Marketing project completed in semester 1 year 3

1. THE SUCCESS FACTORS OF ADVERTISING AND PR, IN
LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES
Student Name: Daniel Keating
Student Number: 20053989
Course: BA (Hons) in Marketing (Year 3)
Marketing Supervisor: Denis Harris
Date Submitted: 10th December 2013
I declare that this written work is my own and of the highest academic integrity. Where the
work of others has been used it is duly acknowledged and referenced accordingly.
Signature: ____________________________

2. Executive Summary
This literature review has investigated the history of Publics Relations and Advertising within
the Olympics. Reference has been made to the successful factors that where relevant to a
number of company’s campaigns in the London 2012 Olympics Games. The review contains
interesting facts and relevant information to the industry. Also explored are a number of what
I believe are very successful marketing and public relations campaigns that were carried out
during this festival of sportsmanship.
This literature review will give the reader an insight of what is needed to create a good
marketing campaign with reference to the Olympics and how to generate positive publicity
for a company. In conclusion this review sets out the future of marketing in the Olympics.
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3. Introduction
This literature review is an investigation into the successful use of Advertising and Public
relations in the Olympics games. My first chapter will explain the history of the Olympics
and how it has developed throughout the years. My second chapter will focus on what is good
advertising, what makes it successful and what is good public relations and how do you
control public relations that will result in a good view of the company. I will be referring
back to some case studies in this chapter. The last chapter will focus on what was the most
successful Olympic Games which was London 2012 and how public relations and advertising
contributed to that success. This will consists of a number of company’s campaigns that I will
research and how this resulted in an increase and sales and good publicity for a company.
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4. Table of Contents
1.0 Chapter 1 .............................................................................................................................. 5
1.1
History of the Olympic Games.................................................................................... 5
1.1.2 Olympic Marketing history ....................................................................................... 5
1.1.3History of Advertising in the Olympics ..................................................................... 6
1.1.4History of Public relations in the Olympic Games ..................................................... 6
2.0 Chapter 2 .............................................................................................................................. 8
2.0.1 Successful factors of PR and Advertising ..................................................................... 8
2.0.2 What is public relations? ........................................................................................... 8
2.0.1 Successful Advertising factors .................................................................................... 11
2.1.1 What is advertising? .................................................................................................... 11
2.1.2How to implement an advertising strategy................................................................... 11
2.1.3 Outdoor Advertising.................................................................................................... 12
2.1.4 Global marketing ......................................................................................................... 13
Chapter 3 .................................................................................................................................. 14
3.0 London 2012 Olympics Success .................................................................................... 14
3.0.1The factors to the Success ........................................................................................ 14
3.0.1.1 Coca Cola- Move to the beat campaign ................................................................... 14
3.0.1.1.1 Digital experience .............................................................................................. 15
3.0.1.2 Coca Cola legacy .................................................................................................. 15
3.0.1.3 Coca Cola Beat TV ............................................................................................... 15
3.0.1.4 Coca Cola-Beat box .............................................................................................. 15
3.0.1.5 Accer- Not just a computer Company ...................................................................... 16
3.0.1.5.1 The Pc Systems of London 2012 ....................................................................... 16
3.0.1.5.2 Accer Internet Lounges ..................................................................................... 16
3.0.1.6 Mac Donald’s- The largest restaurant in the world .................................................. 17
3.0.1.6.1 The official restaurant of the Olympic Games .................................................. 17
3.0.1.6.2 Highlighting its Innovation and expertise ......................................................... 17
3.0.1.7 Procter and Gamble- Thank you Mum campaign .................................................... 18
3.0.1.8 Samsung- More than just a phone ............................................................................ 19
3.0.1.8.1 Wireless Communications Equipment .............................................................. 19
3.0.1.8.2 Samsung Hope Relay......................................................................................... 19
3.0.1.8.3 Samsung Global Blogger ................................................................................... 19
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5. 3.0.1.8.4 Samsung-Opening Ceremony ............................................................................ 19
4.0 Conclusion: Public Relations and Advertising in the Olympics, the future ...................... 20
References ................................................................................................................................ 21
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6. 1.0 Chapter 1
1.1 History of the Olympic Games
1.1.2 Olympic Marketing history
The Olympics is a sporting event that takes place every 2 years and that in seen by millions of
people. The Olympics are organised in two parts, Summer Olympic Games and the winter
Olympic Games. Two years after the summer takes place the winter Olympics take place and
two years after the winter Olympics take place the summer Olympics take place. The summer
Olympic Games takes place every four years and includes many sporting events like 100m
swim, long jump and the 1500m race whereas the winter Olympics include winter snow
events like ice skating, ski jumping and snowboarding etc. According to (Olympic, 2013) the
Olympics began in antique Greece in 1000 BC. The games were originally a form of religious
festival. (Johnny.K.Lee, 2005) States that “The Olympic games is the global arena for the
best athletes in the world and a venue for unity and cooperation of people around the globe.
