IT APPEARS THAT we live in a world where no one wants to take responsibility. The sponsorship chatter these days is focused around the IOC allowing "unhealthy" brands to sponsor the Olympics.
The philosophy of many is that Olympic sponsoring brands, such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Cadbury, have a direct correlation with the rising childhood obesity rates.
I'm not naive to the fact that these brands have important objectives at stake that often are targeted towards children. But no one is talking about those who are ultimately responsible for children's food intake, activity levels and overall wellness – parents.
The education system here in the US is undergoing a similar attack where teachers are being evaluated based on a student's performance in the classroom. But where's the report card on the parents?
I'm tired of this culture where we point the finger and blame the sponsors – the same sponsors that help make the Games happen, that enable countries to send athletes to the Games, improve training programs and enhance the experience and connectivity of the viewers and fans.
Call it part of the marketing plan, but many of these sponsors, including McDonald's and Coca-Cola have actually implemented wellness programs and campaigns into their sponsorship activation. People want a ‘pure’ Olympics without giving up any of the added benefits that indirectly and directly come from sponsors.
This is the modern Olympics and we need to accept them for what the modern world stands for – big business. And one last point – do the idealists truly believe that if the IOC ever decided to support their philosophy that Coca-Cola and McDonald's would just disappear and not find creative ways to capitalise on the excitement and coverage surrounding the Olympics?
Moving on to some other quick points:
It seems that many sponsors were late in their consumer facing activation this year. I'm not too quite sure if this had to do with the increasing reliability on social media, but it seemed awfully quiet a number of months ago. My philosophy has always been to start early with the activation so when the Olympics actually do arrive, you have your foundation of people in your back pocket and can make a big splash and true impact.
London 2012 has been dubbed the Social Media Olympics and it's surely been quite the discussion in sponsor conference rooms. I think when we look back on the Games and evaluate sponsors, we'll land on those that integrated social media into their campaigns as opposed to those that created campaigns based on social media.
With our increasing use of mobile apps, I am always surprised how little sponsor integration is present. Beyond a logo and occasional ad in the official London 2012 "Join In" and "Results" apps, there is very little from a sponsor perspective. Of course you want to balance this integration to make it an enjoyable, effective and efficient user experience. This is not only an observation on the Olympic apps, but official sports apps in general. I'd be curious to know if anyone has found a great example in the sports app space.
Whether you are at the Games in London or watching and interacting on any of your screens, I wish you a safe and enjoyable Olympics, with one eye on the sporting performances and the other on the sponsors and ambushers.
By Jared Melzer
Follow Jared on Twitter: @jaredmelzer