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Riding high on Olympics marketing strategy

By Xiao Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-08 11:16

China's hosting of the Olympic Games is the realization of a dream. For Bank of China (BOC), sponsoring the Games not only helps promote its brand both at home and abroad, but also improves the lending giant's corporate culture.

Olympics sponsorship is an important part of the company's long-term marketing plans. Combining public relations (PR) with the Games is a part of BOC's internationalization.

After joining the World Trade Organization five years ago, China is now opening its banking industry to international competition from global banks - which Chinese banks still lag behind since most local lenders are focused on Chinese clients and are not completely familiar with international standards.

But BOC is developing sophisticated marketing and PR to better compete, and the Games give it an opportunity to promote itself in front of the world.

The strategy is part of BOC's Olympic marketing plan implemented over the past four years, which includes advertising, media cooperation, sponsorship of sports competitions and athletes, event marketing and activities held among its staff.

As a partner of the Olympic Games, the bank knows it is important to promote new products and services created for the Olympics and strengthen the impact of its brand through cooperation with the media.

In January 2006, BOC and the People's Daily overseas edition began a special column in which overseas Chinese expressed their good wishes for the Olympic Games, enabling Chinese from all over the world to take part.

Other influential media organizations cooperating with BOC include China Daily, Financial News and Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po.

On CCTV, BOC acquired the name rights to the programs My Olympics and Who'll Host the Beijing Olympic Games? in which the bank combined brand building with promotion of the Olympic spirit.

Charitable efforts

Serving the public and meeting social responsibility are listed as BOC's priorities throughout its entire Olympic marketing plan.

A 2007 BOC report reflects the 100-year-old financial institution's concern over its corporate social responsibilities, which is also an important part of its Olympic marketing plan.

The report says that BOC views it as a great honor and duty bound to serve the Olympics.

To convey the concept of a "People's Olympics", the company has organized a series of non-profit activities including an " Olympic tour of the little ambassadors of 56 Chinese ethnic groups" in April that offered children, most of them disabled, the chance to visit Beijing.

The sponsorship shows BOC's support for the Paralympic Games and the disabled in China, BOC President Li Lihui said at a news conference.

Its effort is in keeping with the concept of the Beijing Paralympic Games -"transcendence, equality and integration", he added.

In addition to funding the tour, the bank also helped children have opportunity to feel the Olympic torch personally and realize their dreams.

When the earthquake hit China's Sichuan province this May, BOC quickly raised more than 123 million yuan in donations of funds and materials.

With 500,000 yuan, the company bought the gold medal, which the world No 1 men's badminton player Lin Dan won at the Thomas Cup. The money went to the earthquake-hit region through the Red Cross Society of China.

At the 2008 Olympic Economy Forum in June, BOC announced it will support schools in Sichuan, building "Champion playgrounds" for children in disaster-hit areas.

Corporate culture

Building up a good corporate culture is another Olympics benefit for the bank.

To popularize the Olympic spirit, BOC has established a special leadership and held a series of Olympic-related activities, including soliciting Olympic marketing ideas and slogans among its staff of 200,000. The month-long effort collected over 4,000 slogans and more than 300 marketing ideas.

Selection of torch relay members and Olympic volunteers has further sparked BOC's interest in the Olympics, selecting Olympic torchbearers from its staff as far back as May, 2007.

In addition to financial profit from the Olympics, BOC has another benefit in improving its services, Xiao Gang, chairman of Bank of China, said at the 2008 Olympic Economy Forum.

Some 22,000 BOC workers are now directly serving the Olympic Games, among whom 1,300 are working at sports venues.

While sponsoring the "Good Luck Beijing" pre-Olympics test events, BOC also helped foreign guests learn more about China's financial policies, regulation and services.

Personal growth

Serving the Olympic Games has also brought opportunities to personal career development among BOC's staff.

The company has offered training opportunities for all the 230,000 Olympic workers and brought the concept of creativity in its human resource management.

The bank established a human resource database for Olympic financial services, collecting information on its staff's talent and foreign language abilities. At the same time, it also held contests to raise the overall service level of its staff.

About 400 volunteers have been selected from its overseas branches to help at the Games. Training was also offered to better serve the Paralympic Games.

Olympic marketing has become a core concept for the staff to strive for Olympic quality, according to the company.

The experience is expected to help maintain BOC's competitiveness.

Brand building

Brand value has become a crucial factor affecting the customers' choice of banks, experts say.

With a hundred years of history and an extensive service network around the world, BOC has established good will as a long-standing financial service provider.

In line with the Games, BOC has branded its corporate culture with the Olympic spirit of "Faster, Higher and Stronger".

The exclusive Olympics banking partner, BOC will display its abilities, further raise its position among local banks, extend its impact overseas and accelerate the internationalization of its brand, according to a statement from the bank.

In 2006, Business Week ranked the top 20 Chinese brands for the first time. BOC was second on the list with a brand value of $10.29 billion.

The company is considered among the most successful corporations in the Olympic marketing, according to the 2006 Olympic marketing report released by the China Brand Research Institute, with its brand popularity increasing 2 percent and its reputation by 15 percent that year.

In a survey that conducted by China Business and Beijing Dina Research Institute last March in seven Chinese cities, BOC is the third most popular Olympic brand among consumers.

In a survey of social responsibilities of Olympic sponsors released by people.com.cn in February, BOC ranked second among all corporations and top among Chinese corporations.