Puzzlement of Olympic marketing
When the day of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is getting closer and closer to us, more and more China enterprises begin to look at the glittering golden signboard of "Olympic Games". We all hope to use the historic event of Beijing Olympic Games to improve and expand our brand awareness and reputation. When Chinese enterprises first came into contact with the Olympic Games, the history of sports marketing in Chinese enterprises was quite short, with little experience and lessons. How do enterprises that have obtained sponsorship rights exercise and use this right? How can companies that are not sponsored use the Olympic Games to play a marginal role? How can the Olympic Organizing Committee effectively develop resources and let more enterprises participate? From what angle should various consulting, public relations and other intermediary companies intervene in enterprises and official organizations to help them communicate and contact better? All these problems are a new topic for China enterprises and related institutions, and all parties concerned are also full of confusion about this topic. Everyone is thinking and everyone is exploring. The first issue of the column "Olympic Marketing" shows the thinking and confusion of all parties, as well as some exploration processes that may not be mature. Let's get to know each other better and let the confused parties understand each other's confusion, which is the first step in our attempt to solve these puzzles.
Qiangwei: China enterprises still don't understand Olympic marketing planning.
China Olympic sponsors still lack some systematic planning for public welfare marketing, or are purely engaged in public welfare activities, which are not well linked with the products and market behavior of enterprises; Either the public welfare activities themselves are redundant and leave a negative impression on consumers.
Text/Liu Wei
Around the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, how do domestic Olympic sponsors and non-sponsors perform in Olympic public welfare marketing? Qiangwei: The IOC owns the intellectual property rights of Olympic-related signs and activities. Only Olympic sponsors have the right to use Olympic symbols and participate in related activities, such as the Olympic Games, Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Olympic mascots and other symbols. Only sponsors at the corresponding level have the right to use it, and non-Olympic sponsors are not eligible to use it. Before and after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, domestic enterprises were mainly in the bidding stage last year, and this year they are in the stage of theme planning and related resource integration. Next year, they will enter the promotion stage of activities, and 2008 will mainly be the exhibition stage of activities. At present, there are not many public welfare marketing activities carried out by Olympic sponsors about the 2008 Olympic Games. What angles do you think China enterprises can grasp when they participate in public welfare marketing? Qiangwei: There are three themes in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, namely "Green Olympics", "Hi-tech Olympics" and "People's Olympics". There are many activities that can be extended and carried out around these three themes. For example, around the "green Olympics", it can be combined with the blue sky project and sandstorm problem in Beijing, and this social topic will have greater value. In terms of high-tech Olympics, scientific and technological activities related to education, youth, stadium construction and sports competitions are of great significance. For example, Lenovo put forward the concept of science and technology at the Winter Olympics in Turin, linking the technological innovation of products with adapting to the cold climate of the Winter Olympics. Around the People's Olympics, we can explore more public welfare marketing activities. BOCOG organized a series of cultural activities related to humanities, such as the release of mascots for this year's Paralympic Games, the 2007 World Youth Forum and the torch relay in the first half of 2008. Olympic sponsors can discuss this project with OCOG according to the plan. The most important aspect of paying attention to the People's Olympics is paying attention to the Paralympic Games, which is also the most public-spirited aspect. At present, there are more than 20 Paralympic Games, and the total number of gold medals and medals won by China in the last Paralympic Games is the first. However, China people have paid little attention to the Paralympic Games. Many people look at them with sympathy and sadness, but they don't realize the spirit of self-improvement. This is a positive and healthy beauty. It is very challenging to change this concept for the audience and consumers. At present, enterprises pay little attention to the movement of the disabled and do little. If some enterprises can make efforts to do this, I think they will gain great benefits. Furthermore, we can do some public welfare marketing activities in combination with socially disadvantaged groups. For example, some children in the west like the Olympics, but they can't afford the Olympic mascots; I want to be an Olympic volunteer, but I can't afford the transportation. There are many such cases. Other activities focusing on young women's sports and community sports can also be well combined with Olympic public welfare marketing. What aspects of Olympic public welfare marketing activities can non-Olympic sponsors carry out? Qiangwei: The Olympic Games belong to the whole nation, so it is not only Olympic sponsors who can participate. For example, as long as non-Olympic sponsors do not use Olympic-related assets, they can continue to infiltrate the concept of "green Olympics, high-tech Olympics and people's Olympics" in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and participate in some Olympic-related activities, including donating to Olympic venues, Olympic organizing committees and Olympic projects for free or making some other preparations for the Olympics. What are the shortcomings of China Olympic sponsors' participation in Olympic public welfare marketing? Qiangwei: Only activities related to corporate brands, products, consumers, market channels and networks that support the business interests of enterprises can be called marketing. After an enterprise becomes an Olympic sponsor, the most important criterion to measure its success is whether the activity itself is closely related to the product, brand, image and related marketing behavior of the enterprise, which makes consumers deeply impressed and strongly recognized. China Olympic sponsors still lack systematic planning for public welfare marketing, or are purely engaged in public welfare activities, which are not well linked with the products and market behaviors of enterprises, and do not make good use of advertising, public relations, media and other auxiliary communication behaviors; Either the public welfare activities themselves are redundant and leave a negative impression on consumers.
