The Rio Olympics has been an avenue for many scandals. In fact, it is hard to find pleasing news about this event of late. From the doping scandals that has hit some African and Russian athletes to Indian hockey team’s fight for a television set. However, there is a bright side of the Olympic games. For the first time in World history, there contingents have the highest number of brands than ever. In India alone, the combined value of the brand partners has touched R100 million, an amount which is thrice the value Amula and Samsung rounded up in 2012 London Olympics for the Indian contingent.
The brand partners at Rio Olympics are working hard to ensure people are educated and informed about the games. These efforts come after a survey done in India indicated that only 40% of men and women know about the Olympics. This meant that their market share at the event could be limited due to lack of informed people. Therefore, the campaign was mainly to improve viewer’s interests in the game.
However, their partnership is doomed to experience some challenges given that most on-air sponsors have been slow to sign a deal. Many of them have cited uncertainty about the contingents and odd timing of most broadcasts as the reasons why they are apprehensive to get on board.
However, Arvind Iyengar disputes the fact that viewer’s interests are low. He affirms that people are more aware of the Olympic games and that the brands have warmed up to the potential goldmines present in the event.
Brands are actively leveraging their deals with various contingents for different countries to make their logos visible at Rio. Adidas is the main sponsor of UK team. This is quite unfortunate for Patrick Huston because he won’t be allowed to wear his famous and lucky flat cap.
Nike is also competing for the fair share of the deal at the event. Katarina Jonson is sponsored by Nike, which means she will be wearing the sneakers regardless of the sponsorship deal between Adidas and her UK team.
Other brands like betting companies are not left behind. Betting sites shows such as betonline review, Unibet and Youwin are giving lucrative odd on various Olympic games. This means that the gamblers still have a chance to sit back and relax while enjoy the games and earn some cash. Also, these companies offer helpful information on their sites to help people make wise decisions.
Other biggest sponsors involved in the partnerships include Amul, Li-Ning, Tata Salt and Herbalife. Amul was a major sponsor of the Indian contingent alongside Samsung in 2012 Olympics while Tata Salt and Edelweiss are newcomers.
Deloitte also announced their extension to support the USA team up to the 2020 Olympic games in Japan. The company currently sponsors 15 US athletes. They include USA Rugby, speedskating and others. Other brands behind the team include Hilton, Milk life, jet set, United, USG, Smucker’s, Ameritrade and Oakley.
The Australian contingent will have the sponsorship of Coca Cola who has been with them since 2013. Coca Cola is also among the biggest brands that sponsor the Rio Olympic. Other proud sponsors of the Australian team include Samsung, Omega, Panasonic, Adidas, Atos and many others.
Unlike the 2012 London Olympics where brands were using a more reserved method of marketing, they will employ social approach to marketing in this year’s games. Brands will create ways for people to connect with them on a personal level by sharing the live moments of the games and sharing their experience instead of product promotion.
Coca Cola, who is one of the biggest and longest supporters of the game, currently runs a campaign across 50 markets that involve 79 athletes from 23 countries. What the brand is doing differently this time is that it is making a real-time and fully operational marketing technique in the Rio Olympics.
By: Lee Flynn
Tags: article, Brands, business, Rio Olympics, sports
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