Olympic Marketing: Sponsors Take The Lead, Liu Xiang Runs Crisis Public Relations

Liu Xiang retired, but another war was just beginning.

Nike, Coca-Cola, Lenovo, Erie...

14 well-known brands at home and abroad gathered in one. Before the game, some even boldly predicted that if Liu Xiang won the gold medal in Beijing Olympic Games, the economic value of the gold medal would be as high as 480 million yuan.

However, the brutality of competitive sports left many people unprepared for the pain, which forced Liu Xiang to hate the track.

One stone stirred up thousands of waves. Immediately, Liu Xiang's name occupied a prominent position in newspapers, television, Internet and other major media, and its attention was even higher than that of athletes who succeeded in winning gold.

As most people expressed their support for Liu Xiang's continued support, most of the sponsors who threw money at Liu Xiang also continued to cooperate, but an alternative marketing battle was just beginning.

Does the original advertising plan need to be pformed?

Besides discussing the sports spirit of Liu Xiang, sports marketing, a new topic in China's advertising industry, is once again attracting keen attention.

Early yesterday, many people in Guangzhou got the new Southern Metropolis reporting hours.

There are two big pictures on the cover of the newspaper: one is the back figure that Liu Xiang lost after retiring from the match; the other is Liu Xiang's strong frontal feature, the left side is the advertisement "love competition, love all the dignity, love win it back again."

Love gives everything, loves glory, and loves setbacks.

Love sports, even if it hurts your heart.

This is the new advertisement for the sponsor Nike fire line. It is reported that Nike put the advertisement on the same day in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and other places, and the gross amount is over 1 million 500 thousand yuan.

"Nike is very slippery when dealing with such emergencies. Their advertising creativity has successfully resolved the crisis as a concern.

Nike has naturally introduced the public's concern for Liu Xiang to its brand.

Wang Junyu, a well-known sports marketing expert, commented that Nike, like an active strategy, also had Erie.

Yesterday evening, Olympic sponsorship Erie TV ads also adjusted: originally Liu Xiang, Guo Jingjing, Yi Jianlian and other stars advertising changed to each star as a protagonist.

Enterprises such as Coca-Cola, VISA, Amway, and Shan Shan adopt the strategy of "changing all the time".

Zhao Yanhong, director of the public affairs and Communications Department of Coca Cola Co, said that the company felt very sorry for Liu Xiang's accidental injury. The president of the company also sent letters and condolences. The cooperation plan and propaganda plan between Coca-Cola and Liu Xiang will remain unchanged.

Liao Minhang, marketing director of Amway Nutrilite, said that the fixed term contract between the company and Liu Xiang has not yet expired. The endorsement fee of Liu Xiang will not be reduced during the contract period. Because of the sudden occurrence of the incident, the marketing plan has not yet been adjusted.

Whether or not to renew the contract with Liu Xiang after the expiration of the contract depends on the future situation.

Some enterprises are forced to take defensive tactics.

According to media reports, Shanghai GM had already prepared an advertisement for Liu Xiang to win the championship. Now the film will no longer be broadcast, and other Liu Xiang themed advertisements will also be delayed.

There are also reports that the Lenovo side has considered making adjustments to Liu Xiang's advertising cooperation, and Lenovo's notebook advertising with Liu Xiang has been suspended, but Lenovo's high-profile denial of the matter yesterday.

However, the TV ads before VISA had been congratulatory for Liu Xiang. Some netizens said they were out of date. But Liu Jie, deputy general manager of VISA China, did not comment on this. He only said "Liu Xiang will always be a friend of VISA".

The "pornographic door" incident that broke out in the entertainment industry of Hongkong has caused the relevant stars to lose a lot of advertising contracts.

Why did Liu Xiang win the collective support of advertisers after the withdrawal of the competition? Hongkong media recently reported that Liu Xiangtui's influence on advertisers' brand value was as high as 1 billion yuan.

"This is the right choice," Chen Chunhua, a marketing expert and professor of business administration at South China University of Technology, said yesterday. "From the perspective of endorsement, sports stars do not necessarily have to be champions.

In fact, for the sponsors, choosing Liu Xiang as the Advertising Spokesperson, besides watching Olympic champions and breaking the world record aura, he also sees his spirit of daring to fight hard, have personality and not give up. These characteristics are consistent with the brand connotation of the enterprise.

She pointed out that although Liu Xiang retired, but from the media's attention, the influence is very huge. If Liu Xiang can overcome the pain in the future and return to the arena, it will be able to maintain healthy and sunny positive image, which will be even more beneficial to the sponsors' brand.

"The money of sponsors has been spent, and the wise decision is to help Liu Xiang rebuild confidence and maintain image."

In fact, it is not the first time that Liu Xiang brought people accidents. The accident brought by Nike to his colleagues is not the first time.

In July 12, 2006, Liu Xiang, 23, in Lausanne, Switzerland, let the 14 hours of the world record of the men's 110 meter hurdles after 13 years, from the Internet to the print media to the TV, and to the commemorative T-shirt worn by Liu Xiang at the homecoming scene. Nike's advertisement quickly occupied the media, and the full exposure rate gave the brand the greatest display.

At that time, Coca-Cola sports marketing department had suffocated.

And this crisis public relations "110 meters hurdle", although the initiatives of the major sponsors have something to do, it is obvious that Nike once again "made a false start".

As a matter of fact, this event has brought a new lesson to domestic sports marketing.

"Some domestic businessmen who follow suit will get a lesson," said Zhang Xinhong, vice president of CIGNA communications consultant group.