Sponsoring the Olympic games offers worldwide exposure for global brand names but for Irish firms which buy the right to use the five rings, the promotional opportunities end when the games begin.
The Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) has raised just over £500,000 (€393,500) in sponsorship. The money comes from eight main sponsors, including Texaco, Esat, Kelloggs and Cadbury. Companies such as the Blackrock Clinic and Opel Ireland will also give goods or services in return for using the Olympic symbol and the "official sponsor" tagline. By dividing the number of sponsors into the amount of money raised, it is clear that the games are one of the least expensive sports sponsorship around.
"It's good value for money," says Mr Eamon McLoughlin of DSM International, the company which negotiates the sponsorship deals on behalf of the OCI. But use of the logo is virtually all the sponsors. Once they have secured their official sponsor status, it is up to the individual companies, as one sponsor put it, to "milk it for all it's worth". Gilbey's sponsorship cost £60,000 and it matched the deal with one of its Australian wine brands, Lindemans. Mr Jim Farrelly, marketing manager wines, said the attraction of such a mainstream sponsorship for Lindemans was the chance to "talk up the brand outside the trade press".
Gilbey's would appear to have gained value for money. In the past five months, it has run a series of promotions and competitions and has put the Olympic logo on the label. In that time, sales of Lindemans have doubled.
Cadbury Ireland is also a proactive sponsor, putting almost £1 million behind its sponsorship. It put the logo on product, created a special point-of-sale as well as a TV campaign. It also brought out a special Olympic Bar. The intense promotional activity will wind down as the games begin.
The International Olympic Committee has generated £210 million sterling (€347 million) in sponsorship - 50 per cent more than its original target, proving that increasing awareness of drugs in sport has not tarnished the image of the games as far as advertisers are concerned.
"No one is going to say `I'm not going to eat your cornflakes' just because an athlete tests positive," says Mr McLoughlin. "It's not something that sponsors are too concerned about."
