10:23 PM
Shweta Pandey
Once you’ve made yourself aware of what’s happening during the 2012 London Olympic Games (by reading our first feature in this series) you need to decide how you’re going to use the event to boost your business’s profile.
Businesses may not be able to use the 2012 logo during the Games, but iconic images like this are allowed
Before you set off dreaming up creative marketing activities, remember this is all about going the long haul. Oxford Economics expects 54 per cent of the tourism benefits of the Games to be generated in the four years after the event has finished, with the event itself generating just 31 per cent.
The Olympic Games run for just two weeks, as do the Paralympic Games at the end of August, so any benefit to businesses in that period will be short-lived unless operators prepare their activity and marketing strategy over a minimum six-year period.
“This is all about playing the long game,” says Amy Crees, 2012 Games project manager at VisitBritain. “Businesses need to go for a long term approach in terms of building a brand, awareness, getting great media coverage and capitalising on that afterwards.”
Target market
As a starting point, hotel, restaurant and pub operators should consider which market they wish to target during and after the Games, whether that be a local audience, national, international or global.
Of course the decision needs to be tailored to the location of your business (whether it’s near an Olympic venue, relay route or live site), the size of your business, what your current market is, and which additional markets will be interested in your operation.
For example, while Hilton has partnered with VisitBritain to promote its UK-based portfolio to its existing hotel markets around the world, a small independent pub in Oxfordshire may want to scale its strategy down for a more regional audience.
VisitBritain has profiled all its target countries with information on consumer behaviour, size of market, local media and travel trade on its website,VisitBritain.org , to help operators understand where and who they should focus on. You can find that information here.
“There are loads of different ways of getting involved, such as playing upon any sporting connections you have, any past or present staff who are also athletes or historical or cultural associations,” Crees suggests.
“But the ideal scenario is going to be winning business from big groups coming in during the Games time and there are a few big players in the market doing that.”
Package deals
Organisations such as Sportsmark, Sportsworld and Jetset specialise in putting together hospitality packages around major sporting events like the Olympics for corporate clients such as sponsors and the national Olympic committee.
“Make your product or service known to these organisations by contacting them and showing what you can offer. They’ll likely be looking for exceptional and special experiences for their clients, so make sure you can offer them something that meets their criteria.”
In addition, the CompeteFor business network lists all the Games-related contracts available, many of which may be outside of London itself. Businesses will need to register on the website to view all opportunities.
Operators can also approach the many listed Authorised Ticket Resellers (ATR), overseas companies that are given the power to put together ticket packages for their local markets, to offer their services to. A full list of these ATRs can be found here.
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