Sponsorship
During the 2012 Olympics Games I was influenced by Coca Cola’s association with the games, to make purchases of drinks that my friends and I drunk as we watched the events. Coca-Cola is one of the biggest sponsors of the Olympics, and the brand was very visible during the 2012 Olympic Games in London. This visibility made me relate Coca-Cola to the Olympics, which was the main reason I bought Coca-Cola products while watching the games as I believe that it was the ideal drink while watching such a sporting event. Sponsoring the Olympics made it possible for the Coca Cola Company to gain visibility as positive publicity was created around the brand. The company also enhanced its image, which positively contributed to shaping consumer attitudes towards the company’s products, which, in turn, leads to increased sales of the company’s products - the main objective of any marketing strategy.
Based on the elements of the wheel of consumer analysis, this marketing strategy worked perfectly as it created the desired effect given the activities that were happening around the sporting environment the Olympics created. The Olympic Games fans interpreted Coca Cola’s association with games as an appropriate partnership making Coca Cola’s products an ideal sporting drink.
Sponsorship was an ideal marketing strategy in this case as the Olympic Games are one of the most viewed sporting events in the world. Being associated with it as the main sponsor made Coca-Cola synonymous with the games, and was perceived as the ideal sporting drink or brand for the fans of the Olympics Games. Sponsorship works well for companies as opposed to other competitive strategies like price wars because companies are able to create a rapport with a target audience in the case of the Olympics - sports lovers, this kind of rapport helps to boost customer trust and ensures brand loyalty meaning customer retention. Sponsorships are a good option for companies as they focus on attracting a specific type of customers making it one of the most accurate marketing strategies, which enables companies to focuses their resources to a target audience that is well understood.
