Big Japanese sponsors of the Tokyo Olympics, earlier this month, privately called for the Games to be postponed for several months (possibly to next year, or at least to September or October this year) so that more spectators can attend the mega event and marketing campaigns can be monetized for at least some worthwhile ROI.
The proposal was made to organisers by some key sponsors in early June, amid growing frustration and unease among the 47 Japanese companies that have collectively paid more than US$3 billion to back the Games in Tokyo.
The Games, undoubtedly the most heavily sponsored sporting event in history, have been facing negative feedback in opinion polls that show as much as 80 per cent of Japan’s citizens saying they want the Olympics cancelled or postponed.
The Games organizers, with now barely 6 weeks to go to the inauguration, however seem determined to go ahead with Olympics despite the on-off Covid emergencies in many parts of Japan, abysmally low levels of vaccination, and the most likely scenario of empty spectator stands. For Japan US$21 billion are at stake, besides Japan’s global reputation and years of tireless preparation.
There’s been several dilemma facing marketers in the sports sponsorship area over the past decade. Brands have become wary of sports stars, clubs or leagues who’ve found themselves in controversy — whether that be failed drug tests, drink driving, polarising points of view, betting and salary cap scandals, or other on-field or off-field issues.
Conversely, some sports stars, clubs or leagues have become more wary of the brands and companies they associate with, as increased scrutiny abounds over those companies’ corporate social responsibility efforts, or the categories they operate in become less socially acceptable.
For brands sponsoring sporting entities, the positive is that sponsorships can quickly drive brand awareness of new or little-known products and services — Etihad Stadium and Qudos Bank Arena, to name two. They can also work well from a brand-fit point of view: IGA Supermarkets’ many local community sponsorships, for example; or to drive sales, KFC’s long-running integrated sponsorship of cricket.
On the other hand, sponsorships have created reputational issues for some brands. The Transport Accident Commission’s deals with the Collingwood and Richmond football clubs in the mid to late 2000s were terminated after players were charged with drink driving, and Magellan ended its sponsorship with Cricket Australia over the ball-tampering scandal.
Similarly, many brands associated with Tiger Woods decided to end their partnerships with him following his scandal-plagued years in 2009 and 2010. Yet Nike stuck with him. And still does. “It doesn’t matter how many people hate your brand as long as enough people love it,” Nike founder Phil Knight said.
Despite the advantages of sports sponsorship, Tokyo 2020 Olympic anxiety leaves Japanese sponsors counting the cost. Toyota last month acknowledged public “concern” and said it was worried that “some people’s frustration is directed towards athletes”.
With under 50 days to the start of the event, their advertising campaigns should have been running in fourth gear by now. Instead, most sponsors have been quiet ever since the Games were postponed last year. Akio Toyoda, chief executive of worldwide Olympics sponsor Toyota, expressed frustration earlier in the month with the slow progress in controlling Covid-19 when asked about the pandemic.
“This is a serious emergency situation that requires crisis management,” Toyoda said, speaking as head of Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association. “The reality is that we are still in a period of anxiety and dissatisfaction.” Toyota, and others in the sponsor line-up, don’t really know whether to advertise or not.
The overall sentiment is negative. Yet, if they don’t advertise now, when will they?
Advisers (many of them my old colleagues from Dentsu, now retired, but still highly esteemed in sports circles) have been roped in to figure out if the sponsors should start using references to their Olympic association and embrace some of the Olympic imagery in their advertising before the current aperture too is wasted. He added
Analysts are counseling that the references or visual deployment be kept to the minimum because of the dark mood that continues to prevail in the host country. Research agencies Kantar, Macromill and Intage too have been engaged to gauge the public mood towards Olympic linked brand advertising.
The dilemma is very real – companies had hoped to raise their brand value by sponsoring a major once-in-four-years-event global sporting event. But in reality it has become impossible to actively promote the fact that they are sponsoring the Tokyo Olympics.
Interestingly, the dilemma is so real that most Japanese sponsors have created two campaigns and will take a last minute call on which creatives to run depending on how matters pan out over the next six weeks. Everyone is waiting with bated breath: the fond hope is that the opposition to the Games may begin to ebb. If it doesn’t, the fear is that flaunting an Olympics association may actually hurt the brand’s image.
Some brands are trying nevertheless. Asics, the Olympics kit partner of the Japan team has started putting up displays at their stores, as well as in other prominent locations. The communication is predominantly BTL with actual jerseys on display, but most ATL is currently on amber mode.
Asics did run a commercial but relegated the Olympics rings to a brief fag-end appearance in the TVC. Meiji, the milk and chocolates company, a big Japanese sponsor, too has put out a fresh campaign but the creatives have no Olympic referencing.
The positive news for marketers in the sports sponsorship space is that they have as much information at their fingertips as their consumers do, to weigh up these dilemmas and make appropriate decisions. The trick going forward is to be aware that social sentiment can swing quickly, and to have thought through the risks and scenarios.
There is no doubt the right sponsorships are still an effective marketing channel for certain brands. Marketers just need to be ready for the ever-increasing scrutiny of today’s media and consumers, who have higher and higher expectations of people, brands, companies and sporting organisations doing the right thing.
