Marketing Communication Review: London Olympics 2012 - Essay Example

? Marketing Communication Review: London Olympics Table of contents Executive Summary p.3 2. Introduction p.4 3. Marketing Communication Review: London Olympics 2012 p.6 a. Marketing Communication campaign p.6 b. Advertising p.7 c. Sales Promotions p.9 d. Sponsorship Review p.10 e. Direct marketing p.10 4. Recommendations & Conclusions p.12 5. References p.13 6. Appendix p.14 Executive Summary The coming 2012 London Olympics has already caught media attention because of the arguments in favour and against conducting Olympics. The recent recession has destroyed the financial backbone of Britain and therefore many people believe that the huge expenditure as part of conducting Olympics is unaffordable to Britain at the present moment. However, there are many others who believe that London Olympics may provide the much needed boost to the declining British economy. Communication is an essential part of all marketing activities irrespective of the nature of the product or service introduced in the market. Olympics can be considered as a product rather than a service in the business world and therefore communication channels suitable for product marketing should be used to market Olympics. Strategies like push/pull, advertising, personal selling, public relations, sponsorship, integrated marketing, sales promotions etc should be used extensively to market London Olympics successfully all over the world. The coordinators of London Olympics can use a variety of tools to communicate with customers all over the world. These tools should be determined only after a careful analysis of political, economical, social, technological, legal and environmental factors. This report begins with a background analysis of 2012 London Olympics which has already generated huge public interests. Since Olympics is enjoyed by all people irrespective of age differences, the marketing communication process of 2012 London Olympics should target all people including, children, teenagers, adults and old people. This report reviews all possible marketing communication tools for the coming 2012 London Olympics and provides some recommendations to conduct the marketing process efficiently. Introduction For the participating nations, Olympics is an international sports event to display their abilities in sports and games whereas for the host nation, it provides an opportunity to show the world that they are capable of conducting such an expensive international event successfully. Olympics victories often develop nationalism and proud and it is often utilized for symbolizing a healthy civilized nation. It is an accepted fact that only wealthy nations have the abilities to conduct international events such as Olympics. It should be noted that Olympics has not come to India yet even though they are rapidly becoming one of the wealthiest nations in the world. Olympics occurs only once in every four year time period. Olympics can bring lot of political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal challenges in a country. The coming 2012 London Olympics has already caught the headlines of newspapers because of the controversies generated by it. Some people argue that London Olympics causes huge wastage of money whereas others are of the view that it is capable to rejuvenating the declining British economy. It should be noted that “Britain is spending 9.3 billion pounds ($13.54 billion) on the London 2012 Olympics despite the worst recession since World War Two” (Despite crisis, IOC supports London's Olympics expenditure, 2009). Apart from Sidney and Los Angeles Olympics, none of the recent Olympics events did succeed in achieving the economic objective of conducting Olympic events. Technology has developed a lot and Britain can use Olympics events to demonstrate its technological excellence to external world. It should be noted that China mesmerized the external world in 2008 because of the technological excellence they showed in conducting Olympics. Now, it is the turn of Britain to show the world that they are not behind any of the nations in technological expertise. Some people believe that Olympics may destroy the environment considerably. It is a fact that huge constructions are needed to conduct Olympic events successfully and these constructions can affect the environment in one way or other. Moreover, visitors of Olympic villages may dispose large volumes of plastic materials in and around the Olympic stadiums. At the same time it should be noted that huge infrastructure development opportunities are there when conducting an Olympics. Olympics is an international event which is capable of increasing the image of a country. Tourism, hospitality and other service sectors in a country may get immense benefits while conducting Olympics. Tourists from all over the world will visit London in order to watch Olympics and they will spend lavishly at Olympics villages so that economic activities in Britain could be increased. According to renowned American economist, Paul Kruman, increasing the spending is the only way to come out from recession problems. The huge brand value of Olympics will help the coordinators of London Olympics to market Olympics successfully in global market. No other sports events in the world can generate the same charisma generated by Olympics events. Olympics victory is considered not only as an individual victory, but also as a national victory. The sense of nationalism and pride generated by Olympics cannot be generated by any other sports events. No other sports events in the world are currently enjoyed by people of all ages and cultures as Olympics events do. So, Olympics can be marketed anywhere in the world without thinking too much about target markets. Of course, Olympics can generate immense interests among teenagers; at the same time old people also watch Olympics events with much enthusiasm. Marketing Communication Review: London Olympics 2012 Marketing Communication campaign “Marketing communications in general and advertising in particular are now seen as a major source of competitive advantage in consumer markets” (Hackley 2005, p.6). Even better products and services may fail in the market in the absence of efficient marketing campaigns whereas cheap quality products may excel in the market because of efficient marketing activities. In other words, marketing is one of the most important activities of any business. Nowadays, commercial aspects of