I love the essence of the olympics, certainly enjoying the national pride and incredible sporting stories, but I believe that the Olympics is now too commercial, corporate and tightly controlled. Is being associated with the olympics still an exciting proposition for consumers?
Every category has a sponsor and from a us survey appearing in Ad Age it appears the public believe Pepsi, Burger King and Nike are all sponsors. Controversially while athletes can not engage with non Olympic sponsors Nike have managed to sponsor the US team. Can brands drive enough value from association with the olympics as a brand platform, i.e. outside of hospitality deals, ability to gain additional feature in retail, or opportunity for additional coverage at venues? As a brand proposition I believe this is becoming harder to justify. If you don’t believe look at the traction that the Nike greatness campaign is gaining.
