The
2008 Olympic Sponsors
The Olympics will take place in Bejing
China in 2008. Sponsorship, an important element in
modern Olympics, has been a key issue for the organisers.
For the last three years they have
been busy getting the best sponsorship lined up and
wow, they have been most successful. At this time
already all the key major companies are on board and
signed up. This augurs well for the overall success
of the Games and also marks an impressive organisational
feat for the Chinese organisers. The marketing drive
is paying off big time and with the much higher than
expected demand for tickets in the first round of
ticket sales (concluded at the end of June 2007) all
is set for a tremendous Olympics come 2008.
This effort has been headed up by
the BOCOG Organisers Marketing Department, headed
by Yuan Bin. Global brands like Bank of China, Coca
Cola, McDonald's, VISA and Omega are among the big
names. Some companies have not been considered such
as drink and tobacco companies as they do not tie
in with the ideals of the Olympic spirit.
And, it's not all international sponsors
either. There are many in house sponsors happening
as well. For example, Lenovo is China’s largest
computer maker. They became the first Chinese company
to sign into Olympic sponsorship of the 2008 Olympic
Games. Sohu.com also features in the list of sponsors
and they are taking care of the official website.
This was excellent news of many Chinese people who
wish to see their country get much of the recognition
as well.
Sponsorship is a big deal. There are
three various levels of sponsorship in the games.
To be an Olympic partner, the most elite of the sponsorship
programs, you will contribute about 40 million dollars.
The next level is sponsors who will contribute up
to 30 million dollars. The third level is service
providers who will gain sponsorship through providing
services to the Olympic games of 2008. At this time,
10 sponsors, 11 partners, 15 exclusive suppliers and
17 other suppliers have been fully lined up. There
are also 12 international partners linked to the International
Olympic Committee.
Add to this the sponsors and partners
of local Olympic Committees and you've some ideal
of the massive marketing drive involved.
At the same time, sponsorship deals
for the Beijing Paralympic Games 2008 are proceeding
well, though here there are still some options awaiting
finalisation for these Games as well as for the Olympic
Torch spectacle.
The Marketing Committee in Beijing
are paying special attention to ensure that no unofficial
merchandise becomes available.
An official merchandising shop has
now been opened with fantastic sales over the first
few weeks. It is based in Wangfujin Street and is
quite a stunning showpiece in it's own right. On over
500 square feet it carries an amazing range of Olympic
merchandise - over 4000 individual offerings. Over
a thousand retail stores in China have been assigned
to different categories of products from Olympic Torches,
Olympic T shirts, Beijing 2008 dvds, etc. Online you
can find out more information on the types of official
merchandise at
this site.
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