Interview: IOC satisfied with BOCOG marketing program

(BEIJING, August 6) -- Since the marketing program for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games was launched on September 1, 2003, a total of 54 enterprises have become Games partners, sponsors and suppliers.

Among them are Volkswagen, a prominent international business giant, Haier, a famous Chinese household electrical appliances producer, and Sohu.com, the first ever Internet content sponsor in the history of the Olympic Games. Their participation has provided the necessary funds and services for the success of the Beijing Olympics.

Mr. Gerhard Heiberg, chairman of the Marketing Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has witnessed the whole marketing process of the Beijing Olympics. On the occasion of the one-year countdown to the Games, he spoke about his feelings in an exclusive interview with the Games official website.

"I feel that Chinese business and industry really have taken this on. They are doing a great job; they have shown a lot of interest, so we are very, very satisfied."

Mr. Heiberg said he was impressed by BOCOG's move to use the Olympic Games as a vehicle to promote their goods and services and think about going abroad after some time. "To my amazement, they immediately understood that this is an excellent way of getting better known inside China and hopefully outside China as well."

Mr. Heiberg, who has visited many partners and sponsors of the Beijing Olympic Games, believes that their strengths match the strengths of the Olympic brand.

"I was a little skeptical in the beginning; but I had faith after some time that they were really interested, they know what they are talking about; they learned very quickly what this was all about; they understood the values of the Olympic Movement, so yes, I think everything has worked out very well, and also the cooperation with our own top sponsors. The top sponsors have been very good, so the interaction between our top sponsors and our Chinese sponsors is excellent and that way they learn from each other," he went on saying.

The chairman said he has "no advice to give" to the Chinese sponsors at this stage because the Chinese enterprises have already learned a lot in the process. "They have really listened to the IOC, they have seen the possibilities they would like to develop until the Games start in a year from now," he said.

"They have been very good at advertising. Everywhere when I go around China, I see a logo on the Bank of China, or CNC or China Mobile. Today we are preparing for the hospitality, for the servicing, for the tickets, and so on for the Games. And they have understood how to do this. We are working very closely with them as we are doing with all the top sponsors, so we are changing from only advertising to inviting people and doing the hospitality during the Games."

Over-commercialization is criticized

The IOC official said IOC is very strict in avoiding over-commercialization in Olympic marketing. "We do not have any advertising whatsoever in the sporting venues; you cannot see any advertising in venues or arenas and also on the athletes themselves.

"We are aware that over-commercialization is detrimental to the Olympic Movement and all our sponsors, and our partners understand it and accept it."

Internet sponsor is welcome

Mr. Heiberg said IOC is very proud to have Sohu.com as its Internet sponsor for the Beijing Olympics. "We have always been in the technological forefront, and we feel strongly that the development now taking place with more and more use of internet and mobile phones and so on.

"So we would like to follow this trend and having them as sponsor on the internet, as a partner, or as a sponsor is really interesting to us. So the whole technological field is in total development; we would like to follow this, and that way we hope also to be known as always being in the forefront when it comes to technological revolution, something we are going through at the moment."

In the future of marketing, IOC would like to have not only Internet but other Chinese companies as top sponsors. "So an internet company and one or more others, they're very welcome to become a top sponsor of the IOC," he said.

Commenting on the Games organizers' services for the partners and sponsors, Heiberg said: "It is very important for us when we get sponsors or partners that they have exclusivity in their product category, and this means that the IOC as well as BOCOG don't have what we call 'ambush marketing'. We have to protect our partners and sponsors, so that nobody can steal what they are trying to achieve, and that they feel safe that whatever they do will be protected, and this ambush marketing will not take place."

"I look forward to August 8, 2008"

On his feelings about the 2008 Olympics just one year away, Mr. Heiberg said BOCOG's preparations "are very well on their way. This gives us the assurance that the Games will be something very, very special for the whole world, so we are excited about the development, we feel that everything is under control, and we wish the organizers the best of luck and we are sure that we will get the Games which the world has never seen before. So I look very much forward to August 8, 2008."