So you’re an Australian marketing manager and your company — perhaps your global head office — has paid lots of money for a share of the official Olympic sponsorship rights. It’s the marketing equivalent of having automatic entry to the final of any Olympic event you choose. What do you do?
Given this kind of opportunity, some Olympic sponsors have produced stirring, emotional commercials that leverage the Olympic spirit, a sense of shared excitement and core Australian values — enough to make Bruce McAvaney’s voice drop a couple of octaves. Others, in the style of China’s Liu Xiang, have fallen before the first hurdle. Here are the final placings…
LENOVO
The Chinese computer company, which bought IBM’s PC division a few years back, is one of 12 Worldwide Olympic Partners, paying perhaps as much as US$80 million.
As the voice over tells us, “Libby Trickett chooses a Lenovo Thinkpad because it’s… (Libby and her coach unconvincingly drop the laptop on to the tiled floor of an indoor pool) …a tough competitor, too!” Thankfully, comparisons between Libby and the laptop end there, as the computer also has airbags and is spill-proof. And check out the disclaimer warning that deliberately dropping a Thinkpad “may void your warrenty” (sic)!
Even the out-takes are bad. This one pulled up lame.
ENERGY SAFE VICTORIA
An unofficial entry, this Victorian Government authority has attempted an unusual manoeuvre with a very high degree of difficulty: leveraging the Olympics to raise awareness of electrical safety. Huh?
In ads designed to be screened during Games coverage, retired Olympic swimmer Brooke Hanson delivers a safety message “as the victim of a painful electric shock…” (when demonstrating a spa at an exhibition in 2007).
Perhaps more noteworthy is ESV’s double backflip with twist — its spokesman stated categorically at the time that “electricity played no part” in Hanson’s injuries.
MITSUBISHI
Having paid for the right to plaster its communications with the Olympic rings as an official Australian Partner, it looks as though Mitsubishi might have been outspent on airtime by its larger competitors Holden and Ford. The best Mitsubishi could manage when it came to TV ad creative was “Win with Mitsubishi Olympic Deals”. Did not make it beyond the first round.
AXA
The French insurer’s ads show images of athletes and their coaches, at both elite and junior levels, positioning AXA as a financial “coach”. When it comes to superannuation, we are told, “…success comes from long-term commitment and quality advice”. Warmer and more engaging than some, but the Olympic/coach metaphor is too laboured and rational for a largely low-involvement category like superannuation.
SAMSUNG
Samsung’s Olympic ad, which centres on its F480 phone, is a highly original and engaging idea. A DJ with a high-tech rig of Samsung phones captures and mixes live sounds from different Olympic sports, turning them into a pleasing piece of electronica. But no medals for Australia here — this is a global ad.
COCA-COLA
Coke is also screening its global ad, which features strange but cute animated birds collecting drinking straws to build their own version of Beijing’s “Bird’s Nest” stadium. It’s a rather (ahem) lateral approach, in keeping with Coke’s quirkier and occasionally psychedelic advertising style of recent years. Developed by an Amsterdam ad agency, this competitor is still awaiting the results of drug testing.
MCDONALD’S
The former hamburger chain turned salad bar and fruit shop, another Worldwide Olympic Partner, gets high marks for its “burnt sausage” ad showing Australians of all kinds sharing a moment of Olympic excitement, although the super-sized sentimentality may be too much for some to stomach.
Points were deducted, though, for its shorter ads like “Love the Opening Ceremony” (guy opens hamburger packaging) and “Love a Personal Best” (McDonald’s crew member races the clock to serve a customer), where the puns are stretched thin and seem unoriginal, a similar series having been done in the past for a local beer brand.
TELSTRA
As an Olympic sponsor, Telstra has the distinct advantage of actually having something Olympics-related to sell: streaming Games video for its Next G subscribers. But it raises the bar higher in this campaign with emotive footage of Australians sharing Olympic experiences, all set to a new version of Bruce Woodley’s anthem “I Am Australian”. A great all-round performance and unlucky to miss out on gold.
QANTAS
While an obvious contender coming into these Games, Qantas still had to perform on the track… and it has. Its clever ad uses testimonials from a diverse and appealing group of Australians including former Olympians, all of whom perform believably (no dropped laptops here). The pay-off reveals that Leisel Jones is literally carrying the goodwill of thousands of Australians with her to Beijing. The tagline “The Spirit of Australia” neatly and compellingly sums up how many Australians feel about our team at the Olympics and links that emotion inextricably to Qantas. A worthy green-and-gold medallist.
Stephen Downes lectures in the postgraduate advertising program at RMIT University and is a market researcher with QBrand Consulting
The ad that i dislike the most from the olympics has to be the TEVO ad. resent the assumption we are all stupid and will rally around the product just because they say ‘we’re australian’ .
I leave the room every time this ad is on.
What about the Coles ad that congratulates all of the single mothers who support their children’s sporting development? Not a male role model to be seen! I wonder who buys the groceries?
that Qantas ad is sickening glurge. specifically, it tips over the edge when it compares olympic competition with war. That an unashamedly mercenary company tries to buy some good feeling by siphoning off the public’s pride in Australian olympians is pretty gross and to claim that qantas is somehow contributing to their success (other than getting them there, which any airline could do) makes my gorge rise. But then I’ve never bought into the idea that an airline can be “the spirit of australia”.
I resent a company attempting to defuse a negative image by staking a claim to national identity or patriotism – a claim thay have absolutely no right to be making, especially considering their fervour for offshoring essential services. and telstra are just as bad – they’ve destroyed that poor song. It used to be an inclusive anthem, now it’s a jingle. bleh.
at least the Lenovo ad makes a claim that can be tested. they claim their laptops are tougher, not that they somehow embody a tradition of bushmateshipfairgosummerwhatever. and who cares if a swimmer’s acting is bad. it’s an ad.
but that’s how it goes isn’t it – when you have an indistinguishable (or otherwise) product, create an emotional link. it subverts reason. as my rant probably indicates.