Olympics are dominating over the sports aspects. In other words, commercialization has intruded into sports and games events also and the close association of business with sports is well understood now. “Marketing has a marketing mix that is made of price, place, promotion, product (known as the four P's), that includes people, processes and physical evidence, when marketing services (known as the seven P's)” (Introduction to Marketing Communications, 2011). In the case of London Olympics, London is the place and Olympics is the product. Both London and Olympics need no introduction at all in the marketing world. However, the prices of the Olympics tickets may play an important role in the marketing communication campaign. If the Olympic committee fixes higher prices for tickets, people may stay away from Olympics because of the declining economies prevailing everywhere in the world at present. So, London Olympics Committee should fix competitive prices as ticket charges in order to attract more people towards Olympics villages. For that purpose, Olympics committee needs to conduct comprehensive advertising activities, sales promotions, sponsorship, direct selling etc to attract people. Advertising (Brand protection, 2010, p.6) The logo of 2012 London Olympics is as given above. This logo was carefully designed so that it can reveal so many things about the event, place and timing of the event. The logo clearly states that it represents an Olympic event since it contains the Olympics logo. Moreover it says that the place is London and the date is 2012. Advertising is the major channel of marketing communication campaign for London Olympics 2012. The coordinators of London Olympics have already supplied the enough instructions to businesses and marketers about the norms to be followed while conducting advertising activities for London Olympics. Pull and push strategy is used extensively in the marketing campaigns of London Olympics. A six-week marketing push for people to apply for London 2012 tickets has begun on 15 March 2011, promising “The greatest tickets on Earth.” Campaign activity, has been fronted by a series of famous athletes including David Beckham, Tom Daley, Amir Khan and Sir Clive Woodward. A total of 6.6 million tickets will go on sale to the public from 15 March 2011 until 26 April 2011.The lowest priced ticket for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games will be ?20.12, with the highest priced ticket coming in at ?2,012 (London Olympics Marketing, 2011). The above marketing campaign is aimed to push customers to purchase tickets as early as possible. It should be noted that celebrities from sports and film were used extensively for the success of the marketing campaign. Britain is a country in which lot of Indians are staying. In order to attract Indian communities towards Olympics, the services of Bollywood heartthrob Amir Khan like film personalities were used smartly by the London Olympic committee. At present, David Beckham is the most famous sports personality in Britain. Even Vein Rooney cannot claim the same popularity as Beckham enjoys now. So, selection of David Beckham as the brand ambassador for London Olympics can be justified totally. Apart from football and cricket, Rugby is one of the most popular games in England. Clive Woodward is one of the most popular and rugby player in Britain now and his services were also utilized by the Olympic committee for the success of the marketing campaign. The major advantage of using celebrities as brand ambassadors is that celebrities can encourage their fans to purchase London Olympics tickets as early as possible. Britain is a country which is famous for football crazy fans. The advantage of using David Beckham brand ambassador is that majority of the football crazy fans in England may purchase Olympics tickets as advised by Beckham. One of the major challenges facing by London Olympics marketing campaign is ambush marketing or guerilla marketing. “Ambush marketing' is where a company or an individual gives the impression that the product or service they are selling are in some way associated with the Olympics without having an official sponsorship agreement” (Knight, 2011). Ambush marketers are not ready to pay the sponsorship fee to the Olympic committee and they will try to exploit the brand value of Olympics using illegal channels. In other words, ambush marketers may pretend like the official sponsors of Olympics and cheat the public. “Already, according to media reports, between 50 and 100 cases, many in video, print and online, are being examined at any one time by the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG)” (Knight, 2011). Sales promotion (Brand protection, 2010, p.11) Sales promotion is another activity through which marketing communication campaign of London Olympics can be successfully executed. The above t-shirt is printed as part of the sales promotion campaigns of London Olympics. Different prominent companies are working as the sponsors of London Olympics and therefore each of them conduct sales promotion campaigns in their own ways. Apart from printed t-shirts, printed caps, printed glasses, printed toys, printed banners, electronic billboards printed table tops, printed dispensers brochures, booklets, internet ads etc will also be used for the sales promotion campaigns. The major advantage of sales promotion campaigns is the fact that it can generate a sense of emotional attachment among people towards Olympics events. When people see the Olympic banners and displays everywhere, a positive mood towards Olympics events will definitely be cre4ated among the people. At the same time, many people may visualize all these advertising campaigns as unnecessary because of the huge expenditure needed for it. Moreover, people may think that the commercialization is stealing the show and the true value of Olympics events has been lost. Sponsorship Review It should be noted that prominent companies such as Coca cola, Acer, McDonalds, Omega, Visa, Panasonic, P&G, Adidas, and British Airways are some of the sponsors of London Olympics (See Appendix). All these companies are conducting different types of sales promotion campaigns to attract public towards Olympics villages and stadiums. For example, “BMW has become the 24th sponsor for the 2012 London Olympics; it means a fleet of 4,000 vehicles will be used by athletes, officials, and staff during the games. It will also be a sustainability partner meaning it will