Thirty-six companies have bought marketing rights to the ‘08 Beijing Games,
and BOCOG is “choosing a final round of suppliers,” according to Fowler
& Lee of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. There are three official beers: Tsingtao,
Yanjing and Budweiser, as BOCOG Deputy Dir of Marketing Liu Jun said, “One
beer cannot cover all China.” Beijing-specific deals “in some categories
have cost advertisers as much as the fees for multiple games.” In the car
category, sources said that VW China’s winning bid was worth about $100M.
VW China Dir of Olympic Marketing Anthony Laver “estimates that in the 12
months before the Games begin, official sponsors will spend as much as $2[B] on
advertising just in China.”
|
Marketers Cashing In On
Association With Liu Xiang (r)
|
LET’S GET IT STARTED: Fowler & Lee note the Beijing
‘08 logo is already on billboards “for dozens of different companies.”
Visa began its Beijing Olympics campaigns in ’04, and Visa Int’l VP/Global
Sponsorship Marketing Sheng Li said, “If anybody starts now, it’s
a bit too late.” Int’l brands “seem to be off to a slower start
than their local rivals, although marketing experts disagree on exactly when and
how brands should use their Olympic association.” A survey by Chinese marketing
consultancy R3 and research firm TNS found that “eight of the top 10 brands
that Chinese consumers associate with the Olympics are local, ... even though
only one of 11 world-wide IOC Olympic partners is Chinese.” TOP sponsor
McDonald’s ranked No. 27. Leo Burnett, China, National Managing Dir Donald
Chan “is advising some of his clients, which include McDonald's, to start
planning — but wait on delivering ads until the second half of 2007.”
Chan: “Local brands are now trying to build a competitive presence against
multinationals. But in terms of Olympic experiences, there is nothing going on
right now. A lot of multinationals were using the World Cup to stay engaged instead.”
ONE TO WATCH: The survey also found that, without prompting,
Chinese consumers associated Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang “with no fewer than
19 brands.” Liu has deals with Visa, Coca-Cola, Yili Group and Nike, “plus
several others” (
WALL
STREET JOURNAL, 8/8).
