BIZCHINA> Review & Analysis
Milking it
By Liu Jie (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-14 11:19

Olympic promotion

"Absolutely, we spent heavily on our Olympic sponsorship, nevertheless it is less than the public estimates," says Zhang. "And we believe it is worthwhile. It will enhance the Made-in-China image on the international market."

According to Pan, the company, founded in 1993, won the sponsorship due to its high quality and high-profile brand.

"The minimum entrance sponsorship fee for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is 130 million yuan," says Pan. "During the bidding, though a competitor bid 360 million yuan the organizing committee chose us because of the high quality of our products and brand," says Pan, who adds that that Yili paid 140 million yuan for its sponsorship.

The company's relationship with the Olympics goes back to the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games when it supplied the Chinese Olympic team with ice cream and also sold its wares at stadiums.

However, the experience wasn't successful because Yili's name didn't stick with consumers at the time, Zhang admits. He says that Yili was very young and immature at marketing and brand building at the time. "But we have grown up and have confidence to get what we want this time," he says.

Paris-based market study house Ipsos has carried out a tracking survey since October 2007 on Olympic-themed marketing initiatives by both Beijing 2008 sponsors and non-sponsors. It ranks brands in line with Sponsorship Performance Indexes (SPIs), including sponsor identity recognition, sponsor voice, wrong recognition, sponsorship fitness, brand image and enhanced willingness to purchase.

According to the fourth edition released early March, Yili's SPIs reached 30.7 and were boosted from the previous edition's fourth to third. Meanwhile, Mengniu has become the first non-sponsor of the 2008 Beijing Olympics to force its way into the top five with a rating at 28.9.

"Yili is facing a particularly tough battle in the months ahead, with Mengniu's focused approach clearly beginning to pay dividends partly to a popular national program 'Around the cities', a multi-city skills contest," says Jia Yanli, deputy director of Ipsos's public affairs research department.

Mengniu's ambush marketing strategy seems to be working, and Yili should be more focused, she suggests.

Still, Zhang says the Olympics will be a turning point for Yili in the international market.

Park Seung Ho, president of the Korea-based non-profit economic research house Samsung Economic Research Institute, says that the Olympics have historically provided a method for a variety of Asian domestic companies to become global brands.

"(Japan's) Sony did, (Korea's) Samsung did, and I think Yili can do it, given its current strength, promising market and brand recognition," Park says.


(For more biz stories, please visit Industries)

   Previous page 1 2 3 Next Page