have to meet low carbon and healthy living challenges’’ (BMW becomes 2012 Olympics sponsor, 2010). Olympics villages consist of different types of advertisings for the sponsor companies and therefore, it is necessary for them to guide the public towards Olympics stadiums at any cost. So, they will spend money lavishly for advertising purposes and therefore small scale industries in Britain may get more projects. One of the major drawbacks of allowing sponsors to dictate Olympics games is the fact that sponsors may try to give more emphasize to their product and services and Olympics events may lose its charm. Sponsors are business minded and they will exploit every opportunity to sell their products and services rather than increasing the image of Olympics events. In other words, commercialization of Olympics games with the help of sponsors may adversely affect the true spirit of Olympics. Direct Marketing Direct marketing is one of the oldest methods of marketing. However, direct marketing definitions have been changed over the past few decades. “One expert recently defined direct marketing as “using tomorrow’s technology to deliver yesterday’s standards of service to today’s customers”(Thomas and Housden, 2002, p.4). In other words, direct marketing is a marketing channel which is using most advanced technologies to deliver maximum services to the current customers. Direct marketing can be used successfully to promote tourism in Britain as part of the London 2012 Olympics. “The British tourism industry will inevitably benefit hugely from the 2012 Games. UK will be in the world’s spotlight and its profile as a sporting and tourist destination will most definitely be raised” (London 2012’s UK statutory marketing rights, 2010, p.47). Direct marketing is another marketing communication channels used by the Olympics marketers. For example, hospitality industry has already started sending mails to people all over the world about their hot offers to see London Olympics. Because of the huge advancements in internet related technologies, hotel groups in London can sell their services online to individual customers. It should be noted that foreigners always like to book their rooms in advance in order to avoid the discomfort after reaching London. Real estate agents have already started their efforts to attract as much as customers from all over the world with the help of direct marketing methods. Hamptons International is one such agent. The firm launched their new Sports-Lets service earlier this year 'in response to increasing demand from landlords who are looking for a professional and established agent to help them capitalise on short-term demand for local property during various sporting events such as the 2012Olympics,' (McClintock,2011). The major drawback of direct marketing of London Olympics is the possibility of exploitation suffered by the customers. It should be noted that foreigners who do not have much idea about London may get cheated by the direct marketers. The possibility of ambush marketing or guerrilla marketing is more in the case of direct marketing of London Olympics. It is difficult for the Olympics committee to control direct marketing of London Olympics by the ambush marketers. Customers who get personalised marketing mails from hotel groups in London may not bother much to explore whether the mail sender is an official sponsor of London Olympics or not. Recommendations and Conclusions Marketing is part of an interactive process between people over time, of which relationship creation, building and management are vital cornerstones”(Brassington and Pettitt, 2002, p.11). The London Olympics committee should establish sound relationships with people all over the world. It should be noted that in many of the British airports, vigorous body scanning is conducted as part of security measures. People from some cultures are suffering a lot because of such humiliating activity. Such body scanning should be avoided at airports as much as possible to encourage people from all over the world to visit London during the period of Olympics events. Internet marketing campaigns should be increased further by London Olympics committee in order to reach out potential customers all over the world. Because of recent recession, many people all over the world have some concerns about the success of London Olympics. Such concerns can be removed with the help of internet marketing. The intrusion of commercialization in Olympics is not much acceptable to sports lovers. So, all advertising campaigns and sales promotions of London Olympics should give first priority to sports. Olympics stadiums should be converted to places of sports rather than places of business. The ultimate winner of Olympics should be sports instead of business. References 1. Brassington F and Pettitt S (2002). Principles of Marketing Publisher: Financial Times/ Prentice Hall; 3 edition (3 Dec 2002) 2. Brand protection, (2010). [Online] Available at: http://www.london2012.com/documents/brand-guidelines/guidelines-for-business-use.pdf [Accessed on 31 December 2011] 3. BMW becomes 2012 Olympics sponsor, (2010). BBC News. 18 November 2009 [Online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8365680.stm [Accessed on 31 December 2011] 4. Hackley C. (2005). Advertising and Promotion, Communicating Brands. 5. Introduction to Marketing Communications (2011). [Online] Available at: http://marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-marketing-communications.html [Accessed on 31 December 2011] 6. Knight M. (2011). 'Ambush Marketing' Outlawed at London Olympics. Huffington Post 21/12/11. [Online] Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/mark-knight/marketing-olympics-2012_b_1160045.html [Accessed on 31 December 2011] 7. London Olympics Marketing (2011). [Online] Available at: http://www.londonolympicsmarketing.com/ [Accessed on 31 December 2011] 8. London 2012’s UK statutory marketing rights (2010), [Online] Available at: http://www.london2012.com/documents/brand-guidelines/statutory-marketing-rights.pdf [Accessed on 31 December 2011] 9. McClintock A. (2011). London 2012 Olympic Games opportunities for direct mail marketers [Online] Available at: http://www.mmc.co.uk/news/London-2012-Olympic-Games-opportunities-for-direct-mail-marketers/ [Accessed on 31 December 2011] 10. Thomas B and Housden M (2002). Direct Marketing in Practice. Publisher: A Butterworth-Heinemann Title (19 Feb 2002) Appendix (Brand protection, 2010, p.20) Read More