Peter Shankman discusses that brands need to be visible at the Olympics in order to compete on a global scale. This conversation was framed around the RIO 2016 games and bespoke the controversy surrounding health concerns with the ZIKA virus and sanitation issues plus the political instability and economic crisis that Brazil was facing during that time.
Automatic Transcription
Peter Shankman: Brands have to be there. They don’t have a choice. It is one of those places where they simply have to be, and there are talk up to $4 billion and the point that Maggie Lake made about them going into China for the next 12 years, if they can secure something this year in the next 16 days, it will carry them into a market that they’ve had a hard time reaching.
CNN: Well, you say brands have to be there. Do brands have to be in the middle of a Zika epidemic, a political crisis, a corruption scandal, uh, and an Olympic games it’s really seemed, uh, if not doomed, at least shadowed from the very (start).
Peter Shankman: Well, it is very shattered and, and, and studies have shown, uh, a company called Mindshare, uh, monitored, social media, and found out that, uh, we were talking more about the Olympics of 2012 in London than we are about Rio and that the sentiment has been negative.
But now that the games have started. And now that it turns to the actual act of sport versus the buildup, when there’s no sport on the screen, when there’s nothing to watch, what are we looking at? We’re looking at drama. Oh, there’s Zika. There’s uh, uh, the, the Olympic stadiums aren’t built yet corruption.
You know, that’s easy to talk about once the Olympic sports start and then you start having a metal count and then it’s country versus country. There’s going to be someone who’s going to break a record and there’s going to be something by a quarter of a millionth of a second, right? That’s the stuff that matters.
And that’s the stuff at Nike and Adidas and, and yeah, UnderArmour and all these, Red Bull, and all these brands, that’s the video they’re gonna use for the next four years. That’s what’s going to show in their stores. You know, the, the logo with the Olympic logo is going to be very, very popular and powerful for them.
If one of their athletes can break a record or can get some five seconds of great video. Now, keep in mind also they’re up against a lot of rules, specifically rule 40 from the Olympics committee that says. By the way, none of that stuff that, that we show you can’t turn it into photos. You can’t turn it into videos.
You can’t turn it into GIFS, the little graphical, uh, interface format, uh, that that’s all over the web. They, they could potentially not only lose the sponsorship for next year, but you have to give back their metals if they do that. So there are a lot of rules, but it’s still a global brand and a global place to watch.
CNN: You know, some of those rules are extraordinary when you think about it, because if you’re a brand that isn’t an official Olympic sponsor, you’re not even allowed to use the word Olympics. Publicly communicating with your athletes, communicating with the people who you’re giving money to where your shoes or your t-shirts, the Olympics games, guard, those sponsorships and that real estate, very jealously.
Peter Shankman: What’s fascinating is that not only do they guard it, but it seemed well, it seems incredibly draconian, which it is in a lot of ways. You know, if you notice, if you’re not an official Superbowl sponsor, you have to say the big game. So this is nothing new, but the, the banning of GIFS, that’s, that’s a little much because the fact of the matter is you’re not going to be able to do that. They’re not going to go and shut down sites like Reddit or IMGUR. That’s just not going to happen. So they have to say it, but I’m not, I’m not. So, you know, there’s a very funny troll account this morning that, uh, the Pope, uh, on his Twitter account wished all of the athletes good luck and a troll accounts set up and said, uh, you know, you’re, you’re Excellenc you’re violating rule 40, please refrain from saying anything. It was very funny. So, you know, they’re going to get mocked for that. But at the end of the day, again, you’ve got brands who are making a billion dollar plays here in exchange for the next 12 years of pure content.
About Peter Shankman
Peter Shankman is a worldwide influencer and spokesperson for brands across the globe. He is a 5x best selling author, entrepreneur and corporate in-person and digital keynote speaker, focusing on customer service and the new and emerging customer and neuroatypical economy. He is available now for virtual keynote speaking opportunities. Peter’s virtual keynote talks are engaging, inspiring, and full of real-world ideas and practices that companies can immediately implement to build their business and increase their revenue. Take a look at his speaking reel, and then reach out to find out how he can skyrocket your next event.