Together with that, since the beginning of the last century, the games have acquired powerful
advertising function. In 20s and 30s, this function was primary political and aimed at
ideological propaganda of certain regime, most often dictatorship, like communism or
nazism, while by late twentieth century it acquired purely economic dimension, becoming one
of the most suitable places for advertising, marketing and generating considerable sums of
money”
According to (Billings, 2008) the first live telecast was during the 1936 Summer Olympic
games in Berlin. More than two dozen viewing halls were built in berlin, so the German
people could watch it. (Johnny.K.Lee, 2005) The first international screening of the Olympics
was seen at the 1956 games in Cortina Italy. Only eight countries in Europe could view it but
it was the start of the global spread of the Olympic broadcast, screening images of Olympic
athletes to homes across the world. (Billings, 2008)States that the American broadcaster NBC
paid 3.5bn for the rights to advertise the Olympic Games from a period of 2000-2008 and
then applied for an extension for 2010 and 2012 for which they paid 2.2 billion. This gave
marketers an opportunity to be able to advertise to reach a huge audience internationally.
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7. 1.1.3History of Advertising in the Olympics
(Leibold, 2012)Advertising during the Olympics dates back to 1896 when companies like
Kodak advertised in the souvenir programme. Coca Cola began its association with the
Olympics in 1928 during the Amsterdam games. (Johnny.K.Lee, 2005)At the Olympics in
Los Angeles in 1984 Coca Cola was the second leading advertiser having spent $29,875,000
on promoting its drinks. In the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Coca Cola spent $73,645,900
becoming the leading advertiser of the Olympics to this day Coca Cola in still one of the
leading advertiser of the Olympics, creating a strong business to business marketing link
between the two organisations. (Johnny.K.Lee, 2005)During the 2004 Olympic Games in
Athens Coca cola spent $145 million on advertising and sponsorship programmes. Many
other companies like MacDonald’s, Samsung, Kodak, Adidas and Visa invested in
advertising and sponsorship in the Olympics spent in total 1.3 billion.
1.1.4History of Public relations in the Olympic Games
Public relations is key factor to the Olympic games as it gives a company a chance to
promote the image and strength of the company but also change the public’s view of the
company. Public relations can also be used by the International Olympic Committee or the
host city of the Olympic Games. If we look back at the history of the Olympic Games we can
see how public relations has become a key part of the Olympic Games. (Levy, 2000) During
the Olympic Games in berlin 1936 there was a call to boycott the games as Hitler used this
opportunity to promote the Nazi regime, Jews were banned from the Olympic Games and the
Nazi controlled all sporting facilities. Ten thousand people protested in Madison square
garden and there was over 100,000 individual protests from American athletes. To try and
control this crisis the president of the International Olympic Committee at the time Avery
Brundage, fought to get Jews to participate in the games, he managed to get one Jew on the
team which stopped countries boycotting the games. The only country that boycotted the
games that year was Ireland. This was the first serious crisis to hit the Olympics and where
public relations was handled terribly. Since then there was also more boycotts especially in
1980 due to Russia invading Afghanistan.
(CLIFFORD, 2008)During the Beijing Olympic bid in 2001, the Chinese government were
criticised about their human rights in the country.
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8. To solve the issue the Chinese government researched the United Sates public relations
effectively for other countries and they found that America’s use of public relations was very
effective.
