The Olympic Games Effect

Marketing at the Olympics, the attraction and the rewards

Essential reading in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics, the newly revised and fully updated second edition of The Olympic Games Effect offers fascinating sports marketing and branding insights into the promotion of the Games themselves, and their unique attraction for corporations in particular.

The important lessons of past Olympics will be used to show a hundred year-plus tradition based on a several thousand year old testament to the love of sports and competition, revealing how, in recent years, this has evolved into a seductively attractive vehicle for a wide range of audiences, from consumers to corporations.

• Loaded with historical information on the Olympics, the book traces the history of the Olympics back to 776 BC. This legacy is vital to the ongoing success of the Olympics, and is at the heart of why brands care so much
• Packed with illustrations that illustrate how the Games have become arguably the world's most successful sports event and the marketing opportunities this has led to
• Includes relevant business strategies and recommendations to help companies understand how to make more effective sports sponsorship decisions

This timely new edition of The Olympic Games Effect shows the value contributed by sponsoring the world's premier sporting event, and explains how, by extension, other global sports events have the potential to generate similarly impressive results for their sponsors.

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction xi

Section I HISTORY, LEGACY, TRADITION

Chapter 1 The Olympic Dream 3

Chapter 2 The Olympic Experience 15

Chapter 3 The Olympic Dynamics 35

Chapter 4 The Olympic Host Cities 47

Chapter 5 Section I Sponsorship Preparation Questions 115

Section II SUCCESS AND ACHIEVEMENT

Chapter 6 The Olympic Stage 129

Chapter 7 The Olympic Halo 145

Chapter 8 The Olympic Spirit 159

Chapter 9 Section II Sponsorship Preparation Questions 169

Section III CONTROVERSY AND CHALLENGE

Chapter 10 The Olympic Challenges 175

Chapter 11 Section III Sponsorship Preparation Questions 185

Section IV REPUTATION DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 12 The Olympic Opportunity 189

Chapter 13 The Olympic Sponsor Case Brief: Acer 221

Chapter 14 The Olympic Sponsor Case Brief: Samsung 227

Chapter 15 The Olympic Sponsor Case Study: Coca-Cola 235

Chapter 16 The Olympic Sponsor Case Study: Visa 245

Chapter 17 Section IV Sponsorship Preparation Questions 261

Section V OLYMPIC MARKETING VICTORY

Chapter 18 The Olympic Fans 267

Chapter 19 The Olympic Creative Execution 295

Chapter 20 The Olympic Marketing Communications 313

Chapter 21 The Olympic Sponsorship Checklist 337

Chapter 22 The Olympic Sponsorship Lessons 341

Chapter 23 Section V Sponsorship Preparation Questions 345

About the Companion Web Site 349

Notes 351

Index 385

"John Davis' book, The Olympic Games Effect, made a key contribution to understanding the economics of the Olympics, marketing of the Olympics, and the Olympic Games as a brand. The second edition of this important and readable volume offers new case studies and insights on social media. It should be required reading for corporate marketers tied to sport."
—Glenn Hubbard, Dean and Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School

"Olympic marketing is fundamentally different from what is taught in traditional marketing texts, which is why this book is such a welcome addition to marketing knowledge. This edition contains updates with new observations from the Beijing and Vancouver Olympics. It explores the significance of the latest shifts in marketing derived from such trends as the rise in social media."
—Lynn Kahle, Giustina Professor and Head, Dept. of Marketing, Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon

"The sponsorship of the Olympics has been a critical part of the marketing success of many global companies including Samsung. As South Korea prepares for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics Samsung and scores of potential sponsors will be debating the right strategy on how to leverage those Games to help communicate their brands. Worry no more as John Davis' The Olympic Games Effect will become the key 'go to' resource for these companies."
—Dae Ryun Chang, Professor of Marketing, Yonsei University

"As a fellow International Olympic Academy faculty member and professor of sport management, I can write that John Davis' book should stand as a required companion piece to Dick Pound's Inside the Olympics in helping a very wide population grasp the Olympic Games' magnitude and global importance. The Olympic Games Effect is well written, thoroughly researched, and greatly adds to the canon of Olympic literature. It is heroic, like a true Olympian, in its commitment and achievement."
—Rick Burton, David B. Falk Professor of Sport Management at Syracuse University and author of the historical thriller The Darkest Mission

"Just follow John Davis into the fascinating world of the Olympic Games and the enormous potentials they offer as a powerful global brand. Learn more about the opportunities and risks of Olympic sponsorship and how the pure idea and image of the Olympic Games create value for everyone involved."
—Professor Dr. Anton Meyer, Head of Marketing Department, Munich School of Management, LMU

