CBC/Radio-Canada confirmed on Monday more than a dozen key media partnerships for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
The partners are Procter & Gamble Canada, Visa, Samsung, Coca-Cola and Panasonic – all worldwide partners with the International Olympic Committee (IOC)—as well as Canadian Tire Corporation, Bell, Air Canada, Suncor Energy and Petro-Canada, and Mondelez Canada (makers of Oreo, Dentyne and Cadbury).
“The marketplace challenged us to demonstrate that we can work strategically alongside marketers to bring their multi-platform campaigns to life for all Canadians,” said Jim Kozak, director of sales, Olympics and sports partnerships, CBC Revenue Group, in a release. This is first time CBC has held the Olympics broadcast rights since 2008 in Beijing. Rights holders must first attempt to negotiate deals with official sponsors of the IOC and then the Canadian Olympic Committee for advertising opportunities during the broadcasts before they can approach other buyers in the open market.
Canadian Tire signed on with the Canadian Olympic Committee in January as a premier national partner, the first time the 90-year-old retailer has had an association with the Olympic Games, said Duncan Fulton, senior vice-president of communications for Canadian Tire and the chief marketing officer for Sport Chek.
“Everything the Olympics’ stand for is so close to our company values that it is the most natural fit in the world,” he said.
Fulton said the partnership with CBC/Radio-Canada is much more than a straight advertising deal. Because many events will be held between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. eastern time, marketers need to be more creative, he said.
“This is going to be the most digital and social Olympic Games ever held,” he said. “In addition to the television broadcast which is still critically important, we did a heavy digital buy with the CBC that’s focused on morning blocks. Everybody will wake up and turn to their mobile device to find out who won medals over night.”
Fulton said they’ve also bought morning ad blocks on YouTube and Facebook. “So when people wake up and go online they are going to see us everywhere,” he said.
It’s also the first time that P&G Canada has sponsored a Winter Games, said Melissa Karis, spokesperson for P&G. In the months leading up to Sochi, P&G will work with CBC across all media platforms to showcase the company’s sponsored athletes and their mothers (the strategy P&G adopted for the 2012 Summer Games) through interviews and appearances.
“As the proud sponsors of moms, P&G will continue to use its voice during the Olympic Games to celebrate and say thank you, to moms of Olympic athletes and moms around the world,” she said adding that the CBC will produce a series of athlete features that showcase the stories of real moms in their child’s journey to the Olympic Winter Games. The stories will air in February.