Brief introduction of Qiangwei: The director of sports marketing of Ogilvy & Mather Beijing has accumulated a lot of practical experience in sports marketing, and provided consulting, planning and executive management services for many Olympic sponsors such as Lenovo, Sohu and China Mobile.
Xie Jun: Olympic marketing lacks "adhesive"
At present, there is a lack of some kind of "adhesive" between China Olympic Organizing Committee and enterprises, so more public relations consulting companies need to participate, design the relevant resources of the Olympic Organizing Committee into good projects, and attract more enterprises to participate in the public welfare marketing of the Olympic Games, so as to drive multiple interests to win.
Text/Deng Runmei
How to treat the performance of China enterprises participating in Olympic public welfare marketing at present? Xie Jun: China won the right to host the Olympic Games for the first time. The enthusiasm of China enterprises for the Olympic Games is beyond imagination, but China enterprises are still very inexperienced in how to participate in and use Olympic marketing. As far as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is concerned, China enterprises' participation in Olympic-related public welfare marketing has also been delayed and hindered due to many restrictions on "intellectual property rights" imposed by the International Olympic Committee and the China Olympic Organizing Committee, and the China Olympic Organizing Committee has to slowly digest the restrictions imposed by the International Olympic Committee on commercial development. However, Chinese enterprises generally lack the experience of sports marketing, and the application of sports marketing is still in the primary stage, which is quite backward. Olympic marketing is an important part of sports marketing, especially when China holds the Olympic Games for the first time. Many China enterprises attach great importance to this and hope to participate in Olympic marketing. However, China enterprises, whether top sponsors or sponsors of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, are all at a loss about how to exercise the Olympic sponsorship right, which can be said to be zero experience and zero starting point, so the current public welfare marketing has no bright spot. What problems do you think China enterprises should pay attention to in grasping Olympic public welfare marketing? Xie Jun: At present, China enterprises are a little anxious to participate in Olympic public welfare marketing. Generally speaking, first of all, China enterprises should not be too eager for success; Secondly, we should design some activities according to the characteristics of Beijing Olympic Games. For example, the theme of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is "Green Olympics, High-tech Olympics and People's Olympics". Enterprises can participate in some activities around these three themes, such as "One Million People Speak English" and urban greening activities. However, there is a problem at present, that is, there is a lack of "adhesive" between the Olympic Organizing Committee and enterprises. For example, BOCOG has some good resources or projects, but enterprises don't know how to use these resources and information. Some enterprises want to participate in Olympic-related activities, but they don't know what kind of projects to participate in. They lack some "adhesives", so they design the resources of the Olympic Organizing Committee into some reasonable activities, so that these activities can bring more enterprises in. At present, the Olympic Organizing Committee is also trying to involve some public relations and planning companies in the design of some activities, which will eventually be authorized and approved by the Olympic Organizing Committee. With these intermediate "adhesives", enterprises can better participate in Olympic-related public welfare activities. From your experience, what is the biggest confusion for China enterprises to participate in Olympic marketing at present? Xie Jun: As China is hosting the Olympic Games for the first time, the history of sports marketing in China is quite short, and both the Olympic Organizing Committee, enterprises and local public relations consulting services are quite inexperienced. When we face many enterprises, we find that they can't bring up a topic. After they get Olympic sponsorship or other related rights and interests, they are very confused. They don't know what they need to do, and they don't know what public relations consulting companies can help them. Although some multinational public relations consulting companies that have served the Olympic Games have experience in serving Olympic sponsors, these experiences cannot be directly copied in China and China. This is the confusion of China enterprises in the face of Olympic marketing. As a public relations consulting service organization, we should explore how to develop Olympic marketing in China with China enterprises. Do you think the Olympic marketing of China enterprises will have a far-reaching impact on China enterprises? Xie Jun: Personally, I always think that the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is only the beginning of sports marketing for China enterprises. In the past, the understanding and application of sports marketing by China enterprises were still superficial, but the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games ignited the enthusiasm of China enterprises to carry out sports marketing and stimulated the large-scale outbreak of sports marketing. Therefore, sports marketing after 2008 is more important for enterprises in China.
