The role of technology sponsors in creating the technical infrastructure behind global events such as the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup is largely unrecognised outside of the sponsorship and rights holder communities. There are two reasons for this: consumers and the media are more interested in the show than in the tech; and most tech sponsors are B2B brands.

But the scale of these events - the Olympics ranks among the world’s biggest peacetime projects - together with the rapid evolution of their technological requirements, makes the role of tech sponsors increasingly vital to their success, and the scope of this group of sponsors’ contributions increasingly complex and impressive.

I was reminded of all this last week at an Editorial Intelligence London 2012 seminar, when Stuart Hill, who leads the BT London 2012 Delivery Programme, gave a fascinating insight into the scale of BT’s London 2012 technical operation. Here are a few extracts from what he said:

BT is providing 80,000 connections across all 94 London 2012 venues, as well as 16,500 fixed lines, 14,000 mobile phone SIM cards and 1,000 wireless access points;

The information this network can support – calls, emails, images, texts – will amount to 6 Gigabytes per second: the equivalent of 6,000 novels, or the entire contents of Wikipedia, every 5 seconds;

Whereas 30% of the coverage of Beijing 2008 was digital, 100% of the coverage of London 2012 will be digital, meaning that consumers will be able to watch every sport in High Definition, when they want to watch it.

Stuart also made two other observations which as an Olympic Marketing practitioner I found very interesting. 

The first was about how London 2012 is playing out within BT. Stuart characterised London 2012 as a being like a slow drumbeat inside BT, beating gradually louder, and recalled the excitement of staff when the company lit up the BT Tower to celebrate 1,000 days to go to London 2012.

The second was the highly perceptive comment that BT’s London 2012 delivery role is effectively a silent one - ensuring that when people use BT’s London 2012 services, they enjoy a flawless experience. This of course, emphasises the crucial role for BT’s 2012-related marketing: the need to bring to life for customers and consumers the company’s enabling role in their London 2012 experiences - because unlike B2B tech sponsors, BT needs powerful B2C marketing behind London 2012 to drive its retail business.

I came away from the seminar thinking about these two observations in particular. Is BT’s current B2C London 2012 marketing creating a drumbeat (to use Stuart’s phrase) among customers and consumers as well as staff? I’d be interested in your views – feel free to comment below. And on this point, let me leave you with a personal perspective: as a longstanding BT customer (fixed line and broadband) the only London 2012 related communication I’ve received so far is the London 2012 logo on the outside of the envelope that contains my monthly bill.

By Tim Crow on January 20th, 2010

Tags: London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship

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Having won the MCCA ‘Best Campaign Featuring Sponsorship’ last year for its Team GB campaign around the Beijing Olympics, it’s great to be able to say that the Powerade 2009 InnerGear campaign has again been shortlisted in this year’s MCCA BEST Awards. Building on the insights and imagery of the Team GB campaign, Powerade brought the same InnerGear core creative idea to two of its international rugby assets – the English and Welsh rugby teams.

The 2009 edition featured England captain Steve Borthwick, Paul Sackey and IRB World Player of the Year, Shane Williams, in some equally impactful creative, and was supported through the line by Powerade’s cross agency team.

By Jonathan Izzard on January 20th, 2010

Tags: Beijing 2008, Olympic sponsorship, Olympics, Rugby, Sponsorship, Synergy, Team GB

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Channel 4’s successful bid against the BBC to win the UK broadcast rights to the London 2012 Paralympics defied predictions and surprised leading observers. The latest in a series of bold and innovative moves by the London 2012 Organising Committee in their quest to create and deliver a Games for a new era and a new generation, it’s a decision that will be good for the Paralympics, for consumers, and for London 2012 sponsors.

