The Olympics Week: Sponsorship

Its back – The Olympics Week Day 2! Yesterday we talked about sponsorship restrictions, but today, we get down to the nitty gritty and talk about sponsorship in itself.  Olympic sponsorship is different though. It requires a substantial amount of negotiation, and corporations are willing to throw out a LOT of cash. On average, corporations are paying tens of millions of dollars – that’s big time.  Yeah sure, sponsoring the Dallas Mavericks will get you recognition around Dallas…and if they make it to the playoffs, there’s a chance the majority of the United States will notice your corporation. But with the Olympics, we’re talking the whole world…

SO, with all of this being said, there are a total of 11 big time world-wide sponsors supporting the Olympics, and here they are (Again, thanks to Forbes for getting us this information)

Dow - Dow has an interesting stance with its partnership. They say their role is to “demonstrate the important role chemistry plays in athletics and in everyday life.” Interesting stance, especially considering the fact that the majority of individuals directly associate Dow with money. I guess they are addressing the issue… I think their official motto is something like,  ’hey, back off, we care about people too!’

Proctor and Gamble - Have you seen the ‘Thank you Mom’ commercials? If you haven’t, please look them up,they are awesome. For these commercials alone, I like this new partnership…this summer is the first time the Summer Games and Proctor and Gamble will be associated.   Do they really care about moms, or is this just a ploy? Well, it seems as if they do – they have already forked out the money for all Olympic Athlete moms. That is, P&G have personally offset the costs to the London 2012 Games for the 800+ mothers of U.S. Olympic and Paralympics athletes.

Coca – Cola – You knew this. Coke started its partnership with the Olympics back in 1928, and has sponsored ever since. Lovely Coke cans are afloat at your local supermarket, and you wouldn’t be caught dead drinking something else at the Olympic Games.

McDonald’s – The official ”restaurant” of the Olympics. They started partnership with the Olympics back in Montreal in 1975 and haven’t looked back. Go pick yourself up a Big Mac (or a low calorie Smoothie…whichever you prefer), and you’re more than likely to see an Olympian swimmer somewhere on your bag.

Panasonic – Interesting because, as we will see, the Olympic Games also have a partnership with Samsung. Nevertheless, this audio and visual monster has been a partner with the Games for over 20 years now.

Acer – They are new to the game, and are certainly trying to make a push in the mind of consumers. I have to be honest, when I think of Acer, I don’t think of much…and that’s the whole point of becoming an Olympic Sponsor. Categorization and brand association. My experience with the Olympics will (should) carry over to my experience with its sponsors. Acer is hoping for a great Olympic Games, as they are the the official computing equipment sponsor.

Atos Origin – Yes, there are other consumers in the world. Just because you haven’t heard of Atos Origin, doesn’t mean technology specialists haven’t. They have, and AO is one of the leading IT brands in the world. Their partnership with the Olympic Games started back in 1992, and their ambassador is quoted as saying, “I will strive to enhance the viewer’s experience during London 2012 with real-time, relevant information on the athletes and their achievements.” …So yeah, thank him for that…

Samsung - Samsung started its Olympic partnership back in 1988, and is the official Wireless Communications Equipment partner of the Olympics. As stated previously, I think its interesting to have both Panasonic and Samsung as partners, but I am more than sure both entities have strict restrictions upon their associations.

Omega – If you weren’t paying attention to anything Olympics-oriented before they started, you need to know that Omega had a pretty cool countdown going on…but now that The Games are here, I guess it doesn’t matter much.  What matters is that the Olympics have a LOT of events based on time and time trials…who’s keeping that time – you guessed it – Omega.

GE – General Electric is a monster. People often forget they are associated with the likes of NBC and Universal. They are big wigs, and its no surprise they associate themselves with such a universal event (…i love my corny puns).

Visa – Visa. Its everywhere you and Morgan Freeman want to be (…he’s the best). As I mentioned yesterday, Visa has replaced all ATMs around Olympic sites with Visa ATMs, and you can’t get cash without using a Visa. Man, that’s tough. Besides using the majestic voice of Mr. Freeman, Visa will be using the Olympics as a platform to introduce new concepts such as contactless and prepaid credit cards.