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State Grid lights up Olympic spirit

By Lao Tian (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-01 15:36

A year-long effort sponsored and organized by the State Grid Corp of China that solicited creative contributions from Chinese all over the world to celebrate the upcoming Olympics concludes today.

Part of the State-owned power giant's marketing strategy as an official partner of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the promotion attracted more than 450,000 works including stories, pictures, paintings, DVDs and cartoons from 201 countries and regions, some 98 percent of the 205 members of the international Olympic community.

The promotion, which attracted overseas Chinese and 56 nationalities in China, is the first of its kind and one of the longest and largest Olympic marketing events in history.

"The work is the epitome of the enthusiasm of millions of Chinese for the Olympics," said a spokesman from State Grid.

'Best reward'

The activity to solicit creations from Chinese provided a forum to offer congratulations on the world greatest sports event and their pride in the host country.

"Choosing Beijing to be the host of the 2008 Olympic Games is the best reward to the Chinese people who deeply love their country," said a man surnamed Du in Burundi.

"The Beijing Olympics are expected to present the new power of the Chinese nationality," said Tang Ben in the United States.

One man who took part in the torch relay to the top of the Mount Qomolangma sent State Grid his picture with the torch atop the world highest mountain.

Chinese men and women, old and young, at home or overseas, joined the promotional effort.

Anna Chennault, wife of famed WWII aviator Claire Lee Chennault - now 83 years old - wrote from the US that "we bless the Olympics, we bless China".

An American-Chinese wrote a story recalling his pride in his family - including his grandsons and granddaughters - donating money to the construction of the Water Cube and leaving their names on a brick at the venue.

Yao Xiayin, a primary school pupil in Hunan, wrote about her dream on the Olympics in an innocent style.

A State Grid representative said "through the activity, we want to promote links and exchanges and our efforts have paid off".

Media attention

The promotion gained the attention from well-known media outlets including websites Xinhuanet.com, People.com.cn and ifeng.com and newspapers in Hong Kong, France, Britain and Canada.

Well-known figures, including the Chairman of the Tibet autonomous region Xiangba Pingcuo, China's first astronaut in outer space Yang Liwei, sports star Ye Qiaobo, dancer Tai Lihua and comedian Zhao Benshan, all contributed to the effort.

Chinese Olympic history

The Olympics have long been a dream of the Chinese people.

In 1932, Liu Changchun, the only representative of China, took part in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

In 1952, the New China for the first time sent a delegation to the Games for the 15th Olympics in Helsinki.

China returned to the grand sports event in 1984, winning 15 gold medals at the 23rd Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

From 2000, when Beijing failed in its bid for the 27th Olympic Games, to August 8, 2008, the date for the 29th Games to begin in Beijing, the Chinese have continued to support the Games hosted by their motherland.

Through the efforts of State Grid, the world's largest utility company, people have deepened their understanding of the Olympic spirit, its spokesman said.

The most important thing at the Olympics is not to win, but to be involved, the spokesman said, just as the most important measure of a life is not its level of success, but the effort made.

Social responsibility

Soliciting works from Chinese people worldwide is part of Olympic social responsibility, a new marketing strategy put forward by State Grid.

"Through a series of Olympic marketing strategies, we have improved the company's brand value which in turn boosts State Grid's development," the spokesman said.

It opens a new path for building the brands of State-owned enterprises, he said.

The new marketing strategy appears to have paid off. During a recent official evaluation of China's top 500 companies, State Grid was named the brand that has grown fastest among its rivals.

Among the companies, its brand was ranked second in value, joining brands with value exceeding 100 billion yuan.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games one week away are expected to bring the world enormous excitement and glory.