09 Feb

Olympic Advertising Commands Big Bucks

Posted in News, Promotional Products on 09.02.10 by John Meloche

With the 2010 Winter Olympic Games set to get under way in just a couple of days, companies from all over Canada are gearing up for one of their biggest advertising campaigns of the year. Undoubtedly, the Olympics will garner great interest and command a large television-viewing audience. As a result, hot on the heels of this past Sunday's Super Bowl, the Olympic broadcasts are sure to feature some very costly commercials.

As Toronto Star Business Reporter, Dana Flavelle reports today, a number of companies have ?paid dearly? to secure the rights to be official sponsors of the Winter Games in Vancouver. Among some of the largest are Petro-Canada, McDonald's, Samsung and Bell. As Flavelle reveals, these companies are paying top dollar to be official Olympic sponsors with prime-time advertising spots on TV.

Flavelle notes, however, that experts are beginning to question whether or not such hefty spending on television presence during the Olympics is such a wise move. With the advent of so many other forms of digital media, one wonders if the huge advertising dollars will pay off for companies who sponsor the Games.

Jay Handelman, an associate professor of marketing at Queen's School of Business had this to say: ?What I'm observing this year is companies are becoming more adept at using social media and even starting to forgo TV…Part of that is the economy. Automakers, which have traditionally been big spenders on the Olympics, are in bankruptcy protection and don't have that luxury now. But it's more than that.?

Broadcasters in the United States already seem to be aware of this change. Flavelle notes that NBC is actually ?projecting a loss on its Olympic coverage for the first time in 30 years.? Handelman added that he believes that at the next Winter Games in four years, there will be noticeable change in the way in which advertisers spend their money.

Nevertheless, the cost to buy broadcast rights in Canada is up at the $90 million mark. One of the biggest Canadian sponsors, The Royal Bank of Canada believes that it is well worth it.

According to Jim Little, the RBC's chief brand and communications officer: ?It's the biggest marketing platform in the world. We've been at this for 60-plus years. It's something that has allowed us to grow our brand and drive our business.?

By co-sponsoring the Olympic Torch Relay, RBC ran an online contest giving away the opportunity to be a Torch Bearer. As a result, their website received over a million hits, significantly increasing their marketing potential.

?It exceeded our expectations,? said Little. Of course, most companies cannot afford such enormous advertising costs. And that's where Synergy comes in. But regardless, we anticipate that the 2010 Winter Olympic Games will be a joy for Canadians to watch, no matter who is sponsoring the event.

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