Behind Beijing

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The Games are not yet a day old and ambushers have been busy...
Fri 8th August, 2008

By Charles Jefferson



Google have used the Olympic rings on their home page as part of their brand lock up of the day, making it the ultimate composite logo and they didn’t pay a dime. However there’s an argument to say that Google are just celebrating the day of the Opening Ceremony as they do on other days http://www.google.com/holidaylogos.html and not seeking to directly profit from this association…

Siemens on the other hand have been aggressively promoting their business success. When GE issued their games press release with a $1.7 billion sales return on their Olympic sponsorship, (which includes NBC advertising sales, direct sales to the Games and their global sales and marketing program - $190MM), Siemens responded the next day issuing a press release online stating that they had achieve €1.1 billion sales from Olympic projects. Their CEO even went as far to say that they had made a greater “contribution” than any of the official sponsors, which has obviously angered the collective sponsor group. GE responded immediately and IOC demanded removal of the release. Siemens retracted, but this has not been the first time that they have encroached on sponsor space during this Games cycle.



Corona also managed to take some focus away from official beer sponsors like Budweiser and Tsing Tao by sending a street team to the bustling Wangfujing shopping district a day before Opening Ceremonies. The "Corona Party Beijing' team of 9 played music and stopped to pose for pictures with passers-by while waving Mexican and Beijing Olympic flags. It was particularly interesting to note that this street team drew the largest crowd in a shopping area teeming with official sponsors' flagship stores and billboards located in the heart of Beijing.

Siemens will have achieved their business goal, the press release will have replicated across the net and the media will have their sound byte making it more than just a celebration.