Don’t worry, Boris Johnson hasn’t called a snap Olympics!  The Games in question are the inaugural Youth Olympic Games which are currently taking place in Singapore, and which represent a long-awaited dream of Jaques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee, who has always wanted to create a global sporting event for young people.

The Games kicked off on 14 August with an elaborate Opening Ceremony, after which around 3,600 athletes between 14-18 years of age will be participating in 12 days of competition across the 26 summer Olympic sports.

Team GB has sent a team of 40 athletes to Singapore, including some individuals who are already hugely experienced at global sporting events, such as Tom Daley, the World and European Champion diver, who is a strong GB medal hope for London 2012.  For other team members, the experience of Singapore will be crucial to their development, especially for those with longer term goals such as Rio 2016.

With no precedent for this event, the organisation and build-up was always going to attract varying levels of interest and, as is often the case with the Olympic Games, the cost of hosting the event is one of the major elements that has been scrutinised. The original budget submitted to the IOC of $90m has already been exceeded three-fold, with the current figure standing at around $270m.

Sponsorship is another area where difficulties have been experienced.  Again, because this is a new event there is no precedent for sponsors to work from – no history of viewers or interest (although it is anticipated that there will be around 370,000 spectators) – therefore, the Games were seen as a risk for all involved and the Organising Committee has had to work hard to secure the required investment.  As it stands today, the Games have attracted 68 Marketing Partners – 11 Worldwide Olympic Partners (including Coca-Cola, Visa and P&G), 9 Official Partners (including Deloitte and Singapore Airlines), 16 Official Sponsors (including Volvo and SingPost) and 32 Official Supporters.

Total revenue generated from the sponsors has been estimated at 60m Singapore Dollars, however, many of the brands became involved on a 100% value in kind basis, seeing them offer their goods and services to the Organising Committee to help deliver of the Games, in return for marketing rights.

The final verdict on whether these Games have been a success won’t be known until all the marketing intelligence and data is collated. Regardless of this, China has already recognised the potential of the newest addition to the IOC events calendar, with Nanjing winning the bid to host the event in 2014 – a decision that was made by the IOC in February this year.

If you want to catch some of the action you can view live it live on the IOC website or highlights on BBC iPlayer.

By Sara Wilson on August 18th, 2010

Tags: Athletics, BBC, BOA, Default, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Olympics, Sponsorship, Team GB

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Well, we know it will be Chicago, Madrid, Rio or Tokyo. But we’ll have to wait until around 1800 GMT today to find out which one Jacques Rogge will announce as the host city of the 2016 Olympic Games.

The great and the good are gathering in Copenhagen for the 121st IOC Session where the main point on the agenda is the announcement of the winning bid. Pre-race favourite is Chicago, where the high-powered campaign has delivered the Obama factor – Michelle is in Denmark already, Barack is due to fly in today.  However, coming up closely on the inside is Rio, whose bid is focusing on the romantic appeal of being the first South American city to host an Olympic Games, and promising to bring the party to life by delivering the carnival atmosphere that everyone associates with Brazil. So, it certainly isn’t a one-horse race, and we shouldn’t forget that London wasn’t the favourite in the race for 2012.

Influential IOC member Dick Pound commented yesterday that the IOC will be looking for the ‘safest option’ for the winning city – in terms of secure finances, a strong infrastructure, security and the general ability to deliver a successful Games.  However, I don’t think that anyone can actually predict which city will be unveiled.

Whoever it is, it will be a momentous occasion. Remember the images from July 2005 when London was victorious – Denise Lewis and David Beckham jumping up and down in Singapore, Prime Minister, Tony Blair, apparently doing a little jig, and thousands of supporters celebrating in Trafalgar Square. For the winning bid it will be a day to remember and one that will change the city forever.

London celebrates winning the 2012 bid

Who do I think will be awarded the Games?  My head says Chicago, offering strong political and commercial opportunities for the IOC.  However, my heart is pulling on the appeal of the South American party capital and the lure of the carnival atmosphere that would create a Games unlike any other.  Unfortunately, I don’t get to vote, so the question is, what will appeal most to the IOC members – those that do get to decide?  We’ll just have to wait and see….

