Olympic Sponsorship

Twelve global companies have ponied up a prince's ransom -- upwards of $80 million for 2005-08 -- to occupy the rarefied air that is The Olympic Program (TOP), and enjoy worldwide marketing rights relative to the Olympic rings, Olympic imagery, and the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. But while longtime sponsors Coca-Cola, Kodak, McDonald's, and Visa are virtually synonymous with the Olympics, and General Electric, Panasonic, Samsung, Omega, and Johnson & Johnson are well-known global brands, others -- such as Lenovo and Atos Origin -- are not so well known. (The 12th TOP partner is Manulife, which acquired John Hancock Insurance in 2004 and assumed its sponsorship category.) As you can read in the accompanying article, Lenovo is a Chinese company that bought IBM's PC business in 2005, and is fourth in market share behind H-P, Dell, and Acer. Interestingly, Lenovo did not renew its TOP sponsorship for 2009-2012, making its splash at the Beijing Olympic Games a one-time affair. This begs the question what return on investment companies like Lenovo are realizing on their top-line sponsorship of the Olympics.

Article--> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/business/media/20adco.html?_r=1&sq=lenovo&st=cse&oref=slogin&scp=1&pagewanted=print

http://www.forbes.com/video/?video=fvn/sportsmoney/mo_sm050808

http://www.forbes.com/video/?video=fvn/sportsmoney/mo_sm012408

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jul2008/gb20080731_125602.htm?chan=search

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