Introduction to Xie Jun: Vice President of Blue Cursor Public Relations Agency. Senior planner, master of computer engineering. Graduated from Nanjing University of Science and Technology. He is good at the integrated planning of enterprises and products, and has in-depth research on sales and market. Successfully planned and promoted dozens of integrated marketing projects such as green service, LG Window of the Future, computer school, Pioneer Action, Heguang BSP and Lenovo LCD computer, and won the honor of Top Ten Planners in IT industry twice.
Du Ya: Puzzlement of Olympic Communication
For Du Ya, a leading enterprise in technology and market, the biggest puzzle at present is to find an effective communication strategy and platform, and use the rights and opportunities of Olympic suppliers to establish and spread the brand's popularity and reputation in a wider range.
Text/Reporter Wang Ying
In mid-May, 2006, BOCOG and Beijing Du Ya Indoor Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. held a press conference in Beijing, announcing that Duya Technology has become the exclusive supplier of air humidifier for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The sponsorship plan of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is divided into three levels: partners, sponsors and suppliers, and suppliers are divided into "exclusive suppliers" and "suppliers". The sponsorship threshold for exclusive suppliers is around tens of millions of RMB. As a leader in the field of air purification in China, Du Ya occupies more than 70% of the national market share and has world-leading technical strength. However, in terms of marketing, the strength and advantages of this enterprise are not strong, and Du Ya is still confused about how to use the rights and interests of the exclusive suppliers for the Olympic Games. In an interview, Wei Yadu, the chairman who wants to borrow the name of the Olympic Games, said that Du Ya's technical strength is first-class in the whole country and even in the world. Du Ya's middle and senior leaders and management teams are also from technical backgrounds. Du Ya won the right to be the sole supplier of the Olympic Games this time because of its technical strength. Because the IOC has high technical standards for exclusive suppliers, it must meet both international standards and American and European Union standards. However, without good market operation means, no matter how good the product is, it can't get better income in the market. This is a problem facing Du Ya. He introduced that Du Ya's series of products except decoration pollution are among the best in the world technically, and even become the global standard of the International Organization for Standardization. However, this product encountered two particularly concentrated problems in its promotion: First, everyone is asking who Du Ya is; Second, everyone is asking, "Can this thing work?" Especially in the south, these two problems are particularly serious. From the marketing point of view, these two issues are brand awareness and brand recognition, and brand awareness and recognition are exactly the weaknesses of Du Ya. He has realized that as a small brand, even with the best technology and products, no amount of innovation can be achieved without the promotion of marketing. Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is an event brand with high popularity and recognition. Du Ya hopes to join hands with the Olympic Games to let consumers know about Du Ya and trust Du Ya. Regarding this "marriage" with the Olympic Games, there is no image metaphor. Just like a famous scientist married an ordinary girl, everyone will definitely think that this girl is either particularly beautiful, particularly wise or particularly virtuous. In short, when a powerful brand is associated with an unknown small brand, people will naturally have positive associations and cognition of this small brand. There are about 200,000 designated reception places for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and athletes' rooms in the Olympic Village. According to the indoor air standards of the Olympic Committee, the reception must have air essence equipment, and Du Ya will be responsible for providing air purification equipment for these nearly 200,000 rooms. Du Ya also hopes to take this opportunity to prove his strength and enhance his popularity. The inexperienced "first time" is the first time that China enterprises use Olympic marketing. He believes that this is like falling in love and marrying a wife. Everyone must be inexperienced for the first time, and China enterprises also need a process to explore how to use the Olympic Games to market their own brands. He admits that Du Ya is not clear about how to take advantage of the rights and opportunities of Olympic suppliers. In fact, Du Ya became attached to the Olympic Games by accident. Three years ago, the air quality