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Last night's full moon shining on Ambleside's calm waters.
The 2012 London Olympics are reputed to be the most regulated Games in history when it comes to protecting sponsor brands. This, for the most part, seems to be due to the increasing pervasiveness of social media around the globe. However, as we have all witnessed, there has been plenty of controversy about this subject.
Considering sponsors have collectively contributed $4 billion, it’s understandable that they are promised exclusivity. Michael Payne, former head of IOC’s marketing division, says that some brand protection is necessary, as “it’s not just a glib marketing statement to say no sponsors, no games. It’s the truth.”
Some argue that the London Organising Committee has been overzealous in enforcing branding restrictions. The rules that were meant to hinder free-riding by the big brands are hurting community spirit, and perhaps, individual freedom. There are brand exclusion zones- one kilometre around all venues- where non-sponsor brands can’t be displayed. Washroom hand dryer logos must be covered. Logos on laptops- such as Dell and Apple- must be taped over. If you don’t have a Visa card, you must have a massive amount of cash, or you will not be able to make purchases. A local butcher was threatened with a $30,000 fine for putting up an image of sausage Olympic rings.
But even after all of this, there is a lot of ‘piggybacking’ happening. Ambush marketers, from rapper Dr. Dre to Nike, are finding ways to bypass the rules. Nike, a non-sponsor, started the #MakeItCount campaign, which references the Olympics without actually mentioning them. It is also using an athlete who just dropped out of the Olympics in its campaign. And, according to a study done by BrandWatch, Nike is outpacing Adidas- an official sponsor- as the apparel brand most associated with London 2012.
Then, on the other hand, sponsor brands are still expected to generate huge profits from the Olympics. Expected additional sales from sponsoring the Olympics are $156 million for Adidas, and $500 million for P&G. Those additional earnings alone might be worth the investment for sponsors. Besides, there are intangible benefits, such as extensive reputation building and public exposure, at levels that are normally unlikely in a three-week time frame. With no doubt, such tangible and intangible benefits will carry on long past the 2012 Olympics for the official sponsors.
So, the question is, is it worth it to be an official sponsor of the Olympic Games? Leave your comments below.
With just 2 weeks left here at NextPhase, I think it's time to reveal my identity. I'm a marketing intern/social media coordinator at NextPhase Strategy. I love to eat, but I don't have time to bring a homemade lunch every day, and I'm on a low budget, being a university student. That's why I was slightly concerned when I started working at NextPhase's Yaletown office. I saw a lot of upscale restaurants, seafood bars, and steakhouses, but there seemed to be a lack of affordable eateries.
After a quick search on the Web, I came across Urbanspoon.com, where I was able to browse restaurants by a variety of categories, such as price, cuisine, and location. I also discovered that two of my coworkers had quite the collection of take-out menus.
So, I ended up trying 18 different eateries in Yaletown, all of which offer meals ranging from $6 to $12. Here's the list including highlights and my personal ratings.
Aside from these, there's also Pacific Centre- just a Skytrain ride away- for a more crowd-immersing food court experience. I have definitely enjoyed working in such a unique neighbourhood and having had the opportunity to try out so many different restaurants.
Packing up and moving usually inspires and requires us to sift through all sorts of boxed away bits and pieces from the past. And that’s exactly what we did during our recent move to our new Yaletown office. And guess what we found: a picture from the 80s of our old, burned-out office – now the Yaletown Galleria building.
On July 1st
of 1981, as owner of USA – Ullrich Schade and Associates, I was at the cinema
with my wife Robyn, watching Das Boot – a chillingly realistic WWII movie with
lots of burning and torpedoed ships. On our way back home, we smelled smoke,
but didn’t give it much thought. The next morning, my friend Derek Murray, who
owned a photo studio in the same building, called me with the bad news...his office
had burned and my office was completely smoke and water damaged. It all started
with a fire originating in the clothing importer’s space down the hall – and
something to do with getting rid of a large quantity of non-licensed kids' Disney clothing they couldn’t sell due to copyright infringements. All my work
was destroyed. My bookcases, design books, work samples, layouts, advertising
memorabilia, graphic camera – the list goes on and on – was gone. In the end my
company lost over $100,000 – which was a very large sum in the early 80s. From
there, we moved to West Georgia…and now, we have traced
our roots back to Mainland Street.
Ullrich and his wife, Robyn, in the office after the fire.
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