activities, especially social media marketing, in the weeks leading up to the opening of the Olympics.

Marketing the Sochi Olympics

The resort city of Sochi, Russia, is the location of the Winter Olympics  scheduled to open on 7 February, 2014. As a figure skating fan, I'm looking forward to seeing the world's best skaters in four disciplines--men's, ladies, pairs and ice dancers--compete next year.

Located on the Black Sea, Sochi is being transformed to host the Olympics with massive investments in new venues, new hotels and new infrastructure. Media around the world are getting ready for this special event with coverage of local athletes and teams, as well as historical results of previous winter Olympics.

What about the business side? Global sponsors are busy preparing marketing plans for activities and adverts prior to the games and at Olympic Village.

Merchandising (both online and in stores) can be highly lucrative, so expect to see a wide range of mascots, pins, clothing and other products very soon. The leopard shown here is one of Sochi's official Olympics mascots, already being licensed for sale in 500 stores within Russia. By the time the Olympic torch reaches Sochi, 5,000 branded items will be available in 8,000 Russian retail locations.

It's still early for social media coverage, but you can check the official Facebook page, which has 71,000 likes at this time.

Olympics + Bradley Wiggins = higher UK cycle sales

High profile sports can have a lot of influence on consumers' attitudes and purchasing decisions. First it was Great Britain's many cycling medals at the 2012 Olympics. Then it was Bradley Wiggins' victory at the Tour de France (see above). The result: UK consumers are more enthusiastic than ever about bicycling, with many buying their first bicycles or upgrading to better cycles. That's good news for marketers coping with a challenging economy.

Cycle Surgery, a brand owned by Snow+Rock, saw sales of road bikes increase during the Olympic Games. Its marketing director observes:

"After the Tour de France and Olympics, the UK is definitely on the world map as a cycling nation and hopefully people will stick with it".

At Evans Cycles, website traffic spiked and sales of road bikes surged by 35% after the Olympics and the Tour de France. A number of bike shops in Colchester are also noticing the difference since this summer's events. The manager of Cycle Revolution says:

"The last two or three weeks we are getting people buying road bikes, saying they are inspired by what they have seen on TV".

Now how many consumers will find the Winter Olympics so exciting that they buy figure skates or skis?

Pop-up shops

With one in ten shops empty on the high streets, landlords and city officials want to revitalise shopping districts. One solution being recommended is to promote pop-up shops, temporary retail locations that 'pop up' for a limited-time. Although applying for and receiving planning approval can be time-consuming and costly, government agencies are looking at ways to cut red tape for businesses that want pop-up space.

The idea makes sense for retailers who want additional store space during busy shopping seasons and for marketers that need to test new brands, showcase specific product ranges or experiment with new formats and services.

From July through September, one pop-up store in London is the only retailer outside the Olympic Park to sell special Olympic products such as pin-badges.

Here are a few other highlights of pop-up marketing:

• Liberty is looking to open a handful of temporary stores for pre-Christmas shopping.
• London College of Fashion is opening a pop-up to sell clothing designed by alumni, 'future design stars'.
• Samsung opened a number of pop-ups around London (see above) to launch its Galaxy S3.
• Ocado opened a one-month pop-up virtual store in Birmingham, inviting customers to use its 'on the go' app to scan products and place orders for home delivery.

Amazon lockers at the London Olympics and beyond

Amazon.com is the online retailer of choice for millions of shoppers worldwide. But what if customers can't be home when their packages are scheduled to arrive?

Just in time for the 2012 Olympics, Amazon has an alternative: It's been installing self-serve lockers in transportation centres, shopping centres and other centrally-located public areas.

ECommerceBytes.com reports that shoppers choose a convenient locker location when they complete their Amazon purchase. Each shopper receives a code number that opens the specific bin where the purchase is stored.

Amazon first tested lockers in its headquarters city of Seattle, Washington, before opening some in London, New York City, and around Washington, D.C. Where will Amazon innovate next?

Why sponsors support the Olympics

Coca-Cola UK answered one of the FAQs about its involvement with London 2012 (and its support of the Olympic Games since 1928) by pointing to brand-building and quality:

We are a business, and so part of the reason for our sponsorship is to build awareness for our brands and the wide choice of quality and refreshing drinks we offer consumers. We sell a range of drinks at all Olympic venues during the events. Coca‑Cola also shares the Olympic Movement's vision of connecting people with sport, and we are committed to promoting active, healthy lifestyles and increasing participation in sport at every level.

Panasonic explains its support of the Olympics by showing the connection with the passion that athletes and fans have for sports and the company's ability to provide tools for self-expression and the joy of sharing:

Panasonic is proud to support the Olympic Movement which aims to promote world peace through sports . . . Panasonic is committed to "Sharing the Passion" of athletes with people around the world and connecting people who are passionate about sports and the Olympic Games . . . Panasonic also empowers consumers with new tools for self expression and heightens the joy of sharing with consumer digital cameras, camcorders, and Internet TVs. Though made for the consumer, these devices integrate sophisticated audio video technologies used in a broad array of Panasonic's professional systems for applications such as large-screen display and broadcasting equipment.

