m-cause

I was recently in Lausanne, Switzerland (home of the International Olympic Committee) and had the chance to stop by the Olympic museum. The museum was decked out in Chinese Red and sported an impressive Chinese exhibition as literally billions of people get ready to watch the 2008 Olympics in Beijing (largely via TV).

The Olympics is obviously a HUGE sponsorship opportunity for brands. The IOC also pulls in a good deal of cash from the event. In 2004, total IOC revenues topped $4.2 Billion with broadcast rights delivering 53% of total revenues (2.2 Billion). Sponsorship from mega brands like Coke, Samsung, etc. accounted for $1.5 Billion (34%). The rest of the revenue was driven by ticket sales/licensing agreements. Click here for more details.

Picture courtesy of the IOC website

The World Cup is also one of the biggest sponsorship opportunities (and only 1 sport), but it still significantly lags the Olympics in terms of sponsorship revenue…

The 2008 Olympic event will provide very interesting challenges for sponsoring brands. On one hand, brands have a tremendous opportunity to be a part of the first ever Olympic showcase in such an important growth economy. On the other hand, China’s human rights abuses may make it harder for brands to be seen as socially responsible. Sponsors would probably prefer that, in the minds of consumers, their brands are associated with the event itself (read Olympic movement) instead of being associated with the host country. Indeed, it will be interesting to see how/if sponsoring brands link themselves to China in their ads during the event.

I think the Olympic museum in Lausanne has done a great job of providing an experience that celebrates China and its progress…while at the same time being very open about the environmental challenges facing the country. In fact, much of the 1st floor exhibition in the museum was dedicated to what China is doing (or not doing) about the environment. I think this is the right way to approach the issue, but it is tricky and sensitive. For more good discussion on this issue, click here.

One other fun exhibition in the museum was a little web 2.0 corner featuring a Chinese blogger (who’s blog I unfortunately cannot find–censored?) In any case, here is a link to several English speaking blogs about China. China is clearly BIG into blogging…I will save the data on Chinese blogging for a later post.

Below is a fun picture of me trying to pole vault with Chinese bamboo (pardon the hat head) in the museum. I was a pole vaulter in University, so this was a familiar pose.

I will be out for a few days, but I will be back to the blogging upon my return!