Turin 2006 Olympic Games: Analyze Marketing Performance

The Turin games in 2006 were stated to be the most successful and lucrative in the Olympic history in terms of revenue generation in Italy. It generated around €269.8 million. The number of viewership increased to 35 million that surpassed the reach in football (€27 million) and motor racing (€24 million). It changed the facets of the sports sponsorship by including 57 companies and 63 brands across three different tiers, namely, Main sponsors, Official sponsors and Official suppliers.

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Task 1: 2006 Turin Olympic Games Strategic Review
Background/Context
Turin Winter Olympics was held in 2006 in the industrial city and provincial capital of
northwestern Italy, that is, Turin. The Olympic Games were significant in terms of many aspects.
The winter Games was held in Italy after a gap of 50years. The International Olympic
Committee (IOC) is an international, non-profit and independent organization that is responsible
for organizing the summer and winter Olympic games. The IOC is the supreme authority that not
only organizes the games, but also makes and maintains the rules of the games in the Olympics
Charter, membership of countries, participations by the male and female players from the
member countries and maintaining the spirit of the Games (Encyclopedia.com 2019).
In the Turin Olympics, 2,508 athletes participated from 80 National Olympic Committees
(NOCs) and a record number of medals were won by 26 NOCs. Another significant aspect was
that for the first time live video coverage of the Olympic Games was available on the mobile
phones and in 18 countries across 5 continents the video coverage was available. For the first
time, television streaming of the Games was available in Azerbaijan and Mongolia and internet
streaming was higher too. The new participant countries were Ethiopia, Madagascar and
Albania. The funding for the games was around 2 billion Euros. However, the total organization
cost was around 3.5 billion Euros and hence, the extra fund was collected from public funds
(Olympic.org 2019). Although, the games contributed significantly for the growth of the
economy of Turin, yet criticisms came that due to the marketing activities and the games, the
purity of the nature, that is, mountains and valleys were affected considerably for making the
infrastructures and facilities for the games, which left unused once the game was over due to

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huge operating costs and the city was left to bear the burden of the expensive and large scale
facilities (Pastorelli 2016). The IOC was also criticized for not allowing to reuse the existing
Olympic facilities in Albertville, where 1992 games were held. It was not far from Turin event
centers. The organizers were also criticized for ignoring the sustainability suggestions for
making cost effective and eco-friendly, provisional facilities that could be dismantled after the
games.
According to IOC (2019), the fundamental objectives of the Olympic marketing by IOC
are: to generate substantial revenue, which would be distributed throughout the entire Olympic
Games movement that includes all the international sports organizations and committees and to
provide financial support to the emerging countries for sports development; to develop
successful marketing activities and structure along with each of the Organizing Committee for
the Olympic Games (OCOG) that could be utilized in each Olympic Games; to expand the
coverage of the games to increase the viewership across the world; to promote and protect the
equity inherent in Olympic image and ideals; to limit and control Olympic games
commercialization; to create as well as maintain long term and sustainable marketing programs,
and to enlist the marketing partners in the promotion of the Olympic ideals. Similar to other
Olympic games, the IOC followed the marketing activities as per the fundamental objectives.
Key features of the market program
The key features of the marketing programs of the Turin Olympics were to enhance the
brand image of the corporations that were providing sponsorships to the Olympic Games to the
global audience, to increase the sales of the products and services of the sponsors which implies
an increased flow of money in the international economy, to motivate the employees by

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associating them with the great Olympic event; to increase the connection with the communities
and to create legacies in a global backdrop; to create relationships with customers and enhancing
the corporations’ reputation (Viehoff and Poynter 2016). According to Ward (2016), advertising,
public relations, arranging the games, promoting sponsor brands, community development and
legacy creation and developing hospitality services are the key marketing features of the IOC.
Key trends and strategic areas addressed in marketing programs
The marketing programs were highly successful as these took the strategies of
understanding the needs of the functional areas of the organizing committees and accordingly
choosing the sponsors by analyzing the marketplace which could meet the needs of the
committees through goods and services. The marketing department also repositioned the
sponsorships by promoting benefits of four years sponsorships and effective integration of values
and ideals of Olympic Games in the Italian sports market that was dominated by football and
motor racing (Pastorelli 2016).
Integration of various marketing components/programs (e.g. sponsorship, sharing of
revenues, broadcasting and stakeholder partnerships) with overall marketing objectives
Integration of various marketing programs, that is, sponsorships revenue sharing,
broadcasting and stakeholder partnerships were aligned with the fundamental marketing
objectives of IOC. It was seen that the sponsors helped in providing financial support to the
games management committees and to the sports development organizations in the nation, in
staging the games by developing advanced integrated infrastructure that includes transportation,
food and accommodation facilities, electricity, sports infrastructure, advanced technology for
broadcasting the games, and in creating a large scale employment and thereby generating income

