Olympics 2012: The Greatest Show on Earth
Abba Newbery, director of advertising strategy at News International Commercial, on the excitement and interest surrounding The Games…
The 6 July 2005 feels like a long time ago now, but that was the date we finally found out that the Olympics and Paralympics of 2012 would be hosted by London. But “The Greatest Show on Earth” is nearly upon us, we’ve seen the kit, Team GB launches officially on Friday at the Royal Albert Hall, and I’ve even managed to get my hands on some tickets, albeit for the Handball.
From our lofty Wapping HQ, we have been able to see the landscape of the area around the Olympic village be transformed, and we have also been tracking the national opinion about The Games since summer 2009 and seeing excitement and interest grow exponentially over time. The latest wave of our Insight team’s Olympic Tracker (powered by our 20,000 strong YouGov Reader Panel) was released this month and makes interesting reading.
From that initial wave, we saw that only 19% of the populace as a whole rated themselves as “very excited” about The Games. That has now grown to 61%, and as we edge closer and closer to the start of the Torch Relay and then The Games themselves, we expect that figure to show another huge leap. We have also been asking which facets of The Games people are most interested in, from legacy, community, environmental and lifestyle, to the top ranking “British Talent” – the chance to see our athletes perform at their very best, among the very best.
Interestingly, the core values that key Olympic and Paralympic partners are seeking to communicate are now coming through very strongly; with big increases across the people surveyed associating “social occasions”, “unity & acceptance” and “healthy lifestyle & communities” with brands like Coca-Cola and McDonalds, and similar increases for “technology” for brands like VISA and BT, and “low carbon” for EDF.
The Olympics is not just an amazing opportunity for the Partners and Sponsors. Our Olympic Tracker has also shown that newspapers and newspaper websites and apps are the most popular (commercial) source of information for the 2012 Olympics, so the audience is there, eager for our take on The Games. Across all our titles we will be producing content 24 hours a day across all available platforms, to bring our customers the very best in Olympic coverage with world-class talent like Clive Woodward, Jess Ennis, Mo Farah, Mark Cavendish, Ellie Simmonds, Victoria Pendleton, Matthew Pinsent and Rebecca Adlington to add their unique insight into what the Olympics and Paralympics means to the competitors themselves.
I think it is a unique opportunity for advertising. It’s not just a chance for London to redefine itself, but an opportunity to reach a positive and patriotic British public. It will be a whirlwind that hits us and will be talked about for the rest of our lives. It’s a time for advertisers to be bold, support the nation, and generate unprecedented goodwill as we come together and promise “Let’s Make It Great, Britain”.