Procter & Gamble says it's supporting the Olympics for three reasons: business, corporate branding and internal marketing. To quote the UK and Ireland Olympic Projects Director:

"First it is to build the business. Anyone who does a partnership deal and says it is not to build their business, then you wonder what they are doing it for . . . Secondly, we have made a clear decision to use the Olympics to launch Procter and Gamble as a corporate brand, as something separate from the individual brands that P&G owns . . . The other reason for backing the games is that it can be a powerful tool within our workforce, in the UK and around the world."

From today, the Olympic Games begin in 26 days. The world will be watching and cheering!

Marketing tourism during the Olympics

Holidays at Home - Rupert Grint

For UK tourists who will be going to the London area for this year's summer Olympics, the Holidays at Home Are Great campaign encourages visits throughout Britain and Northern Ireland with 20.12% off meals, lodging and other vacation expenses. And for those who want to escape the London crowds, the campaign encourages travel to many outlying areas (like Bridlington, where Rupert Grint likes to surf).

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is targeting Londoners in particular who want to spend two or three weeks away during the Olympics. More than 500,000 people have watched the authority's YouTube videos. Its Tumblr account posts beautiful photos of 'Amazing Thailand' and engages the audience by inviting them to share their images via Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. 

P&G Says: Thanks, Mum

How does the maker of Pampers nappies, Gillette razors and Olay beauty products tie its advertising to the 2012 Olympic Games in London?

Procter & Gamble--which owns dozens of global blockbuster brands--is planning an emotional campaign to thank the mothers of Olympic athletes. This "Nearest and Dearest" campaign starts with local road shows and promotions offering family tickets to next year's Olympics.

Special events will be held in Edinburgh and Newcastle during October; in Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham and Milton Keynes during November; in Cardiff, Exeter, Bath and Southampton during January; in Belfast and Norwich in February; and in London during March, just weeks before the Olympics begin.

Mothers are an important target market for Procter & Gamble, which ran a special "Thanks, Mom" campaign as a sponsor of the US Olympic Team during the 2010 games in Vancouver. That Olympic-themed campaign was credited with significantly increasing P&G's North American sales. Will UK mums respond to the "Nearest and Dearest" campaign by buying more P&G brands?

London 2012: Adidas versus Nike -- Again

During the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Nike and Adidas spent lavishly to reach the crowds in the stadiums and the gigantic global audience viewing events from afar. Adidas was an official Olympic sponsor, and Nike sponsored Chinese teams in 22 sports during the Games. 

'Our marketing campaign for China is the largest we have ever done in a single country', an Adidas official said at the time. 'We see this as a marketing platform that will help us to achieve market leadership in China this year'.

Now the two global brands are looking ahead to marketing battles during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Nike holds more UK market share than Adidas at the moment, and it continues kitting out national teams such as the US Olympic team.


Adidas is again an official Olympic partner, and it plans to leverage that position for higher brand preference and sales. It's also hoping to sell official Olympics merchandise outside the UK.

In just over 400 days, the London Games will open, and the battle for market share will heat up once more. Will Adidas overtake Nike as the UK's top sports brand?

Kim Yu Na Goes for the Gold

Later today, the final figure skating competition of this Olympic year will held--with Kim Yu Na of South Korea heavily favoured to win gold.

Whatever the colour of her medal, this skilled skater is already at the gold level for endorsements.

She represents a number of major Korean brands, including Hyundai and Samsung Electronics. She has also appeared in local adverts for dairy products and sweets, among many other goods and services. And Nike and Procter & Gamble have teamed with Kim to endorse some consumer products worldwide.

Given all her deals, Kim is among the highest-paid endorsers of all the 2010 Olympic athletes. Whether she takes first, second or third place tonight in the ladies' figure skating competition, her endorsements are golden and are enhancing the brands of the companies she represents.

London 2012

The official home page of the London 2012 Olympic Games is bursting with news and activities to engage the public and build excitement for this highly-anticipated event. From today, only 1175 days until the opening ceremonies and the marketing race is on, with multiple marketing plans for getting people involved very early (as in Chapter 1 of my book).

On today's London 2012 home page is a contest inviting students to submit designs for the Games' education logo (that's where the green logo at left comes from). Webcam photos show the progress of construction at Olympic Park. Blog and Twitter entries bring us behind the scenes with minute-by-minute updates. Lots of links to other Olympics sites (like the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics) and to specific plans for London events. The home page changes every day and that's smart marketing, as well, to encourage frequent visits. Let the games begin!