Justified or not, there was always a concern that the BBC would prioritise resources to the Olympics over the Paralympics. Channel 4’s bid removes the issue with a raft of unprecedented commitments: re-branding itself as The Paralympics Channel during the Games; 150 hours of Games-time coverage;  two ten-part peak time documentaries in 2011 and 2012; dedicated coverage of the Paralympic Torch Relay; and the biggest marketing campaign in the broadcaster’s history - a particularly crucial feature given the key Paralympic legacy objective of changing attitudes to disability.

But not only is changing to Channel 4 all good for the Paralympics: it’s good for consumers too.

Being free-to-air, access for all to coverage of the Games is assured - a vital consideration. Channel 4 also has a strong and proud track record of innovative coverage (Italian football, horse racing, cricket) that consumers will no doubt now see applied to the Paralympics And isn’t it good for consumers - indeed for society as a whole - that after a decade of Big Brother, Channel 4 is returning to its traditional diversity/minority remit?

I’d also argue that for consumers, having two London 2012 broadcasters is better than one, in that the inherent competition it will engender between the two stations (already visible in their somewhat barbed PR around the announcement of Channel 4’s win) will drive up coverage quality.

And finally, it’s undeniable that Channel 4 winning the rights to cover the Paralympics is brilliant news for the London 2012 Games’ sponsors. Leveraging an Olympic and Paralympic sponsorship is one of toughest challenges in the sponsorship playbook, owing to the nature of the rights: leveraging it in the UK, with - up to now - the non-commercial BBC as the only Olympic broadcaster has made it even tougher. The entry of a commercial station offers London 2012’s sponsors a new, and welcome, marketing option.

By Tim Crow on January 12th, 2010

Tags: London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Olympics

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Visitors to these pages will know that since questioning Andy Burnham’s now-infamous Medal Hopes announcement last year, I’ve written several posts on the issue’s evolution. So, with Team 2012 having risen last week like a phoenix from the ashes of Medal Hopes, it seems only appropriate to mark the issue’s apparent resolution with a few observations.

1. Team 2012 should not have been necessary

Let’s remember that the budget problem Team 2012 is designed to help solve was created by the Treasury in 2006. Let’s also remember that the problem was then exacerbated by two years of DCMS inaction, and finally exploded by the obvious flaws in Fast Track’s Medal Hopes ‘plan’ - memorably described by the BBC’s Matt Slater (author of a number of excellent blogs on the subject) as being ‘up there with Baldrick’s finest’. Quite a contrast with the Vancouver 2010 Own The Podium programme, launched in 2005 with adequate national and regional Government funding and a joined-up long-term plan.

2. The launch of Team 2012 is a triumph for LOCOG and UK Sport

Given the mess they inherited from DCMS and Fast Track, this is indisputable. Consider the list of their achievements: uniting the various stakeholders; creating a new property; resolving (apparently) the incendiary issue of elite Olympic athletes’ image rights; and persuading global Olympic sponsor Visa to come on board as Team 2012’s ‘Presenting Partner’ for £10m to start the fundraising.

3. Visa: sponsorship – or patronage?

I use the term ‘fundraising’ advisedly. Team 2012 is unashamedly a fundraising initiative designed to dent the shortfall in our Olympic sports’ budgets for London 2012, and increase Team GB’s chances of success: the official press release talks of nothing else. In which case, is Visa’s role more about patronage (financial aid with little or no expectation of ROI) rather than sponsorship (a win-win marketing partnership)? Don’t misunderstand me: I wish Team 2012 and Visa the best of British. But getting a meaningful return from this particular £10m investment looks like a big ask.

4. Sponsorship is not the only answer to the budget problem

A month after Andy Burnham’s original Medal Hopes announcement, I began advocating that any replacement programme should also incorporate innovative non-sponsorship fundraising models that had evolved elsewhere, such as Team Business West Midlands and the Vancouver 2010 Patron’s Programme. It’s good to see that this approach has been built into Team 2012, in the shape of the SME Club and the Official Donor programme.