At this stage things were not looking good for China’s bid as there was a lot of protest
campaigns and oppositions against the Chinese government on the issues in Tibet. The public
relations company decided for the China’s bid to be successful for the Olympic Games they
had to take the attention off the Tibet issue. The public relations company decided that in
order for China to be successful they had to separate the Olympic bid from the Tibet issue by
means of showing the public and the Olympic committee that, they can do things right and
they are moving towards a new modern view on human rights in the country. China was
successful in its bid for Beijing to host the Olympic Games, from this China have increased
the image of its country dramatically. The host structure of the games were very important for
the country as they knew that millions of people were watching and that in order for good
relations this had to be very carefully planned. If we look back to the Olympic Games in
Beijing we can see that everything that was built in the games had a reuse, and if not was
converted to something that would generate money for the country, this was so that there
would be no negative views from people about abandoned stadiums that was seen during the
Olympic games in Athens 2004.
This public relations campaign that was used in China was so successful that London decided
to use the same strategy showing that it was focused on sustainability and legacy showing
that games contribute in a good way to the city and country. They did this by showing that
they had a reuse for everything for e.g. the country sold the Olympics stadium to a local
football team called West Ham United. The aquatics centre will also be reused and turned
into a public swimming pool.
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9. 2.0 Chapter 2
2.0.1 Successful factors of PR and Advertising
2.0.2 What is public relations?
(Austin, 1999)Public relations is an art and social science of managing the company’s image
within the public. Public relations is also about managing the company message internally as
well as externally. Internal Public relations involve the management of communication from
the organisation to their staff whereas externally involves managing the company’s image in
public from dealing with media to preparing press releases. (Allen Center, 2008) states
“Public relations practice is in the results that come from putting theories and principles to
work-in a way that benefits the organisation issuing the pay check and the society of which
the organisation is a part”. The PR department can also change the image or public’s view of
the company by manipulation.
2.0.2.1 Crisis Management
This how the PR department manage a company during a crisis, there are four different types
of crises

Acts of god- Weather Volcanos earthquakes etc.

Mechanical Problems- Problems physically e.g. building problems like flooding from
broken pipe

Human error- This is when human makes a mistake e.g. pressing a wrong button
miscommunication of the message

Management decisions, actions, or inaction- The problem is not serious so it will be
hidden, nobody will find out.
(Austin, 1999)The guidelines to successful crisis communication.
1. Anticipate the Unexpected- An organisation that is managing there Crisis management
well should anticipate the unexpected. You might not know when they will happen but
the organisation can anticipate a flood, a fire, a robbery etc. For the Olympics an
unexpected crisis would be a terrorist act.
2. Institute and practice a crisis communication plan- The Company should institute crisis
plan to deal with this situation e.g. a fire, the plan would involve an emergency
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10. evacuation procedure and help phone line for people to contact to make sure their
relatives are safe. Releasing a press release into the incident would also be part of the
plan.
3. Train Employees- In the case of a fire, carrying out a fire drill would be sufficient where
as if it a more specialised are of dealing with chemicals, you would have to train your
employees of the danger of each chemical and what to do if there’s a chemical disaster.
4. Have one spokesperson- Have one spokesperson communicating to the public media
about the incident during the crisis. It can get very confusing and untrustworthy when you
have more than one spokesperson especially when dealing with the media and publics.
5. Do not speculate- on what caused it, the cost of it or anything like that, make sure all your
staff are stating the same story.
There have been many different crisis that where managed well, one of the best managed
crisis would be the Johnson and Johnson case. (mallenbaker, 2000)The crisis happened when
the company produced a pain killer medication called Tylenol which had 35% of the
analgesic market and was worth 10% of the overall company’s profit. The crisis happened
when an individual succeeded in lacing the product with cyanide. Seven people died and
there was widespread panic ensued by how widespread the contamination might be. The
company recalled Tylenol from every outlet not just where the contamination might be,
which cost the company over $1bn as a result. From managing the crisis well Johnson and
Johnson created tamper proof packaging. This was a success to them as when they launched
their product back on the market they increased market share.
Crisis management is not just about managing a crisis it is about preparing for a crisis and
managing and preventing the crisis the best you can.
2.0.2..2 Community Relations
A community is a social group of an area that look out for one another, a community takes
pride in their community and supports all their local teams that represent the community, they
also are proud of their area. (Allen Center, 2008) “States that a community is a social
organism made up of all the interactions among the residents and the organisations in which
they identify. As a social organism, a community can take pride in its scenery or in its high
school basketball team; it can be factionalized on the basis of who loves on which side of the
rail road tracks, or who is well-off or poor; it can be heterogeneous collection of suburban
residents dawn together only by a common desire to escape living with a metropolitan area”.