in BOCOG's office building was not very good, so BOCOG found Du Ya who sponsored more than 654.38 million air equipment, and established contact with BOCOG from then on. Du Ya hesitates when deciding whether to become an Olympic supplier, because tens of millions of capital investment is not a small sum for Duya, whose turnover is about 500 million yuan. Both shareholders and affiliated banks have had fierce opposition, because this investment may produce huge benefits, but it also contains huge risks. In the past three years, Du Ya has also hired some marketing experts to form a professional marketing team to discuss this matter, but there is still no ideal solution. At present, He Lumin can be sure that the Olympic Games will bring certain returns and growth to Du Ya, but how to realize this growth and how much growth it can bring is beyond Du Ya's prediction. Du Ya is also studying the relationship between corporate philosophy, product connotation and the Olympic Games itself. In fact, as far as the demand of products is concerned, Du Ya's products have many of the same demands as those of Beijing Olympic Games. For example, the slogan of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is "Green Olympics, Hi-tech Olympics, People's Olympics". As a professional manufacturer of air purification equipment, Du Ya uses scientific and technological means to create a green and healthy environment for consumers, thus building a harmonious humanistic life. But the problem that Du Ya is facing now is that he doesn't know where to learn the Bible. The head of the marketing department of BOCOG also told He that foreign enterprises have been doing Olympic marketing for many years. Although there are many experienced enterprises, not every enterprise can operate well, and China enterprises basically can't. These can only be solved by enterprises themselves. Communication strategy is the biggest problem. Du Ya used to be a product brand. When it comes to Du Ya, many consumers think of humidifiers. At present, Du Ya hopes to extend the brand "Du Ya" through a series of operations such as the Olympic Games, making it synonymous with a lifestyle, which is the concept of "clean life". Now Du Ya has carried out some operations in some shopping malls, such as changing the original product monopoly area into lifestyle monopoly area and naming it "Home Environmental Protection Center", because it can cover more product contents in the sense of such a brand. However, how to achieve this effect with the help of the Olympic Games is a very confusing thing for Du Ya. Marketing through advertising or some public welfare activities is a common means for many Olympic sponsors, but He believes that it is still very difficult to really find a good plan. For Du Ya, how to find a good platform and activities to spread the brand of the enterprise with the help of the media of Olympic brand is the biggest confusion at present. Although Du Ya has also conducted a very in-depth study in this area, it has not yet come up with specific methods. In addition, what kind of media is used to spread it is another problem for Du Ya. He believes that there are too many media channels and the audience is very scattered, which has caused a choice problem for enterprises. He thinks that the effect of advertising is not very good, because there are only two situations in which consumers pay attention to advertising. One is that they have to watch advertisements in boring time periods, such as waiting for buses, planes and elevators. ; Another situation is that when consumers are interested in paying attention, they will take the initiative to look for advertisements. For example, when they want to buy a car, a house or electrical appliances, they will pay attention to the advertisements of these products. Du Ya's products are still in the stage of education and market development, that is, many people still don't know the function and function of this air purification product, and there are not many cases of active concern. He said that judging from the effect of advertising in Du Ya, the situation is not optimistic. Even if the advertising volume is high, the actual effect is not very good. Generally speaking, Olympic sponsors and suppliers will spend 3 ~ 7 times the sponsorship amount for subsequent marketing promotion. He Lumin said that Du Ya also has a corresponding budget in this regard. The question now is how and where to spend the money to get the best effect. He very much hopes to use the window of "Successful Marketing" to challenge various marketing experts and solve the confusion of China Olympic suppliers.
Snow Beer: Opening "Non-"Olympic Marketing
Faced with the upsurge of Olympic marketing, enterprises are somewhat confused. Homogeneous Olympic marketing can not achieve the best communication effect. This gives Snowflake a golden opportunity. Snow Beer is adopting a new Olympic marketing method.
