Sochi2014 needs their Sponsors!
10 Feb
The Winter Olympics in Sochi is quite the money and marketing machine! There is the official social media branding of #Sochi2014 and the oodles of Sponsors, oops, Partners to support what is being called the “most expensive” Olympics ever. Isn’t every Olympics the most expensive ever? The Washington Post put the number at $50 Billion. Since every large event needs sponsors to help pay for things, I visited the official Sochi2014 website to take a lookie at the official sponsors. I found that the sponsors are called Partners, and the levels are surprisingly NOT Gold, Silver and Bronze.
The WORLD sponsors
The above WORLD sponsors ran into a PR nightmare when social media took aim at them for being associated with a WORLD event that promoted itself as anti-gay. Tsk tsk.
The NATIONAL sponsors
There is another level called just “Partners” and another called “Suppliers.” I cannot figure out which one, if any, supplies the potties. This article on CNNmoney says that the Sponsors, er, Partners contribute more that $100 million for the right to put the five rings on their marketing materials. Once the initial monies are paid for the naming rights, then the real money is spent on the marketing machine and the packaging, printing and production of the Olympic-themed materials. The article also says “ for every $1 paid in sponsorship fees, companies must spend an additional $3 to $4 on things like new product launches or advertising campaigns.”
OK, we covered the actual Sochi2014 Partners. The next grouping is the Team USA layer of Sponsors. There are a few levels here too, and they are Worldwide, Domestic, Broadcast and Suppliers. I counted another 23 companies that are considered licensees.
Now, we need to include the Sponsors for the individual athletes. According to an article in the Boston Globe: “athletes have to pay for coaches, housing, food, and other expenses. For athletes who compete in nonpaying events such as the Olympics, sponsorship is a form of survival.” Figure Skater Gracie Gold lists her sponsors as Visa, Nike, Pandora, a jewelry maker, Proctor & Gamble, Smucker’s, CoverGirl, Toyota Sports Center, and United Airlines. She is also supported by mattress maker Airweave and Edea, which makes skates. Whoa!
Perhaps the Walkathon Maven should search for appropriate Sponsors, Partners and Licensees to support the good work of this blog. Please contact me for opportunities (or product donations!) if you are affiliated with any of the following brands:
