International Olympic Committee Marketing Report Rio 2016 Case Study

This case study analyzes the marketing strategies employed during the Rio 2016 Olympics, drawing upon the International Olympic Committee Marketing Report. It examines the application of the 6Ps of marketing (Product, Price, Promotion, Place, People, and Performance) providing specific examples of how each element was implemented during the event. Furthermore, the study identifies six key sponsorship assets utilized during the games, highlighting the contributions of corporate partners like Coca-Cola, Atos, Bridgestone, Dow, GE, and McDonald's. It also explores activation tactics used to leverage these sponsorships, such as Coca-Cola's commemorative bottles and Nissan's automotive partnership. The case study concludes by discussing the Olympics' contribution to the experience economy, noting the positive spectator experiences, increased broadcasting revenue, and the overall impact on the Brazilian economy and brand image. The report references various sources to support its analysis, providing a comprehensive overview of the marketing and sponsorship strategies behind the Rio 2016 Olympics.

INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE MARKETING REPORT RIO 2016
6Ps’ of Marketing of Rio Olympic 2016
Marketing theory is strategic and complex as it involves a different theoretical framework with
reference to practice and real-life examples. 6P's of marketing is a framework that puts emphasis
on 6 different parameters majorly responsible for the success or failure of the marketing strategy
of a business or an event (Kotler, Burton, Deans, Brown & Armstrong, 2015). These items with
reference to Rio Olympic 2016 are briefly mentioned herein:
Product: The sports events are themselves may be considered to be product offering in the given
case. Moreover, the additional service in terms of viewing and broadcasting and supplementary
service such merchandise may form of the product line of this event.
Price: The price of the ticket was designed efficiently so that all types of viewers from different
income group may buy the product. More than half of the tickets were available at R$70 (USD
22) and the cheapest tickets were available at R$40 (USD 13) approximately.
Promotion: the event was promoted heavily in social media and physical campaigning
nationally. In addition, the Rio 2016 PIN collection initiatives attracted a substantial number of
visitors to the program.
Place: The place was Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where the program was held in the year 2016. The
event was organized in 37 venues across the nation.
People: More than 11,000 athletes participated in the event. 36,000 volunteers also participated
in 161 countries. A total number of visitors to Olympic.org was 26 million which was more than
double than that of 2012 Olympic held in London.
Page 1 of 4

Performance: The event was financially sound and earned revenue from broadcast rights, TOP
program marketing rights primarily. $5.6 billion revenue was projected as per the given report.
6 Sponsorship Assets of Rio Olympic 2016
Under the Olympic Partnership Program (TOP), different corporate houses came to support the
mega event. Coca-Cola joined the program and their Olympic park was experienced by 180,000
visitors with 500 million impressions in social media for their campaign for Rio 2016. Atos was
IT partner with monitoring of almost 400 IT security events. Bridgestone created an Interactive
Fan Zone with more than 7,000 visitors therein. Dow, provided infrastructural support to almost
20 projects and approximately 2.2 million tons of GHG were reduced. GE, on the other hand,
extended their hand to provide technical service and additionally medical service was also
extended by way of creating 1,500 plus MRIs, Ultrasounds and X-Rays diagnostic segment by
GE's diagnostic equipment. McDonald's, lastly, acted as food partner and served 50,000 meals
to athletes through on-site restaurants ("International Olympic Committee Marketing Report Rio
2016", 2019).
Activation Tactics of Rio Olympic 2016
Activation of marketing rights was strategized in such a manner that the marketing partners were
allowed to communicate their association with Rio 2016 by way of Olympic symbol and Rio
2016 brand. Coca-Cola, for example, effectuated visually stunning activation through
commemorative gold aluminum bottles, PIN trading and retail experience. Other partners, such
as Bridgestone was also granted activation rights in different countries including Brazil itself to
promote the event at a large scale. Nissan, being official Automotive Partner of the Olympic
Games Rio 2016, was provided additional activation to advertise the company’s technologies
Page 2 of 4

and the recently-launched Nissan Kicks along with Rio 2016 event. On the other hand,
sponsorship activation was conducted through inviting proposal from Government and different
corporate houses through a phased out manner (Zimbalist, 2017). Also, the world witnessed
unprecedented social media activation on real-time basis. Bradesco Seguros Group undertook
promotional campaign that featured TYV commercials, radio broadcasting and digital activation
as well which reached to an audience of almost 30 million people through Facebook and
YouTube.
Olympics: as Contributor to an Experience Economy
Big sports events like Olympic always contribute substantially towards the growth and
development of the national economy. Rio 2016 was also no exception to the same. As per the
report, almost 82% of the Brazilian spectators surveyed said that their viewing experience was
better than expected and rated their enjoyment as 9.5 out of 10. Such a positive experience
helped the government to gather revenue through ticketing and sponsorship which, in turn,
contributed towards the growth of the Brazilian economy. Broadcasting of the event was
undoubtedly one of the greatest initiatives by the management committee and the Brazilian
government in an effort of providing visual experience of the event to the world. The revenue
from broadcasting increased substantially from $1.2 million in the year 1960 to $4.1 billion in
Rio 2016. Also, in terms of support by way of IOC contributions, Rio 2016 has been phenomenal
and an approximated amount of $1.50 billion was projected for the purpose which is
considerably more than that of London 2012 with $1.38 billion. Also, the brand image of the
Brazilian economy was built across the world (Tang & Cooper, 2018).
Page 3 of 4

References
International Olympic Committee Marketing Report Rio 2016. (2019). Retrieved from
https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/Games/Summer-
Games/Games-Rio-2016-Olympic-Games/Media-Guide-for-Rio-2016/IOC-Marketing-
Report-Rio-2016.pdf
Kotler, P., Burton, S., Deans, K., Brown, L., & Armstrong, G. (2015). Marketing. Pearson
Higher Education AU.
Tang, T., & Cooper, R. (2018). The most social games: Predictors of social media uses during
the 2016 Rio Olympics. Communication & Sport, 6(3), 308-330.
Zimbalist, A. (Ed.). (2017). Rio 2016: Olympic Myths, Hard Realities. Brookings Institution
Press.
Page 4 of 4