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11. From what I have researched in to public relations is, the community is a key factor for
organisations to have their community on board and supporting there organisation.
This is done through meeting the needs of the community the best you can, helping the
community and improving the community.
(Allen Center, 2008)There are nine areas of an organisations community relationship
1. Releasing news to the community that’s of interest to them that’s in relation to the
organisation. For the Olympic Games, they release information on construction work of
the area and plans for the community, this would be of interest to the community near the
Olympic site.
2. Supporting the local community through raising funds for the community by means of
charity walks bag packing etc. , for this to work, the organisation also has to make sure
that there employee are supporting the community.
3. Donating some of the organisations money towards the local community, this was done in
the London 2012 Olympics by Olympic committee donating money towards local
sporting projects in the local area.
4. Allowing the community use of the organisations equipment. This was at London 2012,
as they are now converting the aqua centre into a swimming pool complex for the local
community.
5. Supporting the community’s views in social and government issues.
6. Planning special events e.g. community reunion’s conventions etc.
7. Releasing planning information to the public and about how there are going to improve
their community from there proposition.
8. Distribution of leaflet to residents about upcoming conventions or reunions that might be
of interest to them to do with the organisation.
9. Carrying out tours around the organisation as seen in London 2012 when after the games
the public could get tours of the site.
Once an organisation makes sure they meet most of these steps they can get there community
of side and this can be very beneficial to the organisation.
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12. 2.0.1 Successful Advertising factors
2.1.1 What is advertising?
Advertising is where companies get to promote or show people there product or service and
gain interest from this, to do this companies use a marketing component called advertising.
Companies can spend massive amounts of revenue on their advertising as it can increase their
sales dramatically. (Carter McNamara, 2013)Advertising is bringing a product (or service) to
the attention of potential and current customers. Advertising is focused on one particular
product or service. Thus, an advertising plan for one product might be very different than
that for another product. Advertising is typically done with signs, brochures, commercials,
direct mailings or e-mail messages, personal contact, etc. Advertising has become a part of
life today everywhere go from driving on the road to reading emails, advertising is all around
us.
2.1.2How to implement an advertising strategy
1. (Coolidge, 2013) Research: This is where the company carry’s out research in the market
to find out the behaviour of the market, who their competitors are and what styles there
are using for their adverts.
2. Target Audience: The company researches there target market and who they want to
target.
3. Media selection: This is where the media space is purchased. It also involves the
advertising accounts team to create a successful media plan for the company for where
they are going to advertise their product or service.
4. Create a brief: The marketing manager and his team have to create a brief to hand to an
advertising agency who will create the advert strategy. Contained in the brief will be who
the companies wants to target, what style they want to take with their strategy, where do
they want to advertise and all research and statistics information, for e.g. in London 2012
Olympics a lot of the advertising would have taken place outdoor so the companies
advertising style would be have been an outdoor style by use of gorilla marketing etc.
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13. 5. Brief handed to advertising agency: The brief is then handed to the advertising agency
where it is passed on to the relevant department. The first stage the brief will hit, is the
creative team. They will read over the brief and develop an advert that fits the needs of
the company and gets there message across effectively. For e.g. during London 2012
British airways strategy was to develop was to show that there were a proud British
company to support team GB but also to that they can get you to the heart of the action, as
we have seen in the advert where the plane lands in Heathrow airport but then makes its
way through London to Olympic park.
6. The pitch: After the creative department is finished developing the advert they will pitch
it to the company where they will decided if it meets their needs and gets there message
across effectively and keeps to the style they want. During this stage a number of
advertising agencies pitch to the company and they pick the best one.
7. Advert made and analysed: The advert is then made by use of the agencies production
team after this the advert is then sent back to the client and is analysed and issues or
feedback they have concerning the advert is explained to the advertising agency.
8. Release: The advert is finally released with perfect placement and timing in the market.
This stage also involves the company reviewing the agencies work and see did it meet
there targets for wanted the company wanted out of the advert.
2.1.3 Outdoor Advertising
This type advertising always been seen in the run up to and during the Olympic Games.