By Tim Crow on October 7th, 2009

Tags: DCMS, Default, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, London 2012 sponsorship consultants, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Synergy, Team GB

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So, after a long day of presentations and voting, Rio has won the right to host the first ever Olympic Games in South America. It’s fourth time lucky for the continent in bidding to host the Games, but what a party Rio 2016 promises to be.

With the theme of  ‘Live your passion’, Rio will introduce a very different type of dialogue between the Games and youth (integrating music, entertainment and ambience), an important factor for the IOC who are acutely conscious that the global Olympic audience is ageing.

With due respect to Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo, Rio clearly offered the most spectacular backdrop for the Olympic Games of the four competing cities, as well as the unique emotion, passion and creativity of the Brazilian nation.

In addition, Rio offers world-class facilities, an early legacy use for the venues of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and a model where only 26% of the venues need to be new builds.

Looking at the four bids, it’s also interesting to see that at $313m, Rio’s forecast sponsorship revenue is a only quarter of the target planned by Chicago. An unfair comparison? Over-optimism by Chicago? Or a case of ‘under promise, over deliver’ on Rio’s part? Only time will tell, but we shouldn’t underestimate the economic power - and lure - of one of the world’s biggest economies.

All in all, one can only applaud the IOC’s decision: it’s the right time for Rio, for Brazil, and for South America.

By Philip Patterson on October 2nd, 2009

Tags: Olympic sponsorship, Olympics, Sponsorship

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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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Great marketing campaigns by rights owners in sport being a rarity (acid test: how many can you remember?) I’ve really enjoyed two very different but equally hard-hitting efforts over the last few days.

First up was Manchester City’s ‘Welcome to Manchester’ poster featuring new City signing Carlos Tevez, aimed squarely and mischievously at the red half of Manchester from which, of course, Tevez came.

Cue national media coverage, a dismissive riposte from Sir Alex Ferguson, and an outpouring of fan banter and reaction, including a paint attack on one of the Tevez billboards and some highly creative visual replies by Manchester United fans - here’s my favourite so far:

Overall a top piece of work by the City marketing team, which has put the City brand, and the City/United rivalry, firmly back on the agenda for the start of the season in three weeks’ time.

Whereas in three years’ time of course, London 2012 will be upon us - as we all know by now following LOCOG’s masterfully-orchestrated celebration of the 3-year landmark on Monday.

Again, acres of coverage resulted – no small achievement - but what interested me most of all was how noticeably positive it was, and how much more upbeat LOCOG’s tone has become

As ever Lord Coe leads from the front – what a natural and assured communicator he is – but it was heartening also to see so many bravura touches during the day, such as the domino trail and the giant human 3.

By Tim Crow on July 28th, 2009

Tags: Brand marketing, Default, Football, London 2012 sponsorship, London 2012 sponsorship consultants, Manchester United, Media, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympics, Public relations

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The newly-appointed head of Olympic legacy, Margaret Ford, interviewed in yesterday’s Evening Standard, signalled a potential u-turn in the proposed use of some of the London 2012 facilities post-Games.

This may not be a bad thing…

At the 117th International Olympic Committee Session in Singapore in 2005, as part of our winning bid to host the Games, Lord Coe stated that it was London’s intention ‘To stage an inspirational Games that capture the imagination of young people around the world and leave a lasting legacy’ and indeed this has been carried through to become one of the 10 strategic pillars of London 2012.

The question is, will we as a host nation succeed where so many before us have struggled?

One only has to visit former Olympic sites to see how hard it is to leave something that really makes a difference to the live of those around us. But it is not impossible…

We have the best opportunity we have ever had to permanently regenerate an area of London, place sport at its heart and inspire people for generations to come.

It’s an opportunity that we should wholeheartedly embrace and not shy away from, and as one of the masterminds behind the regeneration of the former Millennium Dome through its sale to the entertainment empire AEG, Lady Ford is the ideal person to lead the charge.

She has already stated that the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium may now not be reduced in size to 25,000 seats, but left as an iconic structure that could be used to host games, given a successful World Cup 2018 bid. And isn’t it good to be so positive about the future for a change?

