Going for Advertising Gold: 2008 Olympics

The Olympics are one of the world's premiere events, touching the hearts and souls of millions of people. The Olympic aura transcends the timeframe of the event and creates lasting long term international goodwill. They go beyond economics, politics and religion to some of the core values of all humanity; and they're fun to watch - especially for Canadians looking forward to Vancouver in 2010!

They also represent a huge opportunity for sponsors to associate themselves with a brilliant worldwide brand. Should advertisers get on board? Absolutely! We have seen time and again that brands or companies that associate themselves with a great event and a positive media environment can benefit greatly from the "halo effect". The Olympics rival advertising's other big events like the Oscars, the Golden Globes or the Grammy awards, and, with advertising spread out over two weeks, advertisers can spend more during the Olympics than buying $2.7 million time slots during the Super Bowl. As a result, it's no surprise that the 2004 Athens Games and the 2006 Torino Games were among the most high profile, with a record-breaking count of people worldwide watching. Canadians are huge Olympics fans, generally watching as much Olympic coverage as they can, which, for many, means tuning in daily. In 2008, industry experts are predicting that the Olympics will be largely responsible for greater growth in North American advertising spending, largely driven by TV and internet event coverage. So, this "Olympic effect" is a huge opportunity for advertisers to jump on and "catch that rising star".

Advertisers have an ongoing opportunity to assess or revise their sponsorship strategies, and for the Olympics that happens every couple of years. At Ipsos ASI, we help companies evaluate the value of a wide range of sponsorships through measuring how successful the brand is at getting noticed by consumers, and assessing the resulting impact on the brand. We also use our validated Equity*Builder174 model to report how the Olympic sponsorship affects the brand's equity - for example some sponsorships might help to reinforce a message of 'uniqueness' for the brand if it is a small niche event, whereas some might drive a message of 'quality' if it is a high-end event. With these measures in place, the advertiser can really see the benefits of their investment, and determine whether the overall sponsorship objectives have been achieved.

Ipsos ASI measures two aspects of advertising effectiveness: advertising recall and consumer response. For an advertising campaign to work, it has to meet both these criteria. Our work in measuring sponsorships reveals that ad recall levels are far higher during the event than beforehand, sometimes doubling pre-sponsorship levels. In the case of the Olympics, this is largely because it is such a high reach event - almost everybody is watching, so the good ads really get noticed. This highlights the potential benefit of being a sponsor in the Olympics. Conversely, advertisers who continue to advertise but not in the Olympic coverage often experience a decline in ad recall because the expected media exposure from non-Olympic programming can decline significantly.

Certainly, the creative quality of advertisements is a key driver of recall: ads that get noticed, have strong branding, and carry a relevant, yet different message are always the most successful. We've noticed over the years that event-themed creative is often more effective than non-themed creative: sponsors that find ways to link their ads to the event have seen the best recall shifts, and also improve their brand image. But not all brands have a license to do this: it's important that the event is relevant to the brand and that consumers recognize that. A great example would be if a shampoo brand were to sponsor a female Olympic pool athlete and then design an ad that leveraged the hair benefits of the shampoo against the damaging effect of chlorine in pool water. Other brands without that more obvious reason to associate with athletes and events would have to work harder to show why their brand relationship to the Olympics is relevant.

Another thing to watch out for is that the Olympics can also drive very high frequency of exposure. So, advertisers that mix it up with several similar ads and a "campaign feel" may tend to see higher levels of recall than single ads or unrelated ad groups.

Many consumers have told us they make a special effort to buy from sponsors of events they support, and this translates directly into an increase in sales for sponsor brands. It's also common to see companies that invest in sponsorship earn other dividends, such as an increase in consumers' positive feelings towards their brands and a higher level of emotional attachment - and the Olympics just make them "feel good"! Sponsoring advertisers are often also seen as leaders in their industry by associating with a high-profile event. These are all important benefits for a business trying to build a leading company image in the consumer's mind. And the Olympics truly are an extraordinary bi-annual advertising event that delivers exceptional viewer attentiveness and advertising results.

Event sponsorship is a powerful method of reaching audiences, but for marketers, it is critical the sponsoring events be appropriate or relevant to the brand. Sponsorships tend to perform better when they directly and overtly leverage the event for their brand's benefit, and when the connection is obvious to consumers. In other words, it's important that the event is relevant to the brand and that consumers recognize it as such. I come back to the example of the shampoo brand sponsoring the female Olympic pool athlete - that is very relevant and likely very successful. I would also point out that companies try to choose sponsorships that match their brand objectives: sponsorship can be an effective tactic when launching a new product, increasing awareness, elevating the brand's status through image association, or being used as a medium for client development or corporate entertainment.

With the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics coming up, Ipsos ASI will be applying its expertise by offering a customizable ad tracking study to Olympic sponsors in Canada. The 2008 study will go into field pre- and post-Olympic coverage (August 2008). Participating advertisers, who sign up before March 21, will receive in-depth analysis of their Olympic sponsorship, communications and key performance measures. To learn more about the 2008 study objectives, please visit our website: www.ipsos.ca/goto/Beijing.