Beijing 2008, the marketing machine

With a estimated budget being more than 30 millions dollars, the Beijing games will be the most expensive games ever. In a fast changing country, economically and socially, the choice of partners and sponsors is very important for the companies.

For more than 80 years, every Olympic edition have had a different image. Every host do it their own way. Money is spent in the organization of the games and , also, in the bid to host the games, without being sure of getting them. The city of Los Angeles spent a million dollar for the construction of the Coliseum in order to get the 1924 games. They failed. Another million was spent to renovate the Coliseum in 1932. This time they won. The Nazi regime spent a huge amount of money in order to promote itself in the 1936 games. This edition is still one of the most epic edition due to the political dimension. More recently, the city of Montreal spent 1.6 million C$ in hosting the 1976 games. The 1 million C$ debt was paid by taxes by the people of Montreal throughout 2005. Today the Olympic stadium is not used. Soccer, Football and Baseball teams have left the old building. The Montreal games were one of the worst games, economically speaking. In 1984, Peter Ueberroth changed the economy of the games forever. The 1984 games were the first financed by private funds only. They were the most successful edition with a profit of 223 million $. These “made in USA” games were the first huge sporting event ever. On the other hand, we can note that the 1996 Atlanta games, dubbed as “the Coca-Cola” games were the worst edition ever. The organization was bad and they cost the city a lot of money. The Beijing game is a rare opportunity for the brands to be recognize, to enter the market and to have a positive image in China. They will be able to sell a lot of products to the Chinese consumers. They also help financing the games. Having the Olympic logo on its can or bottle is very helpful but also very pricey.

Sponsors, partners, providers have come and gone since 1984. First the top companies: Some have been historical Olympic partners. They have contracts with the IOC and are there every 2 years. Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Omega, Visa, Samsung, Kodak are some of the Top partners or Worldwide Olympic sponsors.

“TOP companies receive exclusive global marketing rights and opportunities within their designated product category.
Sponsors are able to develop marketing programs with various members of the Olympic Movement including the IOC, the NOCs, and the Organising Committees.
In addition to exclusive worldwide marketing opportunities, partners receive:

  • Use of all Olympic imagery, as well as appropriate Olympic designations on products
  • Hospitality opportunities at the Olympic Games
  • Direct advertising and promotional opportunities, including preferential access to Olympic broadcast advertising
  • On-site concessions/franchise and product sale/showcase opportunities
  • Ambush marketing protection
  • Acknowledgment of their support though a broad Olympic sponsorship recognition program

The strength of the TOP sponsorship program is evident in the fact that the program enjoys one of the highest sponsorship renewal rates of any sports property. The International Olympic Committee thanks the sponsors for their continued support.”

The Beijing 2008 sponsors are partners on the 2008 edition only. They are mostly national companies in the country where the games are held. For the Beijing edition, we have Air China which is the official air carrier, Bank Of China, the main Chinese bank, CNC and China Mobile the national telecommunication and cell phone providers, Sinopec the national gas provider. Others are also on the list. At a lesser level are the sponsors and suppliers. There are some smaller companies or groups that could not enter the top sponsors due to others contracts with the IOC. We can find Budweiser, UPS, Haier, Tsingtao, GreatWall wines and mostly national products. The games will also be financed through TV revenue and marketing product.

It will be easy to measure some of the impacts of the games, others will be harder to quantify. Like the Tokyo and Seoul games, the Beijing edition will boost the Chinese economy. It will also show the world what China has to offer and their ability to organize an event. Future generations will benefit from the games on a technological, economical, environmental and political standpoint. China is marching on.