Outdoor advertising has the potential to get people talking and promoting the company
through use of social media, for e.g. if you look back at London 2012 Olympic Games,
British Airways hired a piece of land next to the end of the runway at Heathrow airport and
landscaped the Jessica Ennis in to the land with the saying welcome to our turf. This had a
huge effect as when people were landing at Heathrow, they could see this image on their final
approach to the airport just before touching down. It got people talking about it and it spread
all over internet. This advertising strategy I believe was very clever by British Airways
because if you think about it, when your landing at an airport people always tend to look out
the window to see the scenery and what the weather is like etc.. This made the marketing
team believe that most of the passengers could not miss this advertising during the landing.
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14. Another form of outdoor advertising used is billboards, which is slowly being phased out by
the introduction of more modern advertising digital screens. (Trent, 2012) Billboards are one
of the best strategies a company can use today even with the presence of digital screens.
This form of advertising again is getting more creative with making theses screens and
billboards more interactive for people to see, e.g. Honda had a campaign on a billboard in
Wexford were they posted a number on the billboard with a picture of a car and wrote, text
this number to start the engine. When a person texted in this number the sound of engine
could be heard starting up and smoke could be seen blowing from the exhaust of the car. This
type of advertising again got people talking and was spread throughout the internet by use of
social media. Everyday outdoor advertising is getting more and more creative and unique
which makes it a lot more competitive and puts a lot pressure on other advertising agencies to
be more creative.
2.1.4 Global marketing
This type of marketing is when companies adapt their advertising to different cultures but at
the same getting the very same message across to them effectively. (Finance, n.d.)States that
global marketing is a marketing strategy used mainly by multinational companies to sell
goods or services internationally. Global marketing requires that there be harmonization
between the marketing policies for different countries and that the marketing mix for the
different countries can be adapted to the local market conditions. Global marketing is
sometimes used to refer to overseas expansion efforts through licensing, franchises, and joint
ventures.
(William Wells, 2006)There are three types of global advertising that I am going to discuss in
this section.

Standardisation: This is where the advertiser focuses on similarities around the world.
Categories like high tech goods that a standard throughout the world would be taken in to
consideration here.

Localisation: This is where advertisers must adapt their advert to different countries
taking into consideration their culture and stage of economic and social development.

Combination: This is when standardisation and localisation are combined together to
create the best method of advertising.
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15. For the Olympics the best method of global advertising is the combination as you are
advertising to large amount of different cultures but also that you can get your message
across to a large amount of cultures from just one area.
Chapter 3
3.0 London 2012 Olympics Success
3.0.1The factors to the Success
In this final chapter I will explain to you from what we have read so far how these factors
influenced to the success of London 2012, from advertising to public relations, an example of
every one of these factors was seen during London 2012. When the Olympics take place it is
screened to millions of viewers worldwide and this is a company’s opportunity to hit a large
amount of people in just one medium which is the media. I am going to give examples and
analysis of the successful campaigns that helped generate publicity and sales for the
following companies.
3.0.1.1 Coca Cola- Move to the beat campaign
This was a marketing campaign set up for Coca Cola during the London 2012 Olympic
Games. (Wire, 2012) It was developed to take teens closer to the Olympic Games through the
standardisation factor of global advertising between teens which the company believed was
sport and music. What the company aimed to do was to create a campaign globally between
all teens worldwide. They believed the best place do this was through the Olympics through
the medium of sport and music. Coca Cola put a lot of their resources into this campaign and
used a number of sources of advertising and public relations to promote this campaign. To
make this campaign unique Coca Cola developed a special music track. It was launched
music artiest Mark Ronson and Kate B during a public relations event held by Coca Cola at a
secret location in London. This special track became known as one London 2012 songs and
consisted of sounds of athletes running, swimming, etc.
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16. 3.0.1.1.1 Digital experience
(Wire, 2012)To back their campaign up Coca Cola also developed a digital campaign through
social media and the internet called create my beat desktop. This was an application that teens
could use to help them develop their own music track using music and sports sounds. When
the teen had created their own track they could up load it on the Coca Cola website where
people could comment and listen to the track like an online community. The company also
developed a smart phone application where they could get teens to develop tracks on their
phones.
This was a massive success and got people taking about Coca Cola worldwide through word
of mouth and social media.
