Eurostar rings the changes ahead of London 2012

TALK TO SOME of the other commercial partners of the London Olympic games and Eurostar remains an enigma. When the cross-channel train operator signed on as a 2012 sponsor in 2010 paying $30,000 for the privilege, the rationale seemed to be that it would cash in on journeys from continental Europe turning Olympic visitors into lifelong customers. That strategy may still be in place but the company has clearly lost patience with those it had charged to deliver it. Announcing a re-positioning of its business into three operating units – France, Belgium and the UK – Eurostar casually dropped in the news that its marketing director was departing and that it had appointed Havas Sport and Entertainment to handle its Olympic marketing from here on. The Havas team will be headed up by long-time friend of SportBusiness, Fredda Hurvitz and with only nine months to go, expect some cunning stunts.