On 27 July 2012, some 4.2 billion pairs of
eyes around the world will be focused on Stratford in East London, as the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic
Games sounds the starting pistol on the
world's greatest sporting event. The ceremony is the climax of a vast organisational
effort which began in 2005 when the Games were awarded to London, involving everything from construction to logistics and the competition to take part among the athletes themselves. But there's another party without
whom it wouldn't be happening at all: the sponsors.
Sponsorship helps fund every dimension of the
Olympics and Paralympics — providing around half of
the £2bn cost to LOCOG (London Organising Committee
of the Olymic and Paralympic Games) of actually staging the Games. And for the sponsors, it represents an opportunity that, hype aside, really is unique. According to Philip Patterson, client services director of global marketing consultancy IMG Consulting, "The Olympic Games is an event without equal, it is the biggest peacetime project on the planet at any one time."
In sheer scale, the Games is an awesome undertaking, with 15,000 athletes from 205 countries, 10.8 million tickets to be sold, and up to 20,000
media expected. And while the Olympic Development Authority creates the infrastructure, including the 500-acre Olympic Park and five new permanent venues, including the Olympic Stadium, with
the help of taxpayers' money, it falls to LOCOG to actually put on the Games entirely through private funding.
Some of its budget comes from the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) global sponsors such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Visa and Samsung, who enjoy exclusive rights within their category around the world, and can promote their sponsorship at any time. A larger proportion of the budget however,
is borne by local sponsors recruited by LOCOG in the UK, who are providing some 40 per cent of the cost of staging the Games, with the remainder coming from broadcasting rights, ticket receipts, merchandising and other sources.
Local sponsors are divided into three tiers, according to the level of access to marketing rights granted, with a price tag to match. BA
is one of seven Tier 1 Official Partners of London 2012, with Adidas, BP, BMW, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB the others. There are seven Official Supporters in Tier 2 and 28 Official Providers and Suppliers in Tier 3, each contributing their share to the overall budget in exchange for the right to trumpet their association with London 2012.
Sponsorship isn't all provided in the form of cash; it can also take the form of "value in kind" whether that be flights, computer equipment, telecoms or other products and services that are needed to run the Games.
Companies can also support specific sports outside of the Games, such as cycling and swimming, as well as individual athletes, but they are not allowed to promote their association during a 'blackout' period around the Games itself — that's something only official sponsors of the Games can do.
So what is it that attracts Olympic sponsors, and what exactly are they looking to gain from their involvement? First of all, there's association with the Olympic and Paralympic brands, says Patterson, brands that stand for values such as respect, excellence, friendship, courage, determination, inspiration and equality.
"To say the Olympic Games is just a sporting event would be like saying that Live Aid was
just about a pop concert, it stands for much more than that" says Patterson. Research shows not only that the Olympics command very high levels of awareness around the world, but also that the event is regarded in an extremely positive light.
What sponsors look to get out of it specifically varies from one case to another, says Patterson. For some it's a way to build awareness of their brand, for others a means to build association with sporting performance, or to showcase
new technologies, as Visa did with its payWave payment system during previous Games.
The key to making the sponsorship effective
is 'activation' — using marketing to tell people about your association with the Olympics and creating innovative programmes that allow consumers to feel involved and to get involved. "There is absolutely no point in associating yourself with any event unless you're prepared to activate that association through as many channels as possible," says Patterson. And to do that well normally means setting aside a budget for activation that is greater than the original sponsorship fee.
For sponsors, the Olympic and Paralympic Games represent a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have their brand
at the heart of the biggest spectacle on Earth and to really differentiate themselves from the competition. Not surprisingly, some marketers would like the benefits of being associated with the Olympics without actually contributing, and set out to achieve that through 'ambush marketing'.
Ambush marketing is a threat to the investment made by any sponsor, and at London 2012, the Olympic authorities will
be as vigilant as ever. Sponsors' rights are protected by a 2006 Act of Parliament, but
it's inevitable that some advertisers will try
to gain advantage.
For the sponsors who do put their money where their mouth is and back the Olympics with their investment, satisfaction comes not
just from achieving brand objectives but from knowing they are playing an essential part
in staging an event that will touch billions of people across the world. As Luisa Fernandez, BA's global sponsorship manager, puts it: "There is something very
special about knowing that our support plays
a part in enabling the show to go on."
British Airways is proud to be the official airline partner of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Visit london2012.com.
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