3.0.1.2 Coca Cola legacy
(Olympic.org, 2012)During the games Coca Cola also created a public relations campaign
creating awareness of sustainability of London 2012 and the world. They did this by creating
bigger bottles and making there bottles a 100% recyclable. They were stored in energy
efficient coolers and people were encouraged to recycle the bottles. This is another example
how Coca Cola used their community relations to promote the Coca Cola brand.
3.0.1.3 Coca Cola Beat TV
(Wire, 2012)The company also created a daily television show that was broadcasted globally.
The show took place for 10 nights over the Olympics, capturing the sights and sound of the
London 2012 games. The show featured celebrities and athletes interviews and on air games
and challenges. This was another example of Coca Cola using the media to advertise their
company.
3.0.1.4 Coca Cola-Beat box
(Olympic.org, 2012)The marketing team also recruited an architect to design their show room
that was going to be placed in Olympic park for the games. The building was designed to
align itself with the move to the beat campaign. This involved digital screens and speakers
were installed to give people a visual and sensory experience allowing people to interact with
the structure. Sound cushions embedded with anthem beats speakers were also played by the
public.
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17. 3.0.1.5 Acer- Not just a computer Company
Acer’s marketing strategy in London 2012 games was about showing how reliable and strong
there computer systems where through a number of different campaigns.
3.0.1.5.1 The Pc Systems of London 2012
The company used a public relations campaign which involved them donating their computer
systems to support the London 2012 games. (Olympic.org, 2012)Acer donated 16,000 net
books and desktops as well as 950 serves to help support the games. These computer and
servers were all distributed to help different departments from the Technology operations
centre to the Media Centre. The company also provided ground support during the games to
make sure every one of these systems were working to 100 percent of its potential.
This was a clever business-to- business marketing and public relations campaign by Acer.
The campaign shows that not only are their computers the best but the after care and support
is superior to their competitors.
3.0.1.5.2 Acer Internet Lounges
(Olympic.org, 2012)Acer built four internet lounges located in Olympic Park for the media
and the athletes. These internet cafes were open 24 hours per day during the games providing
200 station fully equipped with broadband and social media access keeping journalist and
athletes connected with family members and giving them access to up to date news on the
games. This again is a very well cleverly thought of public relations campaign showing that
company cares about athletes and the media and showing that the company is keeping people
connected throughout the games.
Acer also built a show room in Olympic park to show off and test their new technology to the
public. The company reached an estimated 1.2 million visitors to its site. They also provided
a tour to visitors which explained the history, background of the company and the future of
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18. the company. This was another great public relations campaign as people got to learn about
Acer, meet the staff and test their products.
3.0.1.6 Mac Donald’s- The largest restaurant in the world
3.0.1.6.1 The official restaurant of the Olympic Games
(Olympic.org, 2012)MacDonald’s marketing campaign involved them becoming the only
exclusive restaurant chain in the Olympic Park, because of this any other fast-food restaurant
chain had to set up their facilities outside the exclusion zone. The company had also set up a
restaurant only for Olympic members and the media in the staff canteen. (Eccles, 2012)The
restaurant that was located in Olympic Park was the biggest MacDonald’s in the world at
3000sq ft. and could seat up to 1500 customers. This plan of building the biggest
MacDonald’s in the world was a success for the company as it gained much publicity and
media attention for the company. The exclusion zone that was granted, was very clever by the
marketing team as any spectators who were hungry for fast food at the Park had to eat at
MacDonald’s. If we look at this campaign we can see that the company is demonstrating its
strengths by showing that their staff can serve a large amount of people quickly and to make
them stand out they decided to do this in the largest restaurant in the world.
3.0.1.6.2 Highlighting its Innovation and expertise
(Olympic.org, 2012)Macdonald’s set up a stand at its media centre restaurant, where they
demonstrated their quality ingredients that goes in to their food and innovative menu with the
help of their executive chef and senior director of culinary innovation Dan Coudreaut. This
demonstration was posted on about MacDonald’s.com and their YouTube channel. This
created great publicity for the company between athletes and the public.
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19. 3.0.1.7 Procter and Gamble- Thank you Mum campaign
(Olympic.org, 2012)P&G did some research for their marketing campaign and decided to
focus on the one person that believed in the athlete from the very start. After much extensive
research the company found that this was their mother who looked after them all there life
and brought them to athletic training etc... The company produced a two minute tribute video
demonstrating that the hardest job in the world is also the best job in the world. This video
launched digitally on P&G’S YouTube channel as well as their Facebook and digital hubs.
