Whose party was it anyway?

Our monthly blogger Phil Rumbol, former marketing director of Cadbury’s and now founding partner of 101 – a free range creative company, discusses brands and parties.

Over the years I’ve been involved in many sponsorships, ranging from the Heineken Cup, Stella Artois Tennis, Tennent’s ‘T in the Park’ and Cadbury with the Olympics. And there’s one piece of early advice I heard that’s stuck with me ever since: always make your brand appear like an invited guest at the party.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but it feels like a line has been crossed with the London 2012 Olympics. It feels like the brand sponsors are the invited guests and the general public are outside pressing their noses against the window. The Olympic movement prides itself on being custodians of the Corinthian spirit, but I wonder if it’s time for a dose of reality. The Olympics are one of the most prestigious and expensive sponsorship properties in the world. But they are unique in that you actually get very little for your money. No perimeter boards. No branded interview backdrops. No presence on TV. When you sign up as a sponsor all you really get is the mother of all tickets and the opportunity to brag that ‘we’ll be there.’ The net result of this is that the policing of sponsor rights is draconian, and downright ridiculous in some cases (a recent example being a local butcher being told to remove a window display of sausages in the shape of the Olympic rings.) And it leads to endless reminders from brands saying ‘we’ll be at the party’ (and before you think this is sour grapes, I was one of the lucky ones to get tickets through the ballot process.)

All of which makes the Olympics feel like the most nakedly commercial event in the world. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not against brand involvement. The commercial reality is that the modern Olympics rely on investment from sponsors. Without them they would not happen. I just wish they would stop peddling the Corinthian spirit nonsense and let the sponsorship live in the venues and on the TV screens. That would leave more room for the general public to enter into the spirit without feeling like the logo police could swoop at any time.

First and foremost, the London 2012 Olympics should feel like a national celebration and a piece of cultural history. I just hope the Great British public feel like it’s a party they’ve been invited to.

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