DURING the Winter Olympic bidding process John Furlong, the chief executive officer of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, declared his organisation would “walk the Olympic spirit through every door in Canada.”

 

These words have since become the central theme of the Vancouver Olympic Committee’s (VANOC) marketing initiatives.

 

According to Andrea Shaw, VANOC’s vice-president of sponsorship sales and marketing, it is this vision which has stowed up confidence that these Games are financially sound.

 

“I think our biggest asset is the vision of the Games being Canada’s Games,”  Shaw declares. 

 

“We can recall the [1988] Calgary Winter Olympic Games being a great Games but they were very much  [the Province of ] Alberta's Games.

 

"This is different.

 

"This is going to be about Canada.”

 

Shaw says this approach has allowed them to attract some heavy corporate hitters who are shelling out upwards of C$50 million (£24.4 million) to be associated with the Olympics.

 

Budget target nearly reached already

 

So successful has the project been that, with 18 months remaining before the Olympic torch arrives in Vancouver, the sponsorship and marketing team has achieved 97 per cent of its C$760 million (£371.1 million) target.

 

“With this vision we have been able to attract Bell, RBC (Royal Bank of Canada), RONA, and PetroCanada,” Shaw explains. 

 

“They have a marketing mandate right across the country.

 

"Because we see this as a national project they wanted to invest in a national initiative and that is very much what we have developed.

 

“It’s about taking this message out so when we align with partners, who are in these small communities, we garner that penetration.

 

"It allows us to deliver the Olympic spirit into Canadian homes virtually from coast to coast to coast.”

 

When VANOC returned from the [2006] Turin Olympics with the Olympic flag, Furlong personally accompanied it across Canada, delivering speeches in every one of the ten Provinces and three Northern Territories.

 

RBC was the presenting sponsor of the initiative.

 

Longest Olympic torch relay in history

 

Shaw points also to the Olympic Torch Relay which is jointly presented by Coca-Cola, one of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) TOP sponsors, along with RBC.

 

The relay will cover 35,000 kilometres and take in 1,000 cities and communities making it the longest Olympic torch relay ever held in one country.

 

Shaw has attracted Quebec based RONA [Canada’s largest distributor of home hardware with 670 franchises] as a national partner alongside the aforementioned corporations.

 

“RONA has been merging and buying up other companies and they wanted to motivate their employees and demonstrate they are a caring brand,” she explains.

 

“So, to motivate and inspire their employees, they have developed a programme that is very unique.

 

“We have an expression ‘getting games ready’.

 

"When they go to the venues to get the games ready we need people to make that happen. 

 

"They have given all their employees an opportunity to ‘get the games ready.’”

 

VANOC has three levels of domestic sponsorship packages ranging from the national partners to the official suppliers who are contributing a minimum of C$3 million (£1.4 million) for the privilege.

 

Between these levels is the official supporter level which costs a minimum of C$15 million (£7.3 million) to buy into.

 

Controversial ticketing policy and tourism fears

 

In recent weeks VANOC has come under some criticism for its ticketing policies.

 

Fears that corporations will buy up the majority of tickets are invalid Shaw says.

 

Two weeks ago Canadian residents were given first crack at the 1.6 million tickets allocated for the public which is 70 per cent of all tickets available.

 

She also points to the patron programme which is not unlike previous Olympic ticketing initiatives.

 

For the princely sum of C$285,000 (£139,250) a hundred individuals will receive at least four tickets to all the prestigious sports including the men’s and women’s hockey final, speed skating, curling figure skating as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.

 

The money paid into this programme effectively subsidises lower ticket prices through a charitable programme.

 

“Last Friday there was an article in the Vancouver Sun about it and that day we got ten calls and three people brought their cheques,” Shaw reveals.

 

“There are only 100 packages.

 

"I think we are at 12 or 17 [sold]. 

 

"All organising committees have to find revenue streams and this allows us to  fund charitable ticketing programmes which are important to us.

 

“This allocation is a small percentage.

 

"They don't come out of the public allocation of tickets anyway and allows children and people of lesser means to attend the Olympics.”

 

The sponsorship and marketing target of $760 million (£371.1 million) is close and VANOC is confident of achieving the figure.

 

The only worries presently are that the economic downturn might bite into expected tourism revenues.

 

Meanwhile, the Canadian Federal Government and the Government of British Columbia have each committed C$255 million (£124.5 million) towards the operating costs.

 

Television rights fees, which are under the domain of the IOC, are yet to be determined but Canada’s Games are financially on target.

 

The operating budget is estimated at $1.6 billion (£781 million).

 

Ironically, that’s about the size of the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games deficit which was finally paid off 30 years later.

 

While it is easy to compare to the other Canadian Games, Shaw uses the [2002] Salt Lake City’s [Winter] Games as a marker - a Games which saw a surplus of some $52 million (£29.6 million).

 

Paul Gains is a Canadian-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in Time, the New York Times, Toronto Star, GQ and  many other publications around the world. He covered the recent Beijing Olympics for CBC Television and was the athletics news editor for the 2004 Athens Olympic News Service