Damaged brands which want to sponsor Team GB to revive their public appeal in the run-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics are unlikely to be signed up, according to the man tasked with bringing in sponsorship and other commercial revenues for Team GB ahead of the next Olympics. British Olympic Association Commercial Dir Simon Massie-Taylor said, “You have to be careful around the reasons that the business wants to get involved. It is not just suddenly hanging around with the nice guys and hoping that people are going to like you again.” He said there had to be more substance to why a brand wanted to be aligned with Team GB than a simple halo effect, and that the BOA were “conscious of what messaging” a possible sponsor was offering.
UNPOPULAR CHOICES: Massie-Taylor was focusing his comments on the big U.K. energy suppliers, which have been heavily criticized for making exorbitant profits at the customer’s expense. The BOA is currently in the market for a Team GB sponsor in the energy supplier category, but Massie-Taylor said the big energy companies “were probably indexing higher than banking as far as unpopularity at the moment” and questioned the reasons why they wanted to be involved with Team GB. As an alternative, he said the BOA might opt to sign up a smaller energy supplier, which would not use its sponsorship of Team GB for the cynical reason of overturning a negative perception of the brand.
BIG GAME HUNTING: On top of int'l partners, such as Proctor & Gamble and Coca-Cola, the BOA has partnerships with companies including BP, adidas and sofa company DFS ahead of Rio 2016. The BOA is now on the hunt for up to three major sponsors, as it looks to attract around £42M ($64M) in sponsorship money in the four-year cycle between the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. Massie-Taylor believes that Team GB’s strong performance in the London 2012 Olympics, winning 65 medals, including 29 Golds, is helping attract sponsors, as is a big chunk of BOA research which reveals the public affection for Team GB. He said “the sponsorship market is always competitive in the U.K.,” but added that the Team GB brand “has this cache and trust that has built up.” Unlike London 2012 Team GB sponsors, which were clearly broken down into different tiers, Rio sponsors will be less structured. Massie-Taylor explained: “What is wanted in the market now is a more flexible approach as to the way you build partnerships.”
SELL, SELL, SELL: On top of Team GB sponsors, one other key revenue stream for the BOA will come from merchandising, according to Massie-Taylor, who said the BOA is hoping to ape the success of the organizers of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. He said this could lead to a Team GB merchandising and licensing business with revenues in excess of $200M a year, with profits coming through branding accessories, key rings and clothing carrying the Team GB brand. Massie-Taylor said, "We can learn a lot from our friends in Canada and notice what they have done since they hosted the games in 2010 and the type of business they have got now which is turning over something like $100 million a year." He added that the U.K. had more than double the population of Canada and Team GB is a more powerful brand.
John Reynolds is a writer in London.
