Sponsor Spotlight - Former Rio 2016 Marketing Director Speaks Out; Coca-Cola Earnings

Former Rio 2016 Marketing Director Reacts to Firing

Maggie Sanchez, the former marketing director for Rio 2016, is speaking out about her dismissal.

In a letter sent Tuesday to sponsors and made available to Around the Rings, Sanchez reacted to the organizing committee’s decision to let go of her and two other team members, David Alstadter and Rogerio Ludorf.

"Why the Rio 2016 leadership separated the 3 senior and top performing leaders of the commercial and marketing team at the height of its success and during a critical sponsorship phase is an answer that only your heart and experience can help you individually understand," Sanchez wrote.

Rio 2016 communications director Carlos Villanova told ATR that the reason for the decision was an "incompatibility, a difference in philosophy."

Sanchez reacted to this claim by outlining her team’s guiding philosophies, including "honest, open and fair business practices and communications, seeking to create win – win situations with maximum return on investment for all stakeholders."

The letter ended with Sanchez’s personal reflection on the situation.

"Even though it was only for a short period, we are now part of Olympic and Paralympic history together. Thank you for sharing so generously your gift of partnership and friendship," she wrote.

"One of my favorite quotes from Gandhi is ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’ Change is often the seed of hope. We hope you agree we have demonstrated our willingness to be the change we want to see."

Click here to read Sanchez’sletter.

Coca-Cola Earnings

Olympic sponsor Coca-Cola’s net income is up for the third quarter.

For the three-month period ending Sept. 30, the company’s net income rose from $2.06 billion to $2.22 billion over last year. The beverage manufacturer also reported a profit increase of 8 percent.

Coca-Cola’s worldwide volume grew by five percent in the quarter with 17 percent growth in India and 11 percent in Argentina.

"For a sixth consecutive quarter, we delivered performance results in linewith or ahead of our long-term growth targets," said CEO Muhtar Kent.

"Importantly, we accomplished these results during a time of ongoing global market volatility, which is a testament to our clear and focused system vision, strong brands and solid execution."

Deltatre to Create Olympic Website

The sports media company deltatre will build NBCUniversal’s Olympic website.

NBCOlympics.com will feature the network’s coverage of London 2012 and will be the third consecutive website deltatre designed for the Olympics.

"Watching sports via digital devices is not about just streaming video," said deltatre director Ciaran Quinn.

"It’s about giving the fans a complete experience bring together photos, articles, interactive schedules and detailed, interactive results as well as social aspects and a feeling of community."

Written by Ann Cantrell.

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