Online Marketing Strategies from MarketerInsight

Beijing 2008 Olympics - Phelps Wins Gold

This year’s Olympic Games is definitely one of the most anticipated and controversial events in recent history.  With all of the protests occurring because of China’s treatment of Tibet and China’s harsh censorship rules there certainly has been a lot to talk about in the news.  However, much of the buzz has been positive.  Michael Phelps is aiming to take home 8 gold medals and is well on his way to that goal (3 golds and counting as of right now) while breaking records along the way.  With all of this going on, it’s no wonder companies are trying to capitalize on the captive audience through a variety of marketing campaigns.

This year, there has been a huge surge in online advertising for the Olympics.  Marketers are taking advantage of the many Olympic-related online advertising and sponsorship opportunities because they can attach their name to the games at a fraction of the cost compared to actually being an Olympic sponsor.  One of our clients, Ashley Furniture, is even running an Olympic offer.

NBC Universalis running 3,600 hours of Olympic programming, most of it live and recorded on the Internet.  AT&T has partnered with NBC Universal to provide live coverage through PC, mobile phone and TV and will also be offering on-demand content.  Yahoo is also providing display advertising across its Olympics site throughout August, giving primarily large advertisers such as Target, McDonalds and ExxonMobil a unique channel to reach customers.

Although the Olympics is not for all advertisers, mainstream are on board and will be measuring brand interaction and engagement at a minimum.  What’s been your interaction with brands associated with the Olympics?  Please share your thoughts below.