Even before Sunday’s closing ceremonies in Rio, Bell Canada had declared its Olympics sponsorship a medal-worthy success and signed on for another eight years.
The telecom has extended its partnership with the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) through 2024. Bell is a longtime corporate supporter of the Games, having first signed on as a national partner in 1999.
Loring Phinney, Bell’s vice-president of corporate marketing, said the Olympics continued to provide the brand with a mass, national reach that’s difficult to achieve with other properties.
“The eyeballs we can secure during the Olympics on broadcast and social are exponential. We know Canadians in the millions stay connected to the Games and have an affinity for it,” Phinney told Marketing.
Nearly 24 million Canadians tuned in to the opening weekend of the Rio Olympics, including 13 million for the opening ceremonies alone. In the first 10 days of the Games, 86% of Canadians tuned in to some type of coverage either via CBC‘s broadcast, or online at CBC.ca. While ratings for the Games declined in the U.S., they continued to draw large numbers in Canada.
Team Canada’s strong performance at the Games has helped hold Canadians’ attention. Phinney also praised media coverage of the event, saying outlets have found compelling stories to tell about individual athletes, which has in turn kept Canadians interested in cheering the athletes on.
“When you get into that medal a day environment, which is what we’ve had, there are great stories,” Phinney said. “Canadians, more than ever before, have found themselves connected to [athletes like] Damian Warner as a decathlete.”
Bell created a 60-second brand spot that ran on broadcast throughout the Games. The company also took out several print ads congratulating individual athletes in their local markets in Postmedia-owned papers and ran a retail campaign featuring five Olympic athletes.
On the ground in Rio, Bell ran a lounge at the Canada Olympic House where Canadian athletes and their families could mingle, relax and watch broadcasts of competitions. The brand also provided more than 1,200 Canadian athletes with Samsung phones to stay in contact with teammates, coaches, friends and family throughout the year.
Beyond the reach of the Games, Phinney said Bell was impressed with the COC’s commitment to mental health – a key area of focus for the company. Since the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Bell and the COC have partnered on a program that sees athletes talk to students in schools about mental health. The brand’s main spokesperson for its “Bell Let’s Talk” campaign is former Olympian Clara Hughes.
Bell also sponsors the Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Photo (l-to-r):Tricia Smith, president of the COC board of directors, Olympian Clara Hughes, Bell Canada CEO George Cope and COC CEO Chris Overholt at the announcement of Bell’s extended partnership with the COC in Rio. Credit: COC
