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Olympic Park Saturated with Branding

Visitors to London can still find mentions of brands that haven’t shelled out millions to be official sponsors out in the city’s streets, but as they get closer to Olympic venues and particularly Olympic Park, the other brands slide away until they are completely saturated with sponsor branding. Whether it is recycling bins with a Coke logo on them; an outdoor theater sponsored by British Airways so those without tickets to events can witness them; a salon at P&G's pavilion; a crazy, interactive Coca-Cola sculpture; only eight (!) cash machines that only shell out money to Visa cardholders; the world's biggest McDonald's, or the logo-less Goodyear blimp that's convincing some that aliens are watching, the area is heavily branded. Visitors cannot miss learning exactly who has been deemed OK and who has not. And that’s, dear reader, why they pay the big bucks.

Australian Olympic Boss Seeking More CashContinue reading...

Brands spend millions to become official partners of the Olympics, and Ace Metrix says those sponsorships are worth it. Ace Metrix is the only company scoring every nationally airing US Olympic ad leading up to and during the games, and today announced their Olympic ad effectiveness program.

“We are thrilled to provide a 360 degree view of ad effectiveness for brands who have invested in Olympic sponsorships and Olympic themed ads,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix, about its ranking of London 2012 marketing campaigns to date.

“The Olympics are a significant investment for any sponsor, and understanding the effectiveness of that sponsorship is critical in the era of marketing accountability," he added. "We are particularly interested in the data regarding the vital emotional elements associated with the Olympics. Understanding how the emotion of such a global event relates to the rational consumer processing that accompanies the vast majority of advertising will be fascinating."Continue reading...

While many global marketers are aiming Olympics-related campaigns at young consumers, the real core of TV watchers of London's Summer Olympics are expected to be older Gen X-ers and boomers. Those generations also struggle more than younger ones with obesity and other health issues.

All of that may be why Coca-Cola is using its Olympics sponsorship to do more than promote its new global "Move to the Beat" campaign, which is aimed at teens. Another new initiative by Coke is highlighting active lifestyles by centering on an "eight-pack" of athletes even though the first one revealed — Shawn Johnson — won't be competing in London following her recent surprise retirement from the sport.

In a challenging time in America for soft drink brands, led by New York City's proposed ban on large soft drinks, Coke is hoisting a healthy living banner into the London 2012 Olympics with a campaign which claims that — despite being dismissed as overcaloric sugar water by many health critics — the brand actually has an association with healthy lifestyles.Continue reading...

Coca-Cola US today released it latest London 2012 Olympics Commercial: "Support Our Athletes." As part of the campaign, Coke is featuring an "eight-pack" of American athletes — Shawn Johnson, Henry Cejudo, Alex Morgan, John Isner, David Boudia, David Oliver, Marlen Esparaza, and Jessica Long — in a My Coke Rewards Olympics contest.

Johnson, who retired from gymnastics on June 3rd, was featured in her own Coke spotlight video (see below) two weeks ago and will be covering the Summer Games as a "correspondent" for another of her sponsors, P&G, which last week announced a grant of $75,000 for youth sports development in U.S. gymnastics .Continue reading...

When historic brands undergo change, they must establish a delicate balance between leveraging a strong traditional foundation with the perception of modernity.

For the much-loved Nestlé Crunch Bar, changing its 60-year-old recipe could result in coveted success or a level of failure reminiscent of the New Coke debacle.Continue reading...