Ambush Marketing, College Basketball, Crisis Management, MLS, Miami Herald, NBA teams, NHL, New York Times, Olympics, Washington Post

Can Vancouver The Brand Be The Biggest Olympic Winner?

There has been much talk about Lindsey Vonn’s suggestive Sports Illustrated cover, Stephen Colbert’s great sponsor play, “The Flying Tomato” worrying about snow, Heather Mitts being a klutz and the Jamaican Bobsledders missing the cut, but can Vancouver the city and the region be the biggest winner in this year’s Winter Olympics? The coming events have not had the hype or hysteria that others Olympics have had, probably because of the lack of big name American stars and less promotional dollars, as well as the fact that this will be the first Olympics since the crash of the financial markets. The Winter Olympics are also never the huge casual fan draw that the Summer Games are, but they are still the first Games in North America since Salt Lake City, and may be the last ones for some time to come.  So can a city known for its beauty and with a well established resort as a host (Whistler) find a way to push itself into the consciousness of the American sports fan, the global sports fan, and with that the branding and event world with a successful games? Could the region be a great example as to how established areas, in addition to emerging ones like Sochi for 2014, use the Games to grow and thus justify all the cost spent competing to host a global competition?

Vancouver has its Canucks of the NHL, and therefore should really own and embrace all things hockey west of the Rockies, and that includes most of the Western United States.  The closest NHL team going south is in San Jose, California, leaving a huge expanse of a branding market for the Canucks to embrace.  There is Triple A baseball, no hoops, and the CFL, but no really discernable sports presence for such a cosmopolitan city.  It has a growing Asian population, and it has an incoming MLS franchise that can mirror the success that the Sounders have had in Seattle. It has the rich skiing tradition of its resorts and a very temperate climate, but still gets lost in the mix of North Americas great cities, for sport and otherwise. Yes its far from the hub of media attention in the east, but it also has a vibrant film and television production community, and it can be a gateway to the Far East for brands looking to grow and expand. So with no huge favorites or media stories jumping forward, can the city put itself as the focus for the world for over two weeks, as opposed to just the athletes?  can the stories turn into the beauty of the venues (depsite the issue with snow) and the possibilities for expansion for major events? Can American brands visiting for the Games realize that Vancouver itself may be a great place to stage other large scale events that can bring global awareness, and can sporting organizations look to the city and place it on the map of cities to be consisered when the Games leave Vancouver? Will hockey and otheter look to a successful competition and realize that maybe this huge expanse can be a link for another  future franchise or major event plan, despite the fact that the NBA Grizzlies failed here?

The justification city planners make in competing for the Games is for that “Halo effect” afterwards, the five year spillover in tourism and potentially other events.  That is why, especially in the Winter, the Olympics go to smaller or emerging cities rather than large metropolitan areas. Vancouver is actually a hybrid…metropolitan area with great potential to grow.  If it works it could be a model for other hybrid bids going forward.  If it works, Vancouver could enter into the mix when any franchise or event is looking for a new landing spot going forward.

Some other good reads…Wired Magazine has a great piece on the Olympic athletes confusion over social media guidelines…the New York Times has a great business column on skateboarder Tony Hawk…the Washington Post’s John Feinstein has a good profile of Univ. of Maryland men’s basketball coach Gary Williams…and the Miami Herald has a good piece on all the behind the scