With less than a month remaining before the opening ceremonies for the Rio Olympics, CBC says advertiser interest has surpassed that of its most recent Summer Games coverage in 2008.
Jean Mongeau, general manager and chief revenue officer for CBC/Radio Canada’s media solutions unit, told Marketing the public broadcaster experienced “sustained growth” in client interest in the two years since the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
“Individual advertisers want to invest and see the opportunity to be associated with our coverage and all the platforms we’re providing to a greater degree than you would see for the Winter Games,” said Mongeau.
Mongeau said more than 15 major partners have committed to the Rio Games. He said all of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) sponsors made commitments to participate, though some would utilize only standard commercial inventory as opposed to more costly integrated sponsorships.
The broadcaster also pledged to make standard inventory available right up until the eve of marquee events. “We always want to make sure we hold back inventory for these moments that need to be seized as we’re rolling out through the Games,” said Mongeau. He said the ad load would also reflect the Games’ reputation as a premium property.
“We’re not lining this up at 14 minutes of ads per hour as you would see in the rest of our schedule,” said Mongeau. “We try to make it so that the content experience as well as the advertising push is a balanced one.”
Mongeau said the value of the property enabled CBC to hold the line on rates. “The value proposition is in line with what we saw in Sochi,” he said. “Advertisers are seeking two things: The environment and the audience that we’re providing, but it’s also about the creative things we’re putting on the table.”
Adam Mitchell, CBC’s associate director of sports marketing, said CBC had seen growth in the number of large-scale advertiser integrations, with 11 major programs ranging from profiles of athletes to a partnership with Visa that includes undetermined events featured in virtual reality on a daily basis.
Other confirmed programs include Mondelez’s “Pride & Joy Podium Pursuit,” which will invite viewers to login nightly to answer questions about the day’s Olympic events for a chance to win prizes.
CBC is also showcasing the RBC Training Ground program, a five-year, three Olympics partnership designed to help Canadian sports officials discover the next generation of Olympic athletes.
The program will spotlight athletes from four geographic regions (the west and east coast, Ontario and Quebec) as they travel to Rio for what Mitchell called an “acclimatization experience” showing what it means to represent their country on the international stage.
“The market is shifting, and the demand is there for creative integration that allows brands to really communicate a message to their audience in an authentic way,” said Mitchell. “We got into their businesses to understand what their objectives were and mapped out where they played to ensure they each had ownable white space that allowed them to flex their marketing muscle.”
Other integrated programs include Petro-Canada’s “Face to Face,” that showcases young athletes who have received a grant through the company’s FACE (Fuelling Athlete and Coaching Excellence) program and brings them face-to-face with past and current Olympians.
In addition, an unnamed Canadian Tire-sponsored content series will profile what Mitchell described as the “real, heartfelt and most memorable moments” from the Games.
While the host city has attracted a spate of bad press in the months and weeks leading up to the Aug. 5 opening ceremony, Canadian advertisers have been attracted to the Games by what is widely considered to be one of its best ever teams for a Summer Games.
Canada had 18 podium finishes at the most recent Summer Games in London, but some pundits are predicting the 2016 team, particularly in marquee events like track and field, is poised for greater success in Rio.
Earlier this week, head coach Peter Eriksson said the Rio team was the best to represent Canada at the Summer Games, led by the likes of sprinters Andre De Grasse and Brendon Rodney.
Elsewhere, golfer Brooke Henderson has climbed to No. 2 in the world rankings and has to be considered a medal favourite as the sport makes it first Olympic appearance in 112 years.
“We’re not going to put a number out there, but there’s a high level of confidence that this is one of the best Summer Olympics teams that Canada has fielded in recent history,” said Mitchell.
As is customary, much of the media attention in the lead-up to the Games has focused on the litany of problems in the host city, highlighting concerns over everything from the Zika virus, to the readiness of the Olympic venues and Rio’s infamous crime rate.
“We can always count on news to do a great job of carrying us to the Olympics,” said Mongeau with a laugh, noting that a recent CBC event for Olympic sponsors held in Studio 43 at its downtown Toronto broadcast centre featured slides of the media coverage leading up to recent Games that were “filled with gloom and doom stories on all fronts.”
Mongeau said any concerns about the host city have not filtered down to marketing partners. “We have not had any advertisers say to us ‘This is a disaster and I don’t want to be associated with it,’” said Mongeau, who predicted the narrative would switch to the athletes’ performance when the Games begin.
Mitchell, meanwhile, said the media coverage leading up to the games is following a “pre-game script” that has accompanied all recent Games, from Athens to Sochi.
“The reality is that Rio is not a stranger to hosting massive events, including [2014’s] FIFA World Cup,” said Mitchell. “We believe they will host a phenomenal games, and the really exciting thing for our partners is that over the past month or so, we’ve really started to see the tide shift towards a more positive story that is about our athletes.”
