Every two years that global extravaganza called the Olympic Games alternates between summer and winter sports. Next in line is Vancouver which will host the XXI Olympic Winter Games between 12-28 February 2010, costing the city in excess of $1.5 billion.
Over the weekend, Tyler Brûlé reckoned in the Financial Times that Canada is wasting an opportunity to re-brand itself to the world, using the Olympics as a communications platform like Sydney and Barcelona successfully did. Would-be Canadian Prime Minister Michael Ignatieff, on the other hand, seemed to have read Mr. Brûlé’s mind, writing in a New York Times Magazine article the day before that Canada is not looking to put its own brand at the centre of these Olympics as that would be un-Canadian.
But like it or not, this is the first truly social media Olympics. A digital footprint of these games will be left for eternity on countless Facebook pages and Twitter streams. It is the first time that athletes, hailing from more than 80 countries, will be tweeting their experiences from the sidelines while spectators share their experiences in real-time, uploading photos and videos, documenting every Olympic second for their friends and family back at home.
Possibly the biggest marketing tool Vancouver has for these Olympics, therefore, is to simply show its guests — the thousands of athletes and tourists who will descend on the city — a great time. Real people will be the biggest ambassadors and communicators for this Olympic games, not reporters or television anchors.
And, despite the presence of rules for on how social media can be used, communication will be tough to control. Tweets will spread like wildfire. Doping scandals will be reported instantaneously. News will get out fast, whether the city or the Olympics organisers want it to. Indeed, CNN reported this weekend that athletes are already confused about what they can and cannot say on Twitter and Facebook.
Source : http://www.businessoffashion.com/2010/02/the-fashion-trail-vancouvers-digital-olympics.html
Over the weekend, Tyler Brûlé reckoned in the Financial Times that Canada is wasting an opportunity to re-brand itself to the world, using the Olympics as a communications platform like Sydney and Barcelona successfully did. Would-be Canadian Prime Minister Michael Ignatieff, on the other hand, seemed to have read Mr. Brûlé’s mind, writing in a New York Times Magazine article the day before that Canada is not looking to put its own brand at the centre of these Olympics as that would be un-Canadian.
But like it or not, this is the first truly social media Olympics. A digital footprint of these games will be left for eternity on countless Facebook pages and Twitter streams. It is the first time that athletes, hailing from more than 80 countries, will be tweeting their experiences from the sidelines while spectators share their experiences in real-time, uploading photos and videos, documenting every Olympic second for their friends and family back at home.
Possibly the biggest marketing tool Vancouver has for these Olympics, therefore, is to simply show its guests — the thousands of athletes and tourists who will descend on the city — a great time. Real people will be the biggest ambassadors and communicators for this Olympic games, not reporters or television anchors.
And, despite the presence of rules for on how social media can be used, communication will be tough to control. Tweets will spread like wildfire. Doping scandals will be reported instantaneously. News will get out fast, whether the city or the Olympics organisers want it to. Indeed, CNN reported this weekend that athletes are already confused about what they can and cannot say on Twitter and Facebook.
Source : http://www.businessoffashion.com/2010/02/the-fashion-trail-vancouvers-digital-olympics.html
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