When it comes to regeneration and legacy, visionary confidence is what we need – in abundance.

By Philip Patterson on June 26th, 2009

Tags: London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Olympics, grass roots sport

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When we started out as Karen Earl Sponsorship in 1984 we had little idea what the future held, nor did we realise just how far sponsorship would develop as a global marketing phenomenon.

What a ride it has been. So many wonderful clients and sponsorships, so many great friends and memories. Lots of hard work too of course, but always great fun - and is still. I’m so proud of our work, our people, and the unique reputation we’ve built.

Looking ahead, we’ve never been in better shape. We have the most talented and committed group of people in our history, and a client list that’s unrivalled in the industry - and growing. Our international work has grown exponentially in the last few years. And as part of The Engine Group, we are ideally placed to continue to spearhead sponsorship’s unique role in modern marketing.

Easy to say, but let me explain.

We evolved into Synergy a year ago and moved into Engine’s new building just north of Oxford Circus. This meant that, as well as our three existing specialist units - Consultancy, Experiential and Communications - we were able to offer four new services: Branded Content, Digital, Employee Engagement and Sales Promotion. And all under one roof.

Our clients all tell us the same thing: they love it!

We now provide them with the broadest, most flexible and most relevant toolkit for 21st century sponsorship. Successful sponsorships are those which are truly integrated into brand marketing campaigns. Truly outstanding sponsorships are those which act as a catalyst for this integration using compelling ideas which both cut through the media clutter and effectively engage consumers.

We help our clients do that every day.

You can see numerous examples on our website. Two that immediately come to mind are the Guinness Premiership and the Powerade InnerGear campaign, each of which completed a clean sweep of the three major sponsorship awards in the last two years.

Our 25^th year makes this a landmark year for Synergy, but there’s going to be a lot more to shout about. We’ve already announced, for example, that we’re now working with Philips on their global Formula 1 sponsorship and with Betfair to develop their sponsorship strategy and portfolio. There are more announcements in the pipeline - watch this space.

Here’s to the next 25 years!

Karen Earl, Founder and Chairman of Synergy

Ed Kemp from Marketing spoke to Karen about the last 25 years - read his blog here

By Karen Earl on June 4th, 2009

Tags: Branded content, Communications, Consultancy, Digital marketing, Employee engagement, Experiential marketing, Guinness Premiership, Olympic sponsorship, Sales promotion, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultancy, Synergy

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Last week saw two bad-news stories break on Olympic sponsorship by the automotive industry.

First was the news that the IOC had ended its long search for a global Olympic sponsor in the automotive category, exclusively scooped by Around The Rings. The only thing that was surprising about this story was that it took the IOC so long to go public on it.

This followed hard on the heels of General Motors - a major domestic sponsor of Vancouver 2010 - announcing that it was closing 245 dealerships in Canada in the run-up to today’s filing for bankruptcy protection, which unsurprisingly led to speculation in Canada that GM would not be able to meet its commitments to the Vancouver winter games - claims strenuously denied by VANOC.

Will the post-recessionary automotive industry be prepared to fuel each Games’  habitual Games-time requirement for thousands of vehicles? (VANOC’s fleet requirement from GM, for example, is 4,600 vehicles, a not untypical figure, on top of which GM is also paying $14m in cash.)

Unless there’s a major overhaul both of the package of rights on offer by the Olympic Movement and of the approach of auto sector brands to this type of sponsorship, we doubt it.

We’re yet to see any evidence that previous Olympic sponsorships by automotive companies have justified the investment - and this reported statement by VANOC Deputy CEO Dave Cobb, commenting on the GM situation, perhaps partly explains why:

“Not sure we were expecting that much promotional activity at a dealer level, the sponsorship is with the corporate entity and not the dealerships themselves.”

By Tim Crow on June 1st, 2009

Tags: Default, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Vancouver 2010

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