How Media and Marketing Drive the Olympic Games

How Media and Marketing Drive the Olympic Games The Olympics are more than a sporting event. Throughout the last 116 years, the Summer Games have both powered and been powered by innovations in the media and marketing universe. From radio days and the birth of TV, to live streaming and Twitter, content platforms have evolved with the Games, carrying them to every corner of the globe. And where there's an audience, you know brands won't be too far behind. Marketing Design Year Media Milestones Businessman George 1896 Averoff donates one 16-year-old Kodak supports the first modern Olympic Games via a souvenir program. million drachmas to fund Athens the games. Greek runner Spyridon Louis wins the marathon. 1900 Women are allowed to compete in the Games. Paris 1904 St. Louis Runner Frederick Lorz is disqualified for riding in a car with his manager for 17.7 km of the marathon. The Olympic Rings are introduced. 1908 London 1912 Brands can purchase the rights to take photo- graphs and sell memora- bilia at the Games. Stockholm 1918 Games are cancelled due to World War I. 1920 Great Britain wins the Antwerp last Olympic tug-of-war competition. Coca-Cola l'OLYMEADE PARISK94 1924 The first live radio broadcast lets listeners tune into the Paris Games rather than read about them the next day. Coca-Cola teams up with the Olympics, kicking off what is now the oldest continuous Olympic brand partnership. 1928 Amsterdam X-OLYMPIAD 1932 Los Angeles The first Olympic Village is built for male athletes. Photo finish and automatic timing are introduced. 1OS ANGELES 1932 1936 In the first live TV broadcast of a sporting event, The Olympics are African-American sprinter Jesse Owens wins four gold medals as Nazi Germany hosts the Games. Berlin seen around Berlin via a closed-circuit network. ULYMEAD British European Airways (presently known as British Airways) sponsors the London Olympics, marking the beginning of a 64-year partnership with Britain's Olympic 1948 London hosts the first London post-war Games after 1940 and 1944 Games are cancelled. movement. LONDON 1948 1952 Helsinki 1952 XV OLYMPIA HELSINKI 1956 Due to Australia's strict equine quarantine laws, all horse-related events take place in Stockholm. TIAMPAD Melbourne MELBOU 1960 Rome MCMLX The Olympic organizing committee earns $1 million from "Olympia" branded cigarettes. The tobacco sponsorship category is banned by 1988. 1964 Official results are stored on a computer for the first time. The Games beam into 40 countries via satellite. Tokyo TOKYO 1964 MESILIES 1968 Mexico City The Olympics in colour! Slow-motion footage is also made available live for the first time. Swedish pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Lilijenwall is the first athlete to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Members of the militant Palestinian group Black September take 11 Israeli athletes hostage, later killing them. Games are suspended for 34 hours. 1972 Munich Anabolic steroid testing is introduced. East German Olympic team is suspected of pervasive steroid use. 1976 McDonald's partners with the Olympics for the first time as the Montreal Games run 796 percent over budget. Montreal Montréal 1976 Only 80 countries participate in the Games (the fewest since 1956) due to a boycott protesting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. 1980 Игры XXII OnnMaAbi Москва 1980 Moscow A record 140 countries 1984 Los Angeles participate in the Olympics despite the USSR's attempt to organize a counter-boycott. 1985: The IOC launches the Olympic Partner (TOP) Programme, the highest level of worldwide Olympic sponsorship. 1988 Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson is stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for the use of anabolic steroids. Seoul Roughly 9 out of 10 people in the U.S. and the U.K. tune into the Barcelona Games, but NBC and partner Cablevision lose millions on a failed pay-per-view experiment. NBA players are allowed to participate in the Games, setting the stage for the United States' 1992 Barcelona '92 Barcelona gold medal "Dream Team." The Games are funded 1996 entirely by private dollars for the first time. Meanwhile, non-sponsor Nike steals the Olympic spotlight from Adidas, raising concerns about "guerilla marketing." The first Olympic website is launched, generating 189 million hits. The IOC covers the cost of broadcast The Centennial Olympic Park bombing kills one spectator and injures 111 others. Atlanta transmissions to Atlania 1996 countries in Africa. 2000 Sydney 2e00 Sydney 2004 Online streaming of the Games is available for The Olympic Games return to Athens and the Olympic Torch tours the world for the first time. Athens 2006: The London ATHENS 2004 the first time in several Olympic and Paralympic Games Act becomes U.K. law, introducing the most comprehensive regulation on Olympics-related marketing ever. countries. American swimmer Michael Phelps wins 8 gold medals, setting numerous records. 4.7 billion people tune in worldwide, making this the most watched o date. The Games are produced and broadcast in high definition as the IOC streams content online in 78 African, Asian and Middle Eastern 2008 Bejing 2002 Beijing countries. Games 2012 40 percent of viewers are expected to watch the Game on multiple devices and 3,500 hours Controversial "brand exclusion zones" are set london London of action will live-stream up around London to discourage so-called ambush marketing. on YouTube. U.S. broadcaster NBC strikes Olympic partnerships with both Facebook and Twitter. Revenue (Figures in USD millions) $6000 I NOC, IFs, Other Total I IOC $5000 Licensing $4000 Tickets $3000 OGOC $2000 TOP Broadcast $1000 $0 1993-1996 1997-2000 2001-2004 2005-2008 2009-2012 The Olympic Movement revenue stream includes: ticketing, broadcast partnerships, TOP Programme and the IOC official supplier and licensing program. While TOP, sponsorships and broadcast streams have risen over time, ticket sales have become less important. Viewership 2000 250 200 Broadcast revenue (million USD) 1500 Number of Countries 150 Broadcasting 1000 100 500 50 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 As the number of broadcasting countries rises, so too do the number of viewers and dollars generated through broadcasting rights. Evolution of TOP Revenue WORIDWIDE OLYMPIC PARTNERS Partners (million USD) VISA M Coca-Cola $1000 12 ili P&G ASUNE 10 $800 OMEGA acer Atos Panasonic. $600 $400 LONDON 2012 OHPK PARTNERS $200 2. PLloyds TSB вто $0 1989-1992 Albertville/ 1985-1988 1993-1996 1997-2000 2001-2004 2005-2008 2009-2012 Calgary/ Seoul Lillehammer/ Atlanta Nagano/ Sydney Salt Lake/ Vancouver/ London BRITISH AIRWAYS Torino/ Barcelona Athens Beijing Created by the IOC in 1985, The TOP programme provides a diverse revenue base for the Games by cultivating long-term corporate partnerships. Revenue from this stream has grown continuously since its inception. Today's brands aren't just basking in the glow of the Olympic torch – they're the spark. sparksheet.com BOLT Sources: www.olympics.org, www.wikipedia.com, olympic-museum.org