Many of you reading this will have
enjoyed the last few weeks watching people throw themselves off mountains on
sticks or around slopes of sheet ice on tea trays. You may have even religiously
tuned into watch people clean the ice in front of a casserole dish. I will admit
that the recent winter games passed me by, apart from the furore around
Russia
Sponsorship of any Olympic event is
big money and comes with heavy policing. It is a high cost, high stakes
business, undertaken by only the biggest global brands with the deepest pockets.
They often have the most to loose and so the delicate issue of equality is a
headache those brands do not need.
In response to the media and social
backlash, IOC sponsors like Visa, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, Coca Cola and
McDonalds released nice statements about the inclusiveness of the games without
directly condemning the Russian stance.
Other brands that had no link to the
games however went to town. We had Google’s logo changing on the opening day to
include images of the games with the rainbow flag. Channel 4’s “Gay Mountain
You have to feel sorry for the
sponsor brands as they sponsor the games, not the host nation’s political or
social beliefs. But that does not stop the pressure. Closer to home, we have
seen examples of brands prepared to take a strong stand over things that they
truly believe in. Zoopla’s dropping its sponsorship of West
Brom over the Anelka quenelle issue for example. To me that
demonstrates a business that truly stands by its values and fair play to them.
There are no winners or losers here.
The lesson may be simply that all brands need to be satisfied that they are
prepared to stand by their own values. Especially if their activities in some
way mean they could be accused of being compromised. Or at least make sure you
have a plan of how to approach any backlash. Planning will prevent pain in the
long run.
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