By Greg Hazley
South Korea’s bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics in the city of PyeongChang won the day on Wednesday, a push bolstered by two PR and marketing shops that helped the city edge efforts by France and Germany.
PyeongChang rolled out the red carpet for the IOC during a February visit. |
The successful pitch was the city’s third attempt to host the games as it fell short for the 2010 and 2014 Games.
Vero Communications, the U.K. firm of Mike Lee, worked with the PyeongChang bid since February 2010, handling global media relations and training, messaging and strategy development.
“VERO is honored to have played a role in what is an historic campaign for the Olympic movement and Korea,” said Lee, whose recent victories included London’s 2012 Olympic win and the surprise Qatar 2022 World Cup bid.
Atlanta-based Helios Partners, which specializes in sports marketing and bids for large events like the Olympics, also supported PyeongChang’s effort. The firm joined the pitch in mid-2009 as its lead agency developing an overall communications strategy.
PyeongChang 2018’s CEO YH Cho credited Helios with building the bid’s brand and messaging. “Our technical bid was strong, but Helios helped make the difference by creating managing our brand – ‘New Horizons,’ key messages, presentations and providing overall strategic advice,” he said.
Helios president Terrence Burns the New Horizons tag resonated with the International Olympic Committee because it offered a “value proposition” to the entire Olympic movement, not just to Korea.
Havas agencies represented Annecy, France, in that city’s bid for the 2018 Games.
Weber Shandwick, which helped Sochi, Russia, lock up the 2014 Winter Games, worked with Munich 2018.
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