If there was "ever any doubt that Team GB would struggle to be a commercial brand" post-London 2012, the athletes' "epic medal haul this weekend is the strongest indicator of the value it now has," according to Seb Joseph of THE DRUM. It also "sealed the team’s transformation into a commercial brand." The value was there in the wake of London 2012 "but much of that stemmed from being the host" and so its marketing team "paused for breath in the immediate aftermath" to understand what the Team GB brand means. Team GB Head of Marketing Leah Davis said, "We knew going into London that we really wanted to create a commercial brand and engage with the nation but we wanted to take time after it ended to do a bit of soul searching." Communicating that value "was always going to be different to last time around given the absence of the financial muscle" of an organizing committee like LOCOG behind it and the build-up to this year's Games "blighted by social and doping scandals." Davis said, "That whole concept of home nation support is basically part of what we classify as marginal gain -- the more the team feels supported, it can contribute to the success of the athletes on the field of play." Harnessing "all that goodwill is a welcome problem for Davis and her team," who are calling on everything from Facebook Live to Snapchat and experiential to CRM to "get the most" from a budget that is "always going to play second fiddle to sports performance." Davis: "We’ve been asking people to send in messages of support and then we’re using them on all our branding in the village and in the team house over in Rio." Having a "robust fan engagement strategy is impossible without the brand partners to amplify those messages." And while the roster of Team GB sponsors is not as big as London 2012, Davis assured a change in the way it works with the likes of adidas and Nissan this year "offsets any losses it has incurred." She added, "It's much more about creating sponsorship activations that are focused on where the fan is. I think that’s the difference in how we activate our sponsorships compared to the last few years" (THE DRUM, 8/15).
