5 examples of Olympics marketing centred around London 2012

There has been a lack of Beijing Olympics inspired advertising in the UK. McDonald's decided not to run Beijing related advertising and there has been surprisingly little Beijing related activity. What noise there is seems to have been around TeamGB and TeamGB athletes rather than general ads invoking the 'Olympic spirit' and 'magic of the games':

Rebecca Romero UK gold winning cyclist in provocative pose for a Powerade TeamGB poster

However London 2012 advertising is already starting to appear with the the London 2012 logo in widespread use. Here are 5 examples of London 2012 advertising:

1) London 2012 booking media space to wish Team GB good luck in Beijing:

London 2012 poster wishes TeamGB good luck (note the nice summer sky)
+ London 2012 good luck message to TeamGB also in newspapers

2) Coca-cola Olympic bottles carrying London 2012 logo in the UK:

Coca-Cola using both Beijing 2008 and London 2012 logos on their Olympic bottles

3) LTSB have started running London 2012 Olympic promotions like the local heroes initiative and are offering limited edition 2012 Visa cards.

Lloyds TSB have already started running 2012 promotions and are using their version of the London 2012 logo

Visa themselves are also running activity - sponsoring the handover party + a Visa sponsored bus driving around London:

4) BT are responsible for providing all communications services for London 2012 and are sponsoring taxis with this message:

BT are sponsoring taxis and liverying them with London 2012 logos and Olympic themes

5) London 2012 have launched a YouTube channel to promote the Visa handover party

The London 2012 YouTube channel encouraging uploads of changeover party video

There is also an active London 2012 website and a London 2012 blog. The feelgood factor for 2012 is rising and after this weekend's gold rush the Olympics are now front page news in the UK:

Front pages from today's UK papers

Though Time Out are trying to stimulate debate and public interest by being controversial!

Time Out's front page carries the headline '2012 Olympics Event Cancelled'

This weekend once Boris Johnson has collected the flame, Leona Lewis has performed and David Beckham has finished kicking footballs into the Beijing crowd, then I think people in the UK will start to get really excited - I'm looking forward to seeing more London 2012 activity over coming weeks and months!

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