Event Savvy

Images

« Prev Next »

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will surely go down as a pivotal moment in both Olympic and world history — a time when a nascent super-power introduced itself on the world stage. Neither can its influence on the events industry be underestimated.

“The Chinese have shown that they can put on a huge event and make it successful,” said Bruce Hudson, senior director of international sports marketing for Anheuser-Busch. “I think there will be a lot of opportunities in the future. It will provide many, many companies with the ability to help promote their products, and do it in a premium way.”

A-B rolled out its biggest Olympic presence ever this year with the nearly 40,000-square-foot Club Bud, an indoor/outdoor venue designed and built specifically for the Olympics that features several distinct bars, 360-degree video screens, a dance floor, lounges, a pool and live DJs to set the mood in each party area.

The exclusive club was key to solidifying Budweiser’s image in China, according to Hudson. “As the Chinese people get more opportunities because they’re starting to make more money, we would like to see them trade up to Budweiser,” he said. “So it’s very important to establish a very premium image with the brand, and by association with an event such as the Olympic Games, it allows us to do that.”

Working on Olympics-related projects is different from any other type of work, agreed Gareth Heyman of MorEvents, an Englewood, Colo.-based event firm. Heyman has been involved in the last 14 Olympics; this year his company managed the planning process for The Olympic Partner (TOP) sponsor Johnson & Johnson, including determining the hospitality packages J&J’s 200 global operating companies would need.

“The Olympics are a very different scenario from any other kind of event, from incentive travel, to trade shows, to board meetings,” he said. “If I’m doing a normal event plan, ‘Yes’ is the answer to what my client says all the time. In the Olympics, it’s the only time as an event planner I have to say no. ‘No, I can’t change the starting time of the race because your CEO wants to go play golf.’”

Regardless of their level of involvement, event pros concur that the Beijing Olympics will go down as one of the most spectacular productions in Olympic history.

“I am having the experience of a lifetime here in China,” David Everett, catering/event designer for the USA House and the High Performance Training Center, wrote us from Beijing. “I watched the Opening Ceremonies last night at the USA House and it was an unforgettable experience.”

Darren Marshall: Darren Marshall is senior vice president of research at sports marketing agency rEvolution.

China: A Gold Rush for Marketers

To find out more about what the Beijing Olympics mean for event marketers, we tracked down Darren Marshall, senior vice president of research at rEvolution, a Chicago-based sports marketing and media services agency whose clients include an International Olympic Committee TOP sponsor and a U.S. Olympic Committee official sponsor. Here’s what he told us.

What’s different about Beijing: The Chinese culture is so unique to any of the Olympics I’ve worked on since 1992. The level of patriotism in China is far above anything I’ve ever seen in a host nation. It’s also the “cleanest” market I’ve worked in from a sponsorship perspective. Sports marketing is still very new to the Chinese and they still see it as more altruistic than commercial. That’s far different from the United States and Europe, where sponsorship is ubiquitous and understood to be highly commercial. Combine the patriotism and support for everything Olympic with the lack of clutter the sponsors are faced with, and we see far greater ROI for sponsors in Beijing than we’ve ever seen before (two to three times our norms).

What it means for event marketing: For many of the U.S.-based TOP sponsors, the Beijing Olympics are their first major event marketing effort in China. Now that the knowledge and logistics are in place for them to activate in China, you’ll see more willingness to use event marketing there.

What you need to know about working in China: Everything takes more time. You need to have an extremely respectful and patient approach when dealing with the authorities. Your message can be a lot simpler than it may be in the U.S. since Chinese consumers still see sponsorship as somewhat of a charitable act. Wrap yourself in the Chinese flag when you activate your sponsorships since patriotism is the most unifying and powerful emotion in the country.

Where it’s all headed: China is the California Gold Rush of event marketing in the next decade. The massive and growing buying power of the Chinese consumer, combined with the greater power of event marketing in China as a medium, will lead more and more companies to follow [sports marketing agency] IMG’s lead and build a major presence in China. You’ll see a rush of agencies trying to sign deals to sell sponsorships for leading athletes and events and a similar rush to represent client interests in China. However, within 10 years the rush will be over. As sponsorship becomes more ubiquitous in China, consumers will grow more cynical about it, just as they have in other nations that were once developing, and the impact will be similar to what it is now in the U.S. and Europe — powerful, but not all-powerful.

About the author: Rachel Globus

Rachel Globus is the former editor and education director for Event Solutions.