About 2 billion TV viewers are expected to watch the 2006 Winter Games this month, with 35,000 spectators at the opening ceremony alone in Torino (aka Turin) Italy. As with every Olympics, brands are racing to the starting blocks with marketing campaigns that activate their sponsor status. This year’s field features several companies that are veterans of The Games, as well as a few venturing on the slopes for the first time. Which programs will make it to the winner’s blocks? Keep your eye on these.
Giving the World a Coke
Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of the Winter Games stretches far beyond Torino, Italy. The company, which dropped a reported $100 million to renew its sponsorship of The Games for eight more years, is activating the deal with events, on-pack promotions, instant-win games, TV spots, ties with athletes and even random acts of kindness as it presses its message across the globe—all around the tagline “Live Olympic”.
In the U.S., a “Drink. Watch. Cheer. Win” on-pack promotion features two-time Olympic medalist Michelle Kwan; freestyle skier and silver medalist Joe Pack; 2002 Olympic bobsleigh champion Vonetta Flowers: short track speed skater and two-time medalist Apolo Anton Ohno; and skier Ralph Green, a 2006 Paralympic Games hopeful. Consumers enter the codes and are assigned a Winter Games event. If the U.S. wins any medal, the player gets a coupon for five two-liter bottles of Coke products. Other prizes include: 17 trips for two to dine with the U.S. Olympic Team in Washington, D.C. in May and one grand-prize trip for two to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. An online sweeps, in partnership with NBC, which is airing The Games, and Universal Inc., offered a chance to win a trip to a Coca-Cola “Live Olympic” opening ceremony viewing party at Universal Orlando.
In Switzerland, an on-pack promotion with a large retailer sold out in the first week, as players scrambled to win trips for two to the closing ceremonies. Scratch cards in shopping malls offer ski passes and commemorative 2006 cans from the Games.
Canadian consumers will find an on-pack offer for a chance to win one of three trips to an Olympic Winter Games host city. (Vancouver is hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics).
In host country Italy, local activities swirl around the torch relay and branded field reps roam the streets performing random act of kindness.
“If they see somebody doing good, they give them something nice,” says Philipp Bodzenta, a global spokesperson for Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola has wrapped plenty of fundraising into its overall campaign to support Olympic hopefuls. the company has been an Olympics Games sponsor for more than 75 years.
Big Red Shoes in the Starter Blocks
By Amy Johannes
McDonald’s Corp. is spreading word of its long-time sponsorship of the Olympic Games by branding cups, packaging and its new gift card, the Arch Card, with images of U.S. athletes. Its restaurants around the world are activating the sponsorship in a variety of ways, but all share a common theme with the look and feel of the Olympic branded packaging. McDonald’s has also tapped the host city, Torino, as the locale to debut nutritional information on most of its product packaging.
“Not only do we want to serve good food, but [we want to] promote a healthy, active lifestyle with kids and families,” says Nick Marrone, senior director, global sports marketing for McDonald’s.
New for this year, McDonald’s Olympic Champion crewmembers will launch an online blog chronicling their journeys to Torino and Olympic experiences once there. The site goes live Feb. 6 as part of the company’s Olympic Champion Crew Celebration, at McDonalds.com.
Under the sponsorship—the company’s sixth consecutive year as the official restaurant of the Olympic Games—McDonald’s will bring its top crewmembers (300 employees from around the world) to The Games to serve attendees. The company will feed more than 15,000 coaches, athletes, media and Olympics officials for free at two full-service restaurants in the Torino Olympic Village.
In Canada, customers can buy one of six mini jerseys from the country’s Olympic Hockey Team with a restaurant purchase of fries, a drink, hash browns or a side salad this month. The mini jerseys are available for $2.99 through Feb. 28 or while supplies last.
Through the Olympic Youth Program, McDonald’s in Germany will send a group of children to The Games. In China, restaurants will use the Winter Games to jumpstart the country’s role to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, launching McDonald’s Beijing logo, Marrone says.
“We can touch 50 million consumers [a day] around the world,” he says. “It’s wonderful for us to have a relationship with a movement that has great values...to deliver key messages to our audience and create a unique experience in our restaurants.”
