Chinese Olympic Sponsors Waiting For Big Gains From Games
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Some Chinese Companies Waiting
For Boost From Olympic Sponsorship |
The few Chinese sponsors who were "hoping the Olympics boost would help them catch up to, or overtake, the competition" in the Chinese market have "yet to report impressive gains," according to Loretta Chao of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Though analysts said that the Beijing Games are giving a small temporary boost to companies' performances in China, the effect "could be less, or come later, than some shareholders anticipated." Olympic sponsorships were "considered a coup -- but they haven't been a ticket to quick or big rewards." BDA China indicated Sohu.com, the official Internet content service sponsor of the Beijing Games, currently is second among Chinese Internet portals with a 13.7% market share, the same position it held when it won its sponsorship in '05. Also, state-owned dairy producer Yili in '05 had "more market share than chief competitor China Mengniu Dairy when Yili won a sponsorship" in '05, but within a year Mengniu surpassed Yili. The two companies now are "neck and neck, and Mengniu has made up for not having the Olympics sponsorship by using aggressive marketing." However, Paris-based ad agency Publicis Worldwide COO Richard Pinder said, "Olympics sponsorship has to be about a lot more than just one year of sales." Chao notes Yili "apparently hasn't won broad recognition as an Olympics sponsor." A CSM Media Research survey of 1,500 consumers, released this month, showed that 17% recognized Yili as the Games' dairy-industry sponsor, while 14% "mistakenly thought it was Mengniu" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/17).
COKE IS IT: Coca-Cola leads all Olympic sponsors in consumer recall with a 37% awareness level, according to CSM Media Research and R3, an Asian-Pacific marketing agency undertaking quarterly studies of Olympic marketing in China. Lenovo follows with 17% awareness. Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang and Rockets C Yao Ming are featured most among athletes in China and remain the country's most popular sports stars, the study showed, while recognition of Bucks F Yi Jianlian is growing. The study is based on questionnaires answered by 1,500 consumers age 15-39 in 10 Chinese cities. R3's client list includes among others Lenovo, Johnson & Johnson, Visa, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Nestle and L'Oreal (Tripp Mickle, SportsBusiness Journal).
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