A new survey by Leo Burnett's Starcom Worldwide shows
that Olympics sponsors "were better at getting viewers'
attention than regular TV ad spots" during NBC's coverage of
the Sydney Games, according to Jim McConville of ELECTRONIC
MEDIA. The telephone survey of 581 people between the ages
of 15-65 was taken on the last Thursday and Friday of NBC's
Olympic coverage (September 28 and 29). Starcom Senior VP &
Global Research Dir Kate Lynch said that based on the
survey, Starcom is recommending advertisers "opt" for an
Olympics sponsorship. Lynch: "If you are going to make the
most of the Olympics, you do need to have the sponsorship
and then try to [create] relevant, creative ads. ... There's
no point in just putting your money in and then sticking any
old ad up there. If you can't create some relevant
communication package, don't bother." Meanwhile, Starcom's
survey shows that even though Nike was not an official IOC
sponsor, 24% of the viewers who were polled ranked the
company as "the biggest advertiser" during the Games, while
18% "perceived" Coca-Cola as the biggest, and 17% named
McDonald's. Official IOC sponsors McDonald's and Coca-Cola
both ran more spots during the Olympics, 89 and 88,
respectively, compared to Nike's 64. The survey also showed
that 21% of the respondents said they paid attention to the
ads during the Olympics, compared to 17% while watching
general TV, and 18% for general sporting events. However,
35% said they were "flipping to other channels" during
Olympic ads, compared with 31% for general sporting events
and 16% for general TV (ELECTRONIC MEDIA, 11/13).
