Worldwide marketing and sponsorship revenue for Rio 2016 from official sponsors such as Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Samsung and Panasonic is predicted to exceed €800 million, sponsorship agency Onside reports. Coca-Cola, Nike and McDonald’s again have one foot on the podium as the potential big winners ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony.
Onside found that Coca-Cola are fastest out of the blocks in terms of capturing the Irish public’s support as sponsors in Rio. One in ten Irish consumers like what they see from Coke around the games in Brazil – and in particular 18-24 year olds. The global rights including the Olympic Torch Relay allowed the brand to build momentum ahead of the start.
Battles between Nike and Adidas and Visa and Mastercard also continue, with all four in the top ten again. Nike are showing a slight edge on Adidas in the early stages while the card companies are both neck and neck, as was the case in 2012. Rivalling the global brands that also rank in the top ten, such as McDonald’s and P&G, is Electric Ireland.
But the competition for hearts and minds has intensified, Onside CEO John Trainor says. The same level of admiration among the Irish public for Olympics sponsorship pre-games exists as was found before the London 2012 Games. Three in ten Irish consumers show positive recognition of what sponsors have done so far around the games.
Trainor says for some brands the Olympics is a marathon, with a longer term game plan in play. Seventeen brands mentioned in Onside’s pre-Olympics study were also in the running for most admired sponsors ahead of the England games. “However,” Trainor adds, “the field has widened with the number of admired sponsors up 59 per cent on London.”
Sponsors aiming for a personal best in Rio will do so in the context of a renewed momentum in Irish sponsorship across the second quarter of 2016, after a slow start to the year when the number of reported new sponsorship deals fell sharply. The second quarter of 2016 has rebounded with a 35 per cent increase in activity on the same period in 2015.
Pictured above is Electric Ireland head of marketing Lisa Browne and boxer Katie Taylor