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in the community; in supporting the games teams and athletes through promotion contracts; in
promotion of the Olympic games and ideals and improving the global viewership. Thus, it can be
said that the fundamental objectives of the marketing by IOC were fulfilled in the Turin Olympic
Games (Stillmed.olympic.org 2019).
As seen from the IOC Marketing Report – Torino 2006 (2019), the domestic sponsors
provided 100% financial support and goods and services to the organizing committee and to the
national Olympic team. The technology sponsors supplied a major network of 4700 computing
devices, 450 servers, 1800 system terminals and 700 printers that increased the accuracy of
broadcasting of the games to a large number of global viewers. Many global companies
contributed in providing seamless broadcasting facilities and experience. Various companies
provided direct financial support to the Olympic teams for their betterment. Coca-cola, Sanpaolo
and VISA came forward to promote the ideals of the games. Panasonic and GE came forward to
enhance spectator experience.
Key strategic aspects of marketing programs and objectives
The sponsorships and partnerships were established by analyzing the needs of the
Olympic organizing committees and the Olympic teams. At the same time, the fundamental
objectives of the IOC were also considered. The brands were chosen and the relationships were
established with a twofold mission, one is to enable each of the partners to derive value from the
Olympic partnerships and the other is to ensure that the sponsorships support and promote the
values and ideals of the games and the athletes (Bottero, Sacerdotti and Mauro 2012).

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Policy objectives for commercial initiatives and their relevance to marketing programs
The key policy initiatives for commercialization of the Olympics are:
 Ensuring that no advertising or other commercial message is visible to the venue
spectators or to the audience or displayed within the stadiums or on the uniform of any
personnel
 Ensuring a clean telecast by all broadcasters, that is, images of the games should not be
used for commercialization
 The numbers of sponsors and sponsorship programs should be kept limited to prevent too
much of commercialization
 Global category exclusivity is provided to each partner for maximizing support from
minimum partners
 Ensuring that the partners provide goods and services that are compatible with the image,
spirit and ideals of Olympic games (Stillmed.olympic.org 2016)
It has been found that Turin Olympic Games experienced the most successful marketing
activities. The marketing generated the maximum amount of revenue that helped the Italian
sports market as well as the sponsors and also the Olympic committees. The commercialization
happened in a limited manner and the number of audience increased, sales had increased and
infrastructures developed in Turin and in the nearby areas.

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Task 2: Key Performance Indicators and a Communication Plan
KPI development
Objective Direction KPI Benchmark Target Timeframe
To generate
substantial
revenue
Choosing
potential
sponsors by
analyzing the
market
Number of
sponsors and
partners
10 sponsors
and partners
20 sponsors
and partners
6 months
To develop
successful
marketing
activities and
structure
Involvement
of the sales
and
marketing
department of
IOC
Number of
domestic
partners and
sponsors
10 domestic
partners and
sponsors
20 domestic
partners and
sponsors
6 months
To expand the
coverage of the
games to increase
the viewership
across the world
Choosing
potential
media
partners
Number of
media
partners in
all types of
media
50 media
partners
across all the
countries
100 media
partners
across all
countries
6 months
To promote and
protect the equity
inherent in
Olympic image
and ideals
Sponsors and
partners
providing
goods and
services
compatible
with image,
spirit and
ideals of
Olympic
games
Nature of
different
types of
products and
services
20
Companies
that provide
goods and
services
compatible
with the
image and
spirit of
Olympic
games
30
companies
6 months
To limit and
control Olympic
games
commercialization
Achieving
maximum
revenues
from
minimum
sponsors and
partners
Amount of
sponsorship
by each
company
90000 euros
from each
company
1.25 million
euros from
each
company
6 months

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To create as well
as maintain long
term and
sustainable
marketing
programs
Involvement
of the sales
and
marketing
department of
IOC
Amount of
revenue
generated
and increase
in number of
sponsors,
partners and
viewership
Inclusion of
advanced
technology
in marketing
plan and
activities
Use of social
media for
marketing
activities
6 months
To enlist the
marketing
partners in the
promotion of the
Olympic ideals
Involvement
of the sales
and
marketing
department of
IOC
Evaluation
of objectives
and values
of marketing
partners
Enlisting 50
global
companies
with values
compatible
with
Olympic
ideals
Enlisting
100 global
companies
with values
compatible
with
Olympic
ideals
6 months
Communication plan
Aims and objective: The aim of the communication plan is to deliver the measures of
performance to the personnel responsible for implementing the measures for achieving the KPIs
for the Olympic marketing.
The objectives of the communication plan are to make the personnel understand the need
for the KPIs relevant to each marketing objective and to help them to make strategies and
implementing those to achieve the goals of the IOC marketing department in the most efficient
manner.
Key stakeholders: Sales and Marketing department of the IOC, Public Relations department of
the IOC

