Proctor & Gamble Olympics Project Dir Nathan Homer has claimed that the impact of his company's sponsorship of the London Games "has been transformational, both within the company and externally," according to John Reynolds of MARKETING MAGAZINE. Homer, a key player in P&G's "Proud Sponsor Of Mums" activity, said, "One of the things we [P&G] have always struggled with is to find a big enough commercial and marketing platform we could leverage. No one knows who P&G are, but I always tell people what we own." Homer added that sponsorship of the London Games "had given P&G this platform and had resulted in more integration within the company," as the Games had involved all departments at P&G, not just marketing. He also believed the Games had "sky-rocketed" the P&G brand in the minds of consumers. Homer was speaking at the Sports Marketing 360 Thursday. His views were echoed by Coca-Cola Head of Olympic Sponsorship Assets for the London Games Mark Osikoya, who "played a central role in Coke's 'Move To The Beat' campaign." Osikoya said that one lesson that Coke had learned from the Games was that "closer integration within an organisation was paramount, particularly between Coca-Cola itself and its distribution arm, Coca-Cola Enterprises" (MARKETINGMAGAZINE.co.uk, 9/27).
