Celebrating America, the Olympic Games and their Sponsors

Happy 4th of July! It's such a beautiful morning here today and with Independence Day falling on a Friday it has given many of us Americans the gift of a long summer weekend. We have plans to visit some friends who have a place on Canandaigua Lake today, one of New York's magnificent Finger Lakes. It's such a picturesque part of the country and one that has been experiencing a growth in local wineries which has helped to raise the bar of New York State wines. Anyhow, I'm anxious to get out there and enjoy the day. However, it's been such a hectic last few weeks (I did survive the high school graduation party) and I haven't been on my blog, so here I am.

Today is the holiday in which we celebrate our country's freedom. However, many of us Americans this year are trying to remember how proud we are to be Americans, and yes I did say "trying"...it's been kinda difficult to do with the current presidential administration we have in place. But the Olympic Games are back this summer and they are helping to again bring out our sense of patriotism. We are now starting to see some of the trials on TV and hearing more and more about our U.S. teams and the individuals who are getting ready to compete in Beijing.

Millions of dollars are spent by brands to be official sponsors of the games as well supporters of the individual teams. This year some of the corporate brands that have been sponsors for years are getting some harsh criticism from international human rights activists that feel they are endorsing China's human rights record. However, Worldwide Olympic Game sponsors such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Kodak and Visa are all back. Unfortunately however, following the closing ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic games Kodak will conclude it's sponsorship as the Worldwide Official Imaging Sponsor which it has held for the past 100+ years.

It was back during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games that I got so heavily involved in creating and executing promotions for Kodak that I realized what a huge marketing event this is. During that year Kodak not only promoted it's worldwide sponsorship, but also supported the individual sports (national governing bodies or NGBs as they are called). The strategy was to assign specific sports to specific retailers and develop exclusive tie-in programs.

I was leading the agency team at the time working with Kodak on this program which resulted in 73 different account-specific promotional campaigns that we rolled-out in a six-month period for about 33 different retailers such as Wal-Mart, kmart, Target, Walgreens, Kroger, Safeway and some that have merged and are no longer such as Eckerd Drug and Revco. Many of these included sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip to attend the Olympic Games.

I learned an extraordinary amount that year about working with the Olympic Committee and the individual NGB's as well as learning the differences and individual needs of Kodak's retail customers. All these promotions were communicated mostly through in-store merchandising and some with retail advertising. Nothing existed online at all yet. That was just 12 years ago, and think about how different it is today. Not only have the promotions moved online, but the coverage of the games have as well.

So, from now until the games begin in August I will be covering many of the different interactive promotions and marketing programs that the various sponsors have developed. Thanks to those brands that support the games and the teams. They pay a huge price to be an official sponsor and without their support these games could not take place. So please do support them and their products and services as well as stay clear of those that try and jump on the bandwagon unofficially.

Have a great 4th of July weekend and stay safe. Please visit my last year's post which includes a vintage 4th of July video from 1940.

Comments

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I think sports are the best source to develop the true feelings of patriotism in the present scenario.