John A. Davis is the author of several acclaimed marketing books: The Olympic Games Effect; Competitive Success; Measuring Marketing; Magic Numbers for Sales Management; and Magic Numbers for Consumer Marketing. He is a member of the marketing faculty at the Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon. Previously, he was Dean, Global MBA Program, and Professor of Marketing at SP Jain, with campuses in Singapore, Dubai, and Sydney. In 2010, he was the recipient of the "Best Professor in Marketing" honor, awarded by CMO Asia and Asia's Best Business School Awards. Before SP Jain, he was Department Chair and Professor of Marketing at Emerson College, and Professor of Marketing Practice at Singapore Management University, where he received the "Most Inspiring Teacher" award and Dean's Teaching Honors. John regularly consults with leading global companies and is a sought-after conference speaker, including: TEDx, YPOs, Global Brand Forum, World Knowledge Forum, American Marketing Association, the Lausanne Sports Management Conference, and Entrepreneur's Organization. He has founded two award-winning companies and has led marketing teams at Nike, Informix, and Transamerica. He received his MBA from Columbia University and his BA from Stanford University.

John and his wife, Barb, have three terrific children, Katie, Chris, and Bridget. They also have two dogs, Milo and Grinner, and two cats, Spike and Zola. Grinner thinks she rules the world, and the other family pets support this delusion.

At their core, the Olympic Games are about athletes and athletic competition. But the Olympics have evolved into a much larger phenomenon that extends beyond the boundaries of sport. Combining a potential viewing audience of over 4.5 billion people with such an historical event, the Olympics are a unique and highly beneficial sponsorship opportunity for companies striving to set themselves apart from the competition.

This new edition of The Olympic Games Effect, revised and updated for the 2012 London Games, builds on the theme of its predecessor while adding fresh content and data from the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, and the first Youth Olympic Games. Along the way, author John Davis:

• Provides more in-depth insights about The Olympic Partner (TOP) sponsors—the highest level of Olympic sponsorship—and what they are doing to make their Olympic investments productive and value adding

• Discusses the impact each Olympics had on the city and nation where the Games were hosted

• Examines the lessons of companies that have benefited from sponsoring the Olympics and reveals how these lessons can be applied to other sports sponsorships

The Olympic Games offer a global stage that reaches one of the largest audiences of any event in the world. With The Olympic Games Effect, you'll discover how to leverage this unique opportunity to create a long-lasting impression that will positively impact your brand—from both an image and an economic standpoint.

Praise for The Olympic Games Effect

"John Davis' book, The Olympic Games Effect, made a key contribution to understanding the economics of the Olympics, marketing of the Olympics, and the Olympic Games as a brand. The second edition of this important and readable volume offers new case studies and insights on social media. It should be required reading for corporate marketers tied to sport." —Glenn Hubbard, Dean and Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School

"Olympic marketing is fundamentally different from what is taught in traditional marketing texts, which is why this book is such a welcome addition to marketing knowledge. This edition contains updates with new observations from the Beijing and Vancouver Olympics. It explores the significance of the latest shifts in marketing derived from such trends as the rise in social media." —Lynn Kahle, Giustina Professor and Head, Dept. of Marketing, Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon

"The sponsorship of the Olympics has been a critical part of the marketing success of many global companies including Samsung. As South Korea prepares for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics Samsung and scores of potential sponsors will be debating the right strategy on how to leverage those Games to help communicate their brands. Worry no more as John Davis' The Olympic Games Effect will become the key 'go to' resource for these companies." —Dae Ryun Chang, Professor of Marketing, Yonsei University

"As a fellow International Olympic Academy faculty member and professor of sport management, I can write that John Davis' book should stand as a required companion piece to Dick Pound's Inside the Olympics in helping a very wide population grasp the Olympic Games' magnitude and global importance. The Olympic Games Effect is well written, thoroughly researched, and greatly adds to the canon of Olympic literature. It is heroic, like a true Olympian, in its commitment and achievement." —Rick Burton, David B. Falk Professor of Sport Management at Syracuse University and author of the historical thriller The Darkest Mission

"Just follow John Davis into the fascinating world of the Olympic Games and the enormous potentials they offer as a powerful global brand. Learn more about the opportunities and risks of Olympic sponsorship and how the pure idea and image of the Olympic Games create value for everyone involved." —Professor Dr. Anton Meyer, Head of Marketing Department, Munich School of Management, LMU