Olympic Marketing Notes: Chobani, GE, Coca-Cola Ads Scoring High Recognition

Data from TV analytics firm Ace Metrix shows that leading up to and during the first 10 days of the London Games, TV ads from IOC TOP sponsors General Electric and Coca-Cola and USOC sponsor Chobani greek yogurt "have earned the highest average Ace Scores among official Team USA and London Olympics sponsors,” according to Karlene Lukovitz of MARKETING DAILY. The Ace Score measures the “effectiveness of advertising creative, based on surveys of a representative sample of the U.S. TV viewing audience." Attributes including relevance, persuasion, watchability, information and attention “are measured to arrive at Ace Scores ranging from 1 to 950.” Chobani has pulled “an average score of 594” with its “Proudly With You” ad, part of its integrated sponsorship campaign. GE not only has “the highest-scoring ad to date -- ‘First Chance’ (646 Ace) … but the second-highest average Ace score to date (589).” Coca-Cola has “the third-highest average score (579), reflecting more than a dozen consistently high-scoring ads” (MEDIAPOST.com, 8/7).

THANK YOU, MOM: In a special to MEDIAPOST, sports marketing agency rEvolution Senior Dir of PR Dan Lobring wrote IOC TOP sponsor Procter & Gamble has been “one sponsor that has had the integrated marketing pedal to the metal from the start.” The company’s “digital onslaught started early” with its “Best Job” digital short, which salutes the mothers of Olympians. The clip “immediately went viral and has hardly slowed down.” In the week leading up to the Opening Ceremony, P&G “opened a massive, 65,000-square-foot ‘U.S. Family Home’ next to the London Bridge.” The space “connects well” with its earlier digital campaign “because it focuses on both the athletes and their families.” It “connects the two and is an excellent example of how an integrated Olympic campaign is supposed to work” (MEDIAPOST.com, 8/7).

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW: Google Dir of Financial Services John Kaplan indicated that searches for Chobani are “up 150 percent in the last 30 days,” while and P&G and fellow IOC TOP sponsor Visa “are up 40 percent or more over the last 30 days as well.” Kaplan said that advertisers are "spending a tremendous amount of money to sponsor the Olympics and ... they’re finding ways to leverage this in digital” ("Power Lunch," CNBC, 8/7).

CHANGING GEARS: MARKETING magazine's Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith reported that McDonald's has "shifted into the next phase" of its $15.7M Olympics campaign, "airing pictures and footage straight from fans during the events," which are used for its "We're All Making The Games" campaign. The crowd-sourced ads, via Leo Burnett, are made by "splicing clips of fans" watching the Games over the past week, supported by "digital outdoor ads featuring pictures that Olympics fans have posted of themselves onto a dedicated Facebook page." The first of the “reactive TV ads launched on Saturday, with another creative already being filmed to air next Saturday” (MARKETINGMAGAZINE.co.uk, 8/7).

HALFTIME REPORT: MARKETWATCH’s Shawn Langlois noted IOC TOP sponsor Dow execs on Sunday “gathered at the JW Steakhouse near Hyde Park to update a handful of media guests about the journey of a first-time major sponsor.” It was a “so-far-so-good tale, despite a few of the expected hiccups.” Dow Strategic Marketing Dir Dean Palmieri acknowledged that “early issues with transportation and uniforms have been endured.” But, “all in all, these relative sponsorship newbies appear to be aptly navigating this logistical nightmare.” A threat of protests by the Indian delegation in the lead-up to the Games “may be the most prominent of Dow’s impacts on Olympic Park, but the company’s products can be found just about everywhere, from the blue turf at the field-hockey venue on up to the roof, as well as in the piping” (MARKETWATCH.com, 8/7).

BEAT UP THE BEAT: Coca-Cola Global Dir of Marketing Claudia Navarro said the IOC TOP sponsor is "definitely tracking very closely and measuring every single one of the activations" around the London Games, and there are "different ways of measuring the different elements of the platform." Navarro: "One of the things that we normally track is, of course, the business impact that the communications campaign has for each of the countries activating. In the long-term, really it’s all about provoking happiness in the next generation.” Navarro said between the downloads for mobile phones and viewers following Coca-Cola’s “Beat TV,” it all indicates "we have engaged them in this concept of really get them moving to the beat” (MARKETINGMAGAZINE.co.uk, 8/8).