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Communication strategy: The communication goal is to generate media and influencer interest
for sponsorship and partnership and generate awareness among the stakeholders. The target
audience is the employees of the Sales and Marketing department and Public Relations
department of IOC and the professionals from the potential sponsors and partner organizations.
The desired outcome of the communication strategy is to achieve the benchmark and target
mentioned for the KPIs for each marketing program objective.
Communication tools and channels: The communication plan should be communicated to the
employees of IOC, media and influencers, potential sponsors, and partner organizations. Thus,
both internal and external communication will take place. The IOC will primarily adopt digital
communication tools and channels for effective written communication with the internal and
external stakeholders. IOC will use personalized email and newsletters to send the plan across
the employees and media and sponsors. Once the response comes from the media and sponsors,
they will go for verbal communication through telephone and in-person.
General code of conduct: Under this general code of conduct, all the sponsors and media
partners should have a non-controversial background and history and their values, products and
services and working practices must be aligned and compatible with the values of the IOC.
Hence, a ethical checklist should be filled up by the organizations and that will be evaluated by
the IOC before signing up the marketing contract with those. Any misconduct by any sponsor or
partner companies will lead to termination of contract.
Feedback mechanisms: To understand the effectiveness of the communication plan, IOC will
take feedback from the audience. Thus, after the event, survey for will be sent to the employees,

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media, sponsors, and partner organizations to provide their feedback on the effectiveness of the
communication regarding the KPIs.
Key roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of stakeholders: The employees of the Sales
and Marketing department and Public Relations department will have the responsibilities of
market research to find out the potential sponsors and partners suitable for the Olympic Games,
who would be fit for fulfilling the KPIs and communicating with them regarding the contracts.
The external stakeholders, that is, the sponsors and partners will have the responsibilities for
supplying funding and products and services to the Olympic teams and developing the venues
and other infrastructure. The media will have the role and responsibilities for broadcasting the
games to the maximum number of global audience. All these stakeholders will be accountable
for not violating the IOC marketing objectives while fulfilling the marketing objectives.
Legislative context (e.g. privacy, access and equity, record‐keeping): All the sponsors and
partners of IOC are required to meet the legislative requirements. The information regarding
contracts and funding amounts and contract conditions must be kept confidential under Data
Protection Act. The access to the information will be exclusive to IOC and the partners. The
record keeping will also be done by IOC and the partners. Equity refers to social justice and
hence, none of the parties are allowed to violate the fairness in activities and the legal
requirements must be followed by all.

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Task 3: Turin 2006 Olympic Games: Analyze Marketing Performance
The Turin games in 2006 were stated to be the most successful and lucrative in the
Olympic history in terms of revenue generation in Italy. It generated around €269.8 million. The
number of viewership increased to 35 million that surpassed the reach in football (€27 million)
and motor racing (€24 million). It changed the facets of the sports sponsorship by including 57
companies and 63 brands across three different tiers, namely, Main sponsors, Official sponsors
and Official suppliers. According to the report by Stillmed.olympic.org (2019), the domestic
sponsors were responsible for staging the games successfully. In this Olympic, the Olympic
brand, that is, ‘Celebrate Humanity’, was successfully promoted through Olympic marketing.
There was high appeal and awareness among the audience as the 2006 broadcasting was highly
successful due to the efficient media coverage performance. The Turin 2006 Olympics was the
first activity of the IOC Television and Marketing Services and it generated the highest amount
of revenue in the history of Olympic Games, which helped to spread the Olympic Movement
across the world. It also encouraged the integration of the technological advances into the Games
(IOC 2019).
The success of the marketing activities was reflected in the performance of the sponsors
and partner organizations which helped the worldwide growth of the companies. These
companies contributed in the Olympic movement through the supply of their financial support,
goods and services and promotional support (Olympic.org 2019). The Olympic Partnership,
which is known as TOP, is referred to as the worldwide sponsorship program which provides a
continuous international support for the Olympic Movement. In the Turin 2006 Olympic, the
TOP sponsors used new and innovative ways for supporting the athletes, promoting the Olympic

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ideals and contributing in the event operations for a successful show, which in turn helped in
their growth in the global market. These partners understood the needs of the organizing
committees and repositioned their brands which helped to gather larger viewership in the market
dominated by football and motor racing.
The Turin 2006 Olympics was the most successful sponsorship program in the Italian
sports history as it accounted for 6.14% of the total sponsor expenditure in the economy, which
was considerably higher than the previous Olympic Winter Games Sponsorship programs. It also
accounted for around 1% of the total advertisement expenditure in the Italian economy, which is
35 times more than that for Salt Lake Winter Olympics in 2002. There was a huge increase in the
amount of contribution from the Main Sponsors, which was €40 million, in comparison to the
average sponsorships of €700000 for a football team. Apart from that, the face of the sports
sponsorships and the success measures were redefined from the signage and the recognition for
the benefits of businesses and impact on the economy (IOC Marketing Report – Torino 2006
(2019)).

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