Who’s on TOP at London 2012
Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London, 27 July 2012
This weekend the world witnessed the kick-off to the London 2012 Olympic Games. With Danny Boyle’s Opening Ceremony drawing in over 1 billion viewers worldwide, it’s no wonder London 2012 is host to some of the largest corporate sponsorships on record.
The rules and regulations around Olympic sponsorship, however, are as fierce as the Games themselves. Since 1984, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has regulated corporate sponsorship by developing a competitive scheme which offers exclusive advertising rights at premium rates. This year, the corporations who’ve won the bid to these exclusive rights fall into four categories of brand sponsorship.
The first and most prestigious sponsorship category belongs to the Worldwide Olympic Partners, who together, constitute The Olympic Partnership (TOP) Programme. At the London 2012 Games, the corporations which fall under this category include: Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos, Dow, GE, McDonalds, Omega, Samsung, P&G, Panasonic, and Visa(see campaign shots below). TOP partners tend to be multi-national corporations whose advertising campaigns are targeted at international audiences. To advertise at London 2012, these companies have invested a combined total of £704m (around $1.1bn CAD – that’s $100m CAD each!), which they’ve paid into the IOC’s Olympic budget. In return, TOP sponsors receive exclusive monopoly rights to advertise their companies in and around London 2012 venues and to affiliate their products with the greatness of the Games.
Scrolling homepage for Coke zone, July 2012
View of Coke’s ‘Beat’ campaign, July 2012
Emphasizing ‘Passion and Agility’ on company homepage, July 2012
Atos, Olympic Games Performance in Progress video stills, July 2012
Atos, Olympic Games Performance in Progress video stills, July 2012
Dow Olympic Partnership page, July 2012
Dow, emphasising innovation and sustainability as an Olympic Partner, July 2012
‘GE Works.’ campaign for the Olympic Games, July 2012
Video stills from GE’s ‘Achieving Olympic Sized Goals’ ad, July 2012
The world’s largest McDonald’s inside the Olympic Park, up for only 6 weeks before it gets recycled, July 2012
Mcdonald’s UK campaign, July 2012
McDonald’s American Campaign ‘Win when USA Wins Gold’ campaign, July 2012
McDonald’s Canadian Olympic campaign, July 2012
Omega, as the ‘Official Timekeeper’ of London 2012, July 2012
London 2012 Olympic Games on Samsung homepage, July 2012
London 2012 Olympic Games App on Samsung homepage, July 2012
P&G’s family-oriented ‘Every mum deserves a medal’ approach, July 2012
Video stills from P&G ‘Kids 2012’ campaign, featuring the tagline “To their moms, they’ll always be kids”, July 2012
Panasonic’s ‘Sharing the Passion’ campaign, as the Audio Visual Partner for the London 2012 Olympic Games, July 2012
Visa smartphone payment app, July 2012
The second group of Olympic sponsors are known as London 2012 Olympic Partners. This year, companies such as Adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB have earned a place in this tier by partnering with the London Organisation Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) through unique sponsorship deals. The combined total of these deals at London 2012 is an estimated £500m ($786.9m).
Take the stage, webpage slider, July 2012
Great Britain Take the Stage video stills, July 2012
BMW at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, July 2012
BP homepage, July 2012
BP ‘Fuelling the Future’ Facebook page, July 2012
Supporting Athletes, featured on BP’s website, July 2012
Bringing us all together for London 2012 BT website, July 2012
BT London Live webpage, July 2012
BA Winning Deals on BA homepage, July 2012
EDF ‘Helping London 2012 Shine Brighter’ campaign, July 2012
EDF ‘Powering the Games’ campaign, July 2012
Video stills from the EDF Virtual Olympic Park Pavilion, July 2012
Lloyds London 2012 webpage, July 2012
Lloyds Trackside to the Olympic Torch Relay page, July 2012
The rest of Games supporters fall into one of two final sponsorship tiers. This year, there are seven companies who have invested approximately £40 m ($63m) each to be classified as a London 2012 Olympic Supporter. They include: Adecco, Arcelor Mittal, Cadbury, Cisco, Deloitte., Thomas Cook, and UPS. And finally, there are over two-dozen London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers who have each paid a £10m ($15.7m) price tag to secure an official ‘provider’ or ‘supplier’ title at London 2012. (For a full view of the London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers, visit the official London 2012 site).
With this much invested in the London 2012 already, this year’s Games sponsors are sure to activate some exceptionally stimulating and creative brand campaigns over the coming weeks. So to see who takes home the gold, stay tuned as ClarkHuot/Cocoon continue its design coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
To read more about the London 2012 sponsorship programme, visit:
The official site of London 2012
The official site of the Olympics
The IOC Marketing and Media Guide for London 2012
London 2012 Sponsorship List: Who are they and what have they paid? (The Guardian)
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