Text/reporter Kangdi
"I just noticed that in CCTV advertisements, five Olympic sponsors used the word' dream' in their propaganda words, just because the slogan of the Beijing Olympic Games was' One World, One Dream'." Hou Xiaohai, marketing director of Snow Beer, said. On the road of Olympic marketing, China enterprises seem to be at a loss, and homogenization slogans and ideas abound. As a non-Olympic sponsor, Snow Beer is making a new attempt. On May 16, 2006, Snow Beer's "non-"Olympic marketing advertisement "Beer Lovers" was broadcast in the prime time of CCTV. As Hou Xiaohai, the marketing director of Snow Beer, declared at the press conference the day before yesterday, the new advertisement fully embodies the brand promotion strategy of Snow Beer during the Olympic Games-"non-Olympic marketing" strategy, aiming at opening the "non-Olympic marketing era". Several characteristics are close to the "non-"Olympic Games. "No one sponsors my sneakers, and I can't run fast or jump high, but it's not easy for us. This competition can only be done with us ... "In the new advertisement of Snow Beer, the civilian hero said something very civilian, without mentioning the Olympic Games and the World Cup at all, but it gave people hints everywhere on the screen. The jubilant atmosphere in the advertisement makes it easy for the audience to confuse this advertisement with the advertisements of other Olympic sponsors. Civilization and Olympic atmosphere are exactly the concept of advertising. Look at LOGO again. The new Snow Beer logo not only has its logo, but also has a logo designed in an irregular red pattern to represent "beer lovers". Under the two logos, there is a big word: "official partner of beer lovers", which makes people feel deja vu. According to Hou Xiaohai, one month after the TV advertisement, the appearance packaging of Snow Beer will all be replaced with this new logo. In order to promote the concept of "beer lovers", Snow Beer's latest "non-Olympic" marketing advertisement "Beer Lovers" was launched in CCTV. The first phase spent 30 million on advertising, not including the advertising expenses of local sales companies on local TV stations. "This is the marketing strategy of Snow Beer in the next three years. We hope to sponsor beer lovers like the Olympic Games." Hou Xiaohai said. Differentiated positioning gives Snow Beer a chance to win. This strategy is formed after in-depth study of Olympic marketing and multi-party thinking and weighing. Differentiation has always been the brand image advocated by Snow Beer. At present, Yanjing, Qingdao and Snowflake have gathered in Beijing, and the situation is in full swing. However, for Qingdao and Yanjing to become sponsors of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Hou Xiaohai believes that this will easily lead to homogenization of Olympic marketing and fail to achieve the best communication effect. "This gives Snowflake a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." This can quite represent the consistent differentiated style of Snowflake Beer. As early as the first half of 2005, Snow Beer began to study the sponsorship of the Olympic Games. Considering the cost-effectiveness and differentiation, they did not join the competition of Olympic sponsors, but formed a "non-"Olympic strategic thinking. Hou Xiaohai believes that non-Olympic marketing is not only an idea, but also a cutting-edge marketing theory. Olympic marketing is to organize your own marketing activities around the Olympic platform from the Olympic perspective. "Non-"Olympic marketing is mainly aimed at the vast number of beer consumers who watch the Olympic Games, and organize their own marketing activities with them as the core, with the focus on consumers. With the attention and participation of beer lovers fully supported by Xuebeer, as a "formal partner of beer lovers", Xuebeer shows its support for the Olympic Games by facing a wider audience. To some extent, Snow Beer's "non-Olympic marketing" more directly reflects the spirit of "focusing on participation" in the Olympic Games. In addition to advertising, Snow Beer will continue this theme and carry out various marketing activities in the next three years. The latest one is "Snow Beer's World Tour-Beer Lovers' Journey to the Yangtze River". Previously, the slogan of Snow Beer was "Imagination Growth", "It should be said that it is a continuation, and the new brand slogan has pushed" Imagination Growth "to a new height." Hou Xiaohai said. With the introduction and the "non-"Olympic marketing, there will be more public welfare activities in the next stage. Prior to this, it was difficult for China enterprises to have the opportunity to participate in the Olympic marketing competition; Now, "non-"Olympic marketing has given enterprises more innovative ideas and space.