By Arthur Solomon
During my nearly 25 years at Burson-Marsteller, I played key roles managing and/or creating the publicity thrust for significant Olympic programs. That included traveling internationally as an advisor with ranking government officials and executives of the Seoul Olympics and Asian Games Organizing Committees, and with the highest level of State of Victoria (Australia) government.
I also was a presenter at an IOC sports writer’s seminar and managed the USOC account. This experience gives me a pretty good idea of how to secure client credit for sponsorships in news stories.
By now most marketers are well into their Olympic hype for the London games. For the next several weeks it will be hard to avoid. I believe that the Olympic Games are the world’s most important sporting event (as well as the most commercialized, criticized and politicized competition, only eclipsed by the presidential campaign).
But when a client would ask my advice about what sports-tie would provide the most public relations/publicity opportunities exclusively in the U.S, the Olympics were not on the top of my list, even though I have no doubt that for a world-wide marketing campaign it is unparalleled.
For clients wanting an extensive sports marketing/publicity program in the U.S., I say think of football, baseball and basketball.
Here’s why.
In order for an Olympic sponsorship to be successful and, hopefully, stand apart from the numerous TV commercials of other sponsors, it must be supported by a costly advertising program and/or promotion. (And that does not include the expensive buy-in.) But history shows that advertising clutter diminishes brand identification.
Importantly, in the U.S., Olympic publicity media coverage has a short shelve life: several weeks before the games and a few weeks after the games.
Advertising opportunities have a longer shelve life in the U.S., but it is not comparable to the football, baseball and basketball promotional opportunities which are available to sports marketers year-round. Event coverage dominates during the Olympic games. Then like “Puff, The Magic Dragon,” the Olympics slips away, missed by only a relatively few loyalists until it emerges a few years later and is once again visible. A story in the July 12 USA Today about the marketing of Olympic athletes said as much: “America’s attention on the Olympics evaporates quickly.”
As every sports fan and sports marketer knows, as soon as the Olympics’ closing ceremonies are history, sports reporting in the U.S. returns to the baseball divisional races, soon joined by professional and college football and basketball coverage.
Also, as reported in the July 3 Wall Street Journal, telecasts of the Olympics often does not attract the audience that some marketers want, meaning additional social media efforts are necessary to reach a targeted audience.
In contrast, football, baseball and basketball receive unlimited year-round major media coverage, presenting many more opportunities for brands to maximize their sponsorships by using athletes and specialized non-athletes, as physicians, trainers, psychologists, etc. as spokespersons. Hardly a day goes by when an athlete (my choice are respected retired ballplayers) is not interviewed by sports journalists.
The Olympics also receives some coverage year round in the U.S. But it is mostly negative reporting on Olympic politics, demonstrations by Olympic city opponents, the massive debt incurred by host cities from staging the games, the threat of terrorism at the games or problems leading up to the competitions.
The negative criticism often gains steam in the weeks prior to the games and continues during and after the competitions are history. On June 15, the Wall Street Journal headlined a story, “London Olympics Outpaced by Economic Woes.” On June 18, the New York Times ran a story about the resale of tickets which said, “National Olympic committees are accused of feeding a black market.” On July 11, both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal had stories about Londoners complaining about Olympic preparations.
On July 13, the New York Times devoted a story to the security problems in London. On the same day, an MSNBC report said that London “is in lockdown” as the military and police increase security measures. In the July 14-15 Wall Street Journal, an almost half-page story was headlined, “Security Shortfall Spotlights British firm.” On July 16, CBS radio reported that security was a prime topic in London over the weekend and the CBS Evening News did a negative story titled, “Is London ready?” On July 17, both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal ran stories about the pre-competition organization foul ups in London.
Even the attire of athletes received critical Olympic coverage, when ABC News reported that the uniforms for the U.S. team were made in China. (The story, which had legs, was quickly picked up by other news outlets and also became fodder for Democratic and GOP members of Congress, proving that bipartisanship can exist when the subject is of no consequences to the welfare of U.S. citizens.) The constant China coverage of the Ralph Lauren uniforms also “…appears to be a public- relations nightmare for the company,” said a July 15 New York Times article.
True, football, baseball, and basketball also receive negative coverage, but the sports are so popular here that most fans disregard the damaging stories.
Importantly, as many savvy public relations and advertising people know, it is very easy to prepare a legal program giving a client the appearance of having an official
Olympic presence without being a sponsor. (The May 14-20 Sports Business Journal has a segment of a larger story devoted to the problem, as does the July 9-22 issue of ADWEEK.)
I’ve always been a proponent of sector/targeted PR/publicity programs crafted in a manner that makes it difficult for editors to eliminate specific message points. I’ve always believed that mega sporting events might not be the correct venue for most companies. So, while I believe that the Olympics are the world’s paramount athletic event, it is not the proper fit for companies with less than a gargantuan budget wanting a targeted program.
Because, with the Olympics, as Cole Porter said many years ago, Anything Goes, which now includes guerilla marketing, used with great success by reputable house hold name corporations.
There are numerous promotions by teams during the long football, baseball and basketball seasons, making it much more difficult (but not impossible) for marketers to pretend they are part of the family.
So if a client wants to get the most bangs for its sports marketing publicity dollars exclusively in the U.S market, my advice is to think touchdown, home run or dunk.
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Arthur Solomon is a former senior VP at Burson-Marsteller, where handled national and international accounts. He now is a frequent contributor to public relations and sports business publications, consults on public relations projects and is on the Seoul Peace Prize nominating committee. He is available at [email protected]. |