Introduction
Olympic Games are not only the site of athletic competition, but the Olympics are also the place where popular brands sponsor sports teams to receive a return on their investments in the future. Indeed, sporting events are considered powerful ways to raise awareness about a brand, increase its strength, and create uniqueness (Keller & Swaminathan, 2020). According to Keller and Swaminathan (2020), supporting a favorite athletic team or individual makes an organization look more credible from customers’ viewpoints. The provided case study discusses corporate sponsorship at the Olympics, reviews specific examples, examines ambush marketing, and analyzes the effect on the host cities and countries.
Summary of Reading
Since the Olympic Games is one of the major global sporting global competitions, many business organizations strive to build an association with it to be recognized and receive profit in the future. One of the first examples of a successful corporate sponsorship is the 1984s Games in Los Angeles, where eleven companies provided support that reached $200 million (Keller & Swaminathan, 2020). For example, companies such as Fuji, McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble, General Electric, Korean Air, Nike, The North Face, Hyundai, and Samsung are known to support the summer and winter Olympics (Keller & Swaminathan, 2020). However, this case study showed that many firms like Kodak, Lenovo, and Johnson & Johnson decided not to renew their sponsorship contracts because many people do not memorize or link specific companies with the Olympic Games.
Unfortunately, some organizations engage in ambush marketing, which is claiming a relationship to the event without providing financial support to it (Keller & Swaminathan, 2020). Thus, the Olympics Committee tries to fight this behavior by banning the use of terms related to the Games. Lastly, this case study assesses the effect of the Olympics on cities and countries that host the event. The only benefit is that it raises national pride, but its financial advantage is unclear. The perception of the Olympic Games is bifurcated because some belief in its substantial commercial profit, while others think that this event is overly commercialized. Overall, it appears that a company’s success after sponsoring the Olympics depends on the quality of the commercial plan associated with it.
Recent Olympic Sponsorship Deals
The two most recent Olympic Games were held in Tokyo in 2021 and in Beijing in 2022, summer and winter, respectively. Some companies became even more popular due to being the top sponsors of the Games, while others had to provide financial support due to the contract (MediaRadar, 2021).
The most renowned corporations that sponsored the recent summer Games were Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Google, Samsung, and Coca-Cola (MediaRadar, 2021). In fact, 93% of the provided funding came from these companies (MediaRadar, 2021). A smaller portion of financial aid was given by such firms as Alibaba, Bridgestone, Visa, Omega, Panasonic, Intel, General Electric, and thirty other companies (MediaRadar, 2021).
The sponsorship of the Winter Games was more complicated because they were conducted in China, which is often criticized by Western countries for violating human rights (Clayton & Dyer, 2022). Therefore, previously popular partners kept a relatively low marketing profile during the 2022 Games in Beijing (Clayton & Dyer, 2022). It appears that the geopolitical situation influenced the sponsorship of the most recent summer and winter Olympics. The Olympic partnership program seemed to be successful during the 2021 Games in Tokyo, but it was not the case for the 2022 winter event in Beijing. This sporting event in Tokyo was successful because funding allowed to significantly increase the broadcasting of the Olympics globally (International Olympic Committee, 2021). Although large international corporations provided the sponsorship in both cases, the companies preferred not to advertise their financial support of the winter Olympics this year (Clayton & Dyer, 2022). Overall, enough financial support was provided during the two recent Games, but the firms performed fewer marketing campaigns in Beijing than in Tokyo.
Ambush Marketing
Some organizations utilize ambush marketing, claiming that one is associated with an event without providing the actual sponsorship to gain credibility from their customers. One of the most popular events that attract firms that engage in such practices is the Olympic Games (Keller & Swaminathan, 2020).
The first example of ambush marketing was when Li Ning, a Chinese gymnast, opened the Beijing games wearing shoes of his own brand instead of the sportswear from Adidas, the official sponsor of the Games (Keller & Swaminathan, 2020). His line attracted tremendous attention from the public, but Li Ning’s company did not provide funding for the Olympics (Keller & Swaminathan, 2020). Another example of this type of marketing was that one of the British bookmaker firms, Paddy Power created a giant billboard, stating that this company is an official sponsor of the 2012 Games in London (Keller & Swaminathan, 2020). Overall, this type of promotion gives people a false impression that a particular organization supports the Olympics, but in reality, it does not. It provides an unfair advantage to such companies, affecting the profit and credibility of the actual sponsors.
Reference List
Clayton, J. and Dyer, J. (2022) ‘Winter Olympics: global sponsors quiet ahead of Beijing Games’. BBC.
International Olympic Committee (2021) IOC marketing: media guide. Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Web.
Keller, K.L. and Swaminathan, V. (2020) Strategic brand management: Building, measuring, and managing brand equity. Harlow: Pearson.
MediaRadar ‘Who are the top sponsors at the 2021 Olympic Games?’ MediaRadar.