This week saw the start of one of the biggest sports auctions for the year, which is expected to yield nearly £250 million. Olympic sponsors and their agencies begun the week glued to their screens as they entered into an eBay style online auction for the prime outdoor advertising sites for the Olympic Games.
Sponsors and partners will be able to bid for approximately 4,000 advertising packages over the coming weeks. They cover everything from “vicinity” sites next to Olympic venues to what is being described as “spectaculars”; everything from Heathrow airport, station domination at St Pancras, the IMAX theatre on the Southbank, a number sites on the London Underground and, at £4million, wrapping Canary Wharf.
It is the “spectaculars” that help to set the tone
for the Olympic Games. While advertising has become more creative in where it is displayed, when it comes to the Olympic Games, history shows big, bold and location, location, location are all-important. Olympic advertising adds so much decoration and colour to the host city; from the moment spectators step off the plane or train they will be exposed to a plethora of Olympic adverts featuring many of the expected heroes of the Games. They help to set the mood for the city, and drive excitement as sponsors all try to capture the imagination.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics were no different, as advertisers memorably showcased triumph and disaster all within the space of 72 hours. The face of the Beijing Games in the run up was undoubtedly Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang.
The weight of a nation’s expectation was on Xiang’s shoulders; they expected him to bring home gold. However, disaster struck when he was forced to pull out during the qualification heats. A nation was gripped with emotion, but one of his personal sponsors, Nike, (rival Adidas is the Olympic sponsor) tweaked its current advert and in one day captured not only the feeling of the nation, but also received significant media coverage.
Love competition.
Love risking your pride.
Love winning it back.
Love giving it everything you've got.
Love the glory. Love the pain.
Love sport even when it breaks your heart
Visa also tapped into the Beijing feeling, running a series of powerful adverts including one featuring Derek Redmond, as well as seizing upon Michael Phelps’s historic 8 medal haul to launch an ad that again reflected the Olympic euphoria. A well-timed media campaign ensured significant earned-media coverage as Congratulations Michael Phelps was rolled out.
So what is the advice to next year’s sponsors and non-sponsors? Have the foresight to imagine the perceived impossible, be bold in your thinking, and activate. Visa’s campaign was successful because it didn’t just rely on advertising, but sought to integrate activation across all communications channels, especially PR.
Ian Budd
