Nobody will be able to advertise in Beijing in the run up to the games unless they go through the IOC. The move is expected to give the IOC more control over the huge commercial interest in the Beijing games which is estimated to be worth about $1.4bn (?1.6bn), almost double the amount raised from sponsorship during Sydney 2000.
Beijing has already attracted a string of sponsors including Coca-Cola, Kodak and Swatch and Nike has just opened a soccer stadium in the City. The IOC is aware that as an essentially untapped market, China is attracting more sponsors than usual for the Olympic Games.
?From a marketing standpoint, it is one of the most important things ever to happen in the country. The international business community has high hopes that staging the games will be a catalyst, which will open up the market in the same way the Seoul and Korea games did,? Michael Payne, the IOC marketing director, told a national newspaper in the UK. ?Companies will make substantial investments to get access to the games in China.?
By taking control of the commercial aspects of the games, the IOC is also hoping to prevent an expected surge in negative branding from companies that are opposed to the hosting of the games in Beijing because of China?s poor human rights record.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has bought up all the outdoor advertising space in Beijing ahead of the Olympic Games which will be held there in 2008 in an attempt to limit the commercialisation of the event.
