Oddbins’ latest in-store promotion comes hot on the heels of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) chairman Sebastian Coe saying visitors to the Olympics “probably wouldn’t be walking in with a Pepsi T-shirt because Coca-Cola are our sponsors”.
Clearly the Locog brand police, under the instruction of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has got a little overly protective of its sponsors due to concerns of guerilla marketing. Furthermore, the guidelines on the wording companies can use to take advantage of the event has got the goat of Oddbins.
The high street off licence has launched an in-store promotion that Oddbins managing director Ayo Akintola has called a “marketing counter-strike in defiance of the labyrinthine restrictions placed on businesses by the Olympics’ legion of brand guardians”.
The tongue-in-cheek promotion includes a 30% discount for Nike-wearing, Vauxhall-driving, RBS MasterCard- holding, iPhone-using, British Gas bill-paying, Pepsi-drinking, and KFC-eating consumers. All of which are not Olympic sponsors.
Oddbins is also running window displays highlighting that it is not allowed to refer to the Games in its marketing, as a two-finger salute to the restrictions and a welcoming arm over the shoulder for those feeling marginalised by the Olympics.
Chris Lightfoot chief executive of branding agency Whitestone International says: “You’ve got to admire this kind of clever use of the marketing guidelines as part of a smart campaign that doesn’t break the rules.”
However, Lightfoot adds there is conundrum of genuinely protecting the commercial interests of sponsors that provide vast amounts of funding to build and nurture sports, and the brand perception of the Olympics.
Lightfoot says: “There is a sense that the purity of sport and commercialism conflict, but you can’t stage such a large event without the money to do so. If you support a football club, there is an interest in protecting their commercial interests so the club can buy better players, etc. But there is no such affinity for the IOC.”
Furthermore, Lightfoot says the combination of this and the public’s perception that sporting bodies like the IOC are corrupt and privileged, adds to the public feeling marginalised.
Oddbins has tapped into this and aligned itself with these Olympic naysayers, and it’s clearly worked, with much comment on Twitter and website traffic surging by 22%.
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