Abstract
London is the only city in the world to host modern Olympics three times. 2012 London Olympics is considered to be the most successful Olympics ever in terms of management, economic success, and environmental stewardship. However, other cities in the UK are catching up. One of the major problems London may face while bidding for a game is from Londoners who may not be willing to host another Olympics game in quick succession as this will disrupt daily life and negatively impact the Londoners. However, in almost all other aspects, London is better positioned than its competitors, such as Birmingham, Leeds, and Manchester. London’s GDP is almost seven times of that of Birmingham, nine times of Leeds and ten times of Manchester. London has a culturally diverse population. The infrastructure of London is superior to its competitors. Crime levels and pollution may be some of the weaknesses of London over its competitors but its strengths, such as the long history of hosting successful games in the past, strong economic power, diversity, existing infrastructure and connectedness with all parts of the world make it the strongest contender among other cities in the UK.
History and Background of London
London is the only city to host the Summer Olympics three times; 1908, 1948 and 2012. London is also the only city in the United Kingdom to have hosted Summer Olympics (Buttaffaro, 2012). London has a 100% record in a bid to win process of the Summer Olympics.
Figure: London Olympics 1908 (left), 1948 (Middle) and 2012 (Right) (Buttaffaro, 2012)
1908 Summer Olympics was the fourth modern Olympics. It was originally scheduled to be held in Rome, but due to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius the venue was shifted to London (Buttaffaro, 2012). London did a fabulous job of hosting the Olympics even with a less than two-year notice. London hosted the first Olympics after World War II, 14th overall. 59 nations participated in the games. In 2012, London hosted the 30th Olympiad, which is largely considered as the most successful and well-organized summer Olympics ever (Buttaffaro, 2012).
Market Strategy and Analysis – STP
Marketing London as an Olympics hosting city is not difficult. It already has the reputation of hosting the greenest Olympics ever. The budget for 2012 Olympics was also one of the lowest ($10 billion compared to $40 billion for Beijing Olympics and $16 billion for Sydney)
(Balencourt, 2012). London can be projected as a melting pot of culture, technology and a city that can lead the green initiatives of International Olympic Association (IOC) by example.
Olympics committee gives great value to cultural integration and green initiatives. London can showcase its great historical and cultural heritage (Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace etc.) and its ongoing green initiatives to get an edge over other cities (Balencourt, 2012).
Manchester may position itself as a sports loving city and Birmingham as a city with great economic value, but London can showcase itself as a city that has everything. London is the most well-connected city among its competitors. London is directly connected to 180 international cities, compared to 35 cities connected from Leeds, 70 cities from Manchester and 90 cities from Birmingham (Balencourt, 2012).
SWOT Analysis
PESTLE
Politically and legally, London may face more issues during the bidding and hosting processes as the city is more politically active than other cities. Cities, such as Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds may face fewer legal and political issues as the local authorities may be willing to bypass certain rules just to obtain the Olympics hosting rights.
Figure: GDP and GDP per capita of four UK Cities (Great Britain City Census, 2015)
Economically, London is miles ahead of its competitors. It is the only city in the UK to have the economic strength to host a large international sporting extravaganza like Summer Olympics. The estimated budget for a typical Summer Olympics games varies between $20 billion and $40 billion (Balencourt, 2012). Most of this money is either gathered from private sponsors or from the taxpayers of the city. With a total GDP size of $114 billion (Birmingham) or below, it is not possible for other cities to spend this amount of money (Great Britain City Census, 2015).
Figure: Population Diversity of four UK cities (Great Britain City Census, 2015)
Technologically, London is superior to its counterparts. London is the only city in the UK to have the availability of all kinds of public and private transportation (rail, river, flight and bus). Additionally, other infrastructures such as Wi-Fi and accommodation capabilities for incoming tourists and athletes are better and diverse (cheap to super luxury options available) in London (Buttaffaro, 2012).
Competitor Analysis
London is a sports-loving nation with huge experience in hosting not only three Olympics but also several international mega events. On the other hand, Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds have no experience of hosting international events that require planning a huge budget over several years.
As discussed above, London is better than its competitors in terms of economic capability and existing infrastructure. London is also well-connected to other parts of the world. London has a stellar history of hosting multiple Olympics games with a huge success.
Marketing Mix (4Ps)
Price: One of the aims for Olympics is to generate positive economic activity in the host city. London has already shown to the IOC that it can host an Olympic under $10 billion budget (Balencourt, 2012). This price point has since become a global benchmark. London can position itself as a city capable of hosting a game that will result in more positive economic outcome than negative impact.
Positioning is a difficult proposition. In fact, this is one area where London may face problem compared to its competitor cities (Balencourt, 2012). As London has just hosted one Olympics in 2012, Londoners may not be willing to support another Olympics in London in immediate future as it will have huge economic as well as social impact. Hosting another international game event will severely disrupt the daily life of Londoners as new construction in preparation for the mega event will upend a lot of regular operations (Balencourt, 2012).
Promotion is a tactic that may work for other competitor cities, because Birmingham, Leeds or Manchester knows that hosting an Olympics event can significantly improve the image of the city, thereby improving the future economic activity (Balencourt, 2012). This will help the
References
Balencourt, A. (2012). City Marketing: How to promote a city?. Umea School of Business. Retrieved on 9th June, 2016 from <http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:560181/FULLTEXT01>
Buttafarro, Jr. (2012). London- The World’s City. London Olympic Committee. Retrieved on 9th June, 2016 from <https://delucajv.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/rebranding-london.pdf>
Great Britain City Census. (2015). UK Local Open data Index. Retrieved on 9th June, 2016 from < http://gb-city.census.okfn.org/>
