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Olympic sponsors sweat it out

Posted in General, Advertising, Media, Marketing, Branwell Johnson, Latest reporters' blogs March 25th, 2008 by Branwell Johnson

If you are a marketer for one of the Beijing Olympic sponsors maybe you should be investing in a fine array of wigs right now – because it looks like you could be tearing your hair out by the time the games begin.

You’d have to have been buried in Easter eggs over the weekend not to notice the groundswell of protest now building around the Beijing Olympics following the crackdown on protestors in Tibet.

For the marketing world this could snowball into a disaster. Only today Sir Martin Sorrell said he expected six per cent revenue growth this year at WPP largely due to the games.

But if advertisers get cold feet about being associated with coverage of the Beijing Olympics, and I’m not even talking about the sponsors but clients being canvassed to take spots, for instance, in holiday brochures, book ads in TV coverage of the opening ceremonies etc, then the repercussions will be huge.

The sponsors themselves are keeping notably quiet right now although you can bet they’ll be having crisis meetings behind closed doors regarding how to deal with any potential brand damage and how to implement their sponsorship deals with sensitivity going forward. The big names that have signed up purely for the Beijing Olympics include Volkswagen, Adidas and Johnson & Johnson while the Worldwide Olympic Partners include Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Samsung, Kodak and Visa.

The lighting of the Olympic torch in Greece was disrupted and the protesting images doubtless beamed all over the world (though not China). Direct action will be stepped up as the opening ceremony approaches and in the background various politicians and other luminaries are beginning to become more vocal about supporting the event.

Countries have boycotted the Olympics before – in 1984 America and 13 other countries (including China!) boycotted the Moscow Olympics over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The UK supported the boycott but allowed UK athletes to make the decision to attend individually.

The situation may not reach these drastic levels but if you are planning campaigns around the Olympics do expect some heated debate and strap in for a bumpy ride. What action do you think sponsors should take to limit damage by association when the whole point is association?