By Sara Wilson on October 2nd, 2009

Tags: David Beckham, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympics, Synergy

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The team behind Powerade’s InnerGear campaign is celebrating today after picking up the ’Best Communication Campaign featuring Sponsorship’ at the highly regarded MCCA Best Awards last night.

Entered by Synergy, Coca-Cola GB’s sponsorship consultancy, the campaign’s striking photography, of Team GB athletes doing their individual sports naked, caught the judges eyes.  The win is the second in a row for Synergy campaigns.  In 2008, Guinness, with its title sponsorship of the English Rugby Premiership, was the victor.

Fingers are now crossed for both the Hollis and Sport Industry Awards 2009 for which the Powerade InnerGear campaign has also been short-listed.

By Sara Wilson on March 6th, 2009

Tags: Beijing 2008, Default, Guinness Premiership, London 2012 sponsorship consultants, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympics, Rugby, Sponsorship consultancy, Synergy, Team GB

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Powerade, the Sports Drink of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), launches a new advertising campaign today featuring three rugby superstars as you’ve never seen them before.

Building on the success of the Olympic InnerGear campaign, Synergy and Powerade commissioned rugby superstars Steve Borthwick (Captain of the England rugby team), Paul Sackey (England winger) and Shane Williams (Welsh winger and 2008 IRB World Player of the Year) to be photographed performing their sport stripped of all their performance clothing, captured without their outer gear.   

The essence of the Powerade InnerGear concept illustrates that what players put inside their bodies and how they prepare – their InnerGear – is just as important as their outer gear (Sports Kit). 

The campaign will run throughout the RBS 6 Nations, with the anticipation that it will be as, if not more, successful than the Olympic InnerGear campaign which is shortlisted for the MCCA Best Awards – winners will be announced on 5 March.

By Sara Wilson on January 26th, 2009

Tags: Default, Olympics, Rugby, Sponsorship consultancy, Synergy

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Synergy has been shortlisted in the ‘Best Campaign featuring Sponsorship’ category at the MCCA Best Awards 2009, for Powerade’s sponsorship of Team GB and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The sponsorship, managed by Synergy on behalf of Powerade, was the focus of a fully-integrated campaign which was based around the concept of InnerGear - the brand’s core creative idea.  Synergy worked with Powerade and it’s other agencies to activate the campaign through-the-line, resulting in the brand enjoying it’s highest-ever levels of market share.

Winners will be announced at the MCCA Best Awards dinner which is being held at The Brewery on Chiswell Street on Thursday 5 March, so fingers crossed!

By Sara Wilson on January 19th, 2009

Tags: Beijing 2008, Brand marketing, Cycling, London 2012 sponsorship consultants, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympics, Synergy, Team GB

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Whilst the Olympic Games kicked off in style in the Far East, this weekend also saw the start of the 2008-09 football season.

Don’t get me wrong, I genuinely have a strong interest in sport. I work in the industry, I read the back pages on a daily basis and will more often than not choose to watch live sports coverage over the nightly ritual that is EastEnders or Coronation Street.  But even I was taken to another level this weekend.  In danger of being a football widow, I not only found myself joining my other half at one live match of the opening weekend – but two!

First up was a trip to Charlton, my adopted ‘local’ team in SE London, where The Valley welcomed the newly-promoted ‘boys from the valleys’ – Swansea City.  Nicknamed ‘The Real League’, it really is true-grit football.  Sitting in the stands with 21,000 others, in the pouring rain that defines August in this country, I was again hit by the dedication and passion of all the fans that follow their team, week-in, week-out.  It is something that astounds me everytime I go to a match. However many times I experience it, it never fails to amaze me.

This was the first match of the season and it was a true portrayal of the optimism that every club has at the start of a new year.  Charlton, vying for a place in the Play-Offs at the end of last season, were back to an even playing ground.  Forgotten was the disappointment of the spring months, when they realised that getting back up into the Premiership was not going to happen this year. Fans and players alike are back with high hopes for the next ten months.  This optimism is even reflected in the early-bird discount for season tickets ‘Buy your season ticket before the first weekend, and if we get into the Premiership next year you’ll pay the same price for your ticket’.

Next up was a trip to Wembley Stadium for what is traditionally known as the curtain-raiser of the football season – the Community Shield. A showpiece match, this was altogether a different picture – well apart from the rain, which followed me all weekend but what else would you expect! 

Wembley, the national stadium, was hosting the reigning European club team, Manchester United, and the proud victors of the legendary FA Cup, Portsmouth.  However, whilst there may have been four times as many people, numerous footballing legends in situe (Geoff Hurst represented McDonald’s, the FA’s Presenting Partner), and inflated prices at the concession stands, the underlying themes amongst the fans were still the same as the day before. Passion, pride, commitment, belief.  This was demonstrated to me as we were leaving.  Following a penalty shoot out, Manchester United were victorious once again.  As we were heading down the stairwells, I overheard a voice of a young boy telling his dad, “It doesn’t matter that we lost.  We were the better team”.  This just about summed up my experience over the weekend. 

The Greatest Show on Earth may be taking place in Beijing. But for the hundreds and thousands of football fans who turn out of their homes on a weekly basis to follow the highs and lows of their team, one thing is absolutely certain.  Football in this country really is ‘the beautiful game’, and it is refusing to be overshadowed by the Olympics.

By Sara Wilson on August 12th, 2008

Tags: Barclays Premier League, Beijing 2008, Football, Olympics

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With the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games just around the corner, Britain’s finest athletes are in the final stages of preparation in their bid to take gold at the ‘Greatest Show on Earth’.  For the 313 Team GB athletes the competition will be the culmination of years of precision planning in an attempt to streamline their performance and give them the best possible chance of hearing the National Anthem broadcast around the world.

The attention-to-detail for every single member of Team GB is immense.  Away from the limelight they each have their own training programmes, which not only focus on the physical and technical aspect of their performance, but also offer advice on their nutrition, the psychology of their performance, their travel and logistics – the list is endless.

Why do all these individual factors, however big, however small, count so much?  Let’s go back at Athens.  If we take five of the Gold medals won by Team GB, look at the time of each of these and work out the difference between the Gold and Silver places in these events, it adds up to 0.545 of one second.  If Team GB had taken the Silver medal in each of these events instead of the Gold, they would have dropped seven places on the medal table.  So you see, every little thing really does count.

A key factor of any athlete’s performance is their kit; competition clothing, footwear, equipment, their drink.  Powerade, Official Sports Drink of Team GB and the Olympic Games, has just launched a new campaign looking at this.  The essence of the new ‘InnerGear’ concept illustrates that no matter how sophisticated an athlete’s outer gear is (sports kit), it is not effective without your InnerGear – what you put inside your body.    Let’s put this into perspective; research has shown that as little as a 2% drop in hydration can seriously affect an athlete’s performance. The athletes in Beijing will have to combat the extreme weather conditions if they are to compete at the top level of their event so proper hydration is essential.

So where do I come in. Picture the scene; I’m sat at my desk enjoying another day at the Synergy office, facing the trials and tribulations that rear their heads on a daily basis, when the phone rings.  “Hi, can you please look into getting me three Team GB athletes for a photo-shoot. In London. On the same day.  And there is only one day that we can do – in a couple of weeks. Which is just before the Olympic Games, so yes we realise that not many athletes are free at the moment. In these three sports.  Oh, and by the way…they need to be naked.”

Breathe.  Stay calm.  Speak. “No problem. Leave it with me, I’ll see what I can do.”

So there it began, and following a race against time, complex diary management and persuasion like you have never seen before, on a sunny day in June I found myself in a studio on Caledonian Road witnessing Phillips Idowu (Triple Jump), Rebecca Romero (Track Cycling) and Gregor Tait (Aquatics), stripped of all their performance clothing, and captured without their outer gear by renowned photographer Nadav Kander.  The result; a series of breathtaking images highlighting the athlete’s strength, fitness and power, showing the effort and commitment that is put into their training and being at the top of their sport.

I will certainly be tuning in at 8.08pm on the 8^th of the 8^th  for the Opening Ceremony, and probably glued to my screen for the following 16 days, to watch the athletes in action and hopefully witness history-making competitions as rivals pit themselves against each other in the attempt to take Gold.  At the same time, I’ll be watching three particular athletes very closely, to see how their ‘InnerGear’ is hopefully helping them to achieve their lifelong dreams.

By Sara Wilson on August 4th, 2008

Tags: Olympics, Sponsorship consultants

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