This video received 20 million views online and awarded an Emmy. The company also
created beauty salons for Olympic athletes and their mothers and fathers. The four salons
which were located in Olympic Park, Media centre and the P&G salon Wella Studio in
central London which provided over 26000 beauty treatments from hair styling to men’s
shaving. These treatments were all completed using P&G’s famous brands Gillette, Pantene
and Maxfactor. This created huge awareness of the P&G brands through mothers all over the
world as well as creating great publicity for the company.
3.0.1.7.1 P&G’s Legacy
This campaign involved the company contacting mothers and asked them how they could
support them to support their children. Through this the company decided to raise 5 million
dollars through sales of its brands to support youth sports programs around the world. When
this amount was raised during London 2012 the company decided to extend this to raise 25
million dollars over the next four Olympic Games. This extension means that the London
2012 Thank you Mum campaign will continue past the London 2012 games leave a legacy
well beyond the games. This was a great public relations campaign, by the company raising
this sort of money they should that they care about future athletes and want to courage the
youths to take their passion of sport future by the company supporting their local athletics
club.
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20. 3.0.1.8 Samsung- More than just a phone
3.0.1.8.1 Wireless Communications Equipment
Samsung provided for London 2012 17,000 mobile handsets and 4,600 mobile accessories to
staff and athletes in the games. The smartphones were preloaded with Samsung Wireless
Olympic Works (WOW) application with real time game updates and weather reports. The
idea of providing smartphones to staff and athletes was a brilliant by the marketing team as it
got staff and athletes to test the company’s product while the company made sure they had
everything they could want on the phone as to be able to get the staff and athletes to buy the
smartphones.
3.0.1.8.2 Samsung Hope Relay
(Olympic.org, 2012)This campaign was launched at a public relations event hosted by David
Beckham and Jamie Oliver. The campaign spread to 17 countries worldwide resulting in 1.75
million downloads for app that they created for smartphones. This allowed the phone to
record the statistics of anyone that had run a mile to be sent to Samsung. Every time a person
ran a while using the app Samsung had to donate money to charitable causes around the
world. The public relations campaign from Samsung was very well planned and created great
awareness of the company worldwide.
3.0.1.8.3 Samsung Global Blogger
(Olympic.org, 2012)The company sent 76 bloggers from 20 countries to the Olympics games
to report on the moments not to be missed. The bloggers reported these moments through the
use of Samsung smartphones and technologies. The company gained much publicity through
this as well as free advertising of smartphones and technologies that the bloggers were using
to report on the event.
3.0.1.8.4 Samsung-Opening Ceremony
The company’s products were used during the opening ceremony of London 2012. It was part
of the dance routine that celebrated global communications and was broadcasted through
television to more than four billion people in the world. There was also a behind the scenes
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21. interview posted on YouTube that took place before the ceremony that displayed Samsung
products again which was viewed by more than 700,000 people. This campaign was very
well arranged and from being in the opening ceremony they had hot a large amount of people
through one medium which was the media, which is what I believe they set out to do.
4.0 Conclusion: Public Relations and Advertising in the Olympics, the
future
To tie this chapter together I believe that from the last two Olympic Games companies have
begun to become much more specialised when it comes to advertising and PR. If we go back
to the first chapter when I explained the history of the Olympics we can see that there was
very little of Public relation used until the Beijing Olympics that took place in 2008. During
the Beijing Olympics we saw advertising and public relations change for the better with
companies homing in on a large factor of public relations that was never used before which
was the community relations aspect of the games. Companies wanted to show that they cared
a lot about athletes and the staff that were involved, we would of heard this been stated a lot
through the word legacy. Legacy has huge potential to gain a company an immense amount
of publicity very quickly and I believe this can and will be used in the future by companies.
The next Olympics that will take place is the Rio games 2016 in Brazil. Through these I
believe we will see public relations been used a lot more mixed with advertising. The reason
why I believe this is that Rio in Brazil is a very poverty stricken area and companies will use
to gain publicity by donating to local charities there and carrying it on throughout the games
which again will create another Legacy which will be one of many that we will see through
the future of the Olympic Games.
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