Five take-aways from the five-ring circus.
Team Canada
Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) CEO Chris Overholt was the Miami Dolphins vice-president of marketing. President Marcel Aubut was once the Quebec Nordiques chief executive. Together, they transformed the stodgy COC into a marketing juggernaut that emulates a professional sports franchise. Canada’s 25 medals in Sochi were one better than in Turin 2006 and one fewer than in Vancouver 2010 (host Russia fell one short of tying Canada’s host record of 14 gold medals).
Now it is up to Canada’s winter sports associations to sign sponsors for long-term deals. Several failed to do so after Vancouver 2010 and were scrambling on the road to Sochi, until Canadian Tire came to the rescue. Canadian Tire, the COC’s biggest post-2010 backer, got lucky when it lined up behind Jonathan Toews, who scored Canada’s gold-winning goal in men’s hockey.
Brand Russia
It didn’t last long, but President Vladimir Putin’s image went through a makeover. The stoic former spy dropped by Dutch, American and Canadian hospitality venues for strategic photo opportunities, reminiscent of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s and former premier Gordon Campbell’s glad-handing during Vancouver 2010.
There was no coincidence. VANOC officials advised Russian counterparts at a June 2010 knowledge transfer conference in Sochi to give host nation leaders a chance to soak up the limelight, since their hands are on the public purse.
Broadcasting rights
CBC returned as Canada’s rights-holder, after CTV’s Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 interlude, in the first part of a $90 million rights deal that includes Rio 2016. The Mother Corp.’s focus was squarely on sport and Canadian athletes, unlike 2008 when the Beijing Games included a greater news quotient.
The 12-hour time difference from Vancouver (nine hours from central Canada) meant ratings weren’t going to match the Vancouver 2010 figures. The Sochi closing ceremony (4.33 million viewers) and hockey gold medal game (5.76 million) drew well for their Sunday morning time slots.
Clean venues
Two of the next three Olympics will be in Asia (Pyeongchang 2018 and Tokyo 2020), which means individual or judged sports will be fodder for YouTube moments to North Americans reluctant to change their sleeping patterns for 17 days.
Global Olympic sponsors’ fees don’t include the TV advertising they must buy in each market to compensate for the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) ban on corporate logos in the field of play. If viewers are skipping those ads, then why bother at all?
Samsung sent a subtle message to the IOC when it bought spots on anything but Olympic programming in the U.S.
The Korean electronics giant’s name is on Chelsea FC jerseys and National Hockey League (NHL) rink boards.
Competitor Sony’s name will be on ads beside the pitches at World Cup stadiums in Brazil in June.
Das Auto
Canadian athletes received taxable prizes of $20,000 per gold medal, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze. In Russia, it was $120,000 for gold, $76,000 for silver and $52,000 for bronze. Putin also gave them each a Mercedes-Benz, although Volkswagen Group was the Sochi 2014 auto sponsor.
Hortons Heritage
The Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic’s 54,194 attendance on March 2 fell 119 fans shy of the 2011 Grey Cup’s 54,313 for BC Place’s biggest post-renovation sports crowd. But it upped the ante for organizers of the 102nd Grey Cup on November 30.
Though hardly a classic on ice, the NHL transformed the stadium into a sea of maroon and cream banners with sponsor recognition throughout and Honda and Bridgestone-branded souvenir seat cushions, which contained Panini hockey cards.•
