The Johnson & Johnson pavilion on the Olympic Green during the Beijing Olympics. (ATR)(ATR) A new defection from the shrinking group of worldwide Olympic sponsors: U.S. medical products giant Johnson & Johnson.
The company has told the IOC that it will not renew its sponsorship past the Beijing Olympics, meaning the firm will drop out after less than three years in the program.
Johnson & Johnson was already a national sponsor of the Turin Olympics when in it announced in 2006 that that it would step up to a worldwide sponsorship. But the deal was unusual, only through Beijing. TOP sponsorships generally are based on a four or eight year cycle.
When the sponsorship was announced, a J&J executive said it would take its new relationship with the IOC “one step at a time.”
The IOC marketing program has been hit with a series of withdrawals in the past year, including Kodak, Lenovo and Manulife.
Beginning in January, Panasonic will take over Kodak’s digital camera category. Acer has signed on for the computer category held by Lenovo.
Finding another firm to replace J&J, the world’s largest in the medical products category, may be difficult for the IOC, which is now down to nine sponsors for Vancouver and London. The IOC has said it hopes to have 10 or 11 sponsors for 2010-2012.
No formal statement on the J&J decision has been issued by the company or the IOC. IOC President Jacques Rogge (left) with J&J executive Brian Perkins at the signing ceremony for the TOP sponsorship during the Turin Olympics. (ATR)
Olympic branding and marketing expert Terrence Burns of Helios Partners told Around the Rings he believes the company wants to focus its efforts.
"Johnson & Johnson obviously did a great job in Beijing. Their decision not to renew TOP may be a reflection of their desire to be more targeted on a market by market basis than a broader, globally-focused marketing platform,” he said.
If that is the case, the company could still become a national tier sponsor for Vancouver or London, at costs far less than the $70 to $80 million needed for a worldwide Olympic sponsorship.
The TOP sponsors remaining for Vancouver and London include: Acer, Atos Origin, Coca-Cola, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Samsung and Visa.
The IOC hopes to raise about $1 billion from sponsors for 2010 to 2012 and is believed to be less than $100 million from that goal.
Written by Ed Hula
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