How Does The Torch Relay Become A Banknote Printing Machine?

On the morning of March 31st, the launching ceremony of the Olympic flame and the torch relay at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games was held in Tiananmen square.

This also indicates that the torch relay, named "harmonious journey", has been officially launched in five continents and China since April 1st.

After paying attention to the torch relay activities that are attracting much attention, we should attach importance to a set of data.

According to statistics, the torch relay of this Olympic Games is the longest pmission line, the most extensive pmission area and the largest number of participants in the Olympic history.

From April 1st to August 8th, the torch relay will span five continents, which lasted for 130 days and passed over 20 thousand torchbearers. The total journey will be 137 thousand km.

Such a large-scale and highly concerned torch relay is undoubtedly an excellent marketing opportunity for any company in the world.

In fact, as early as the 1984 Losangeles Olympic Games, a smart American discovered great business opportunities. He was known as Peter Yuberrose, the father of Olympic business.

As the chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Losangeles Olympic Games, Peter Yuberrose's contribution to the commercial operation of the Olympic Games is not only a change in the past, but also a game of "losing money and making money". What's more, it shows that the Olympic torch relay has become a "banknote printing machine".

In the eyes of ordinary people, the way of operation of old Ueberroth seems very simple, that is, a common torch relay activity is noisy and noisy, and the number of participants is doubled.

But the key to the problem is that old Ueberroth merely regarded them as a stage of building a spotlight. The real business operation is to pull the sponsors and let the enterprises pay for all this.

Of course, enterprises are also not suffering. The stage built by old Ueberroth has become a rare marketing opportunity for enterprises.

The practice of old Ueberroth was followed by the host country of each Olympic Games in the following 20 years.

By the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, a total of 5 "regular forces" participated in the torch relay.

Lenovo, Coca-Cola and Samsung participated in the Olympic torch relay as a sponsor of the Olympic torch relay in Beijing. At the beginning of 2008, the Bank of China and Volkswagen joined the torch relay supplier and tried to make a small difference.

Generally speaking, the torch relay sponsors' marketing activities are usually divided into two stages, namely the torch selection stage and the torch relay stage before the torch relay.

In the previous stage, sponsoring enterprises can openly select torch bearers through various channels. For enterprises, it is mainly the expansion of brand communication.

During the torch relay stage, the Olympic flame passes through a city. It is like holding a grand city "party", not only the torch bearer, but also the participation of a large number of urban residents. These enterprises bring not only the soft effect of brand communication, but also the actual sales performance. This is especially evident in the fast moving consumer goods industry.

Taking Coca-Cola as an example, during the 2004 Olympic torch relay in Athens, Coca-Cola launched 2 million 400 thousand cans of Olympic torch commemorative pots in 9 major cities including Beijing.

Of course, will excessive business conduct damage the Olympic spirit and make consumers tired and bored?

In fact, this is a problem from old Ueberroth's founding of the "torch relay money making machine".

For this reason, the torch relay enterprises came up with the idea that public welfare and environmental protection cards should be set up in the selection stage of torch bearers. Those who focused on public welfare and environmental protection were absorbed as torchbearers.

Of course, the torch bearers also include celebrities and so-called "great ordinary people". These people will weaken the commercial color of the torch relay to a certain extent, and also a secret weapon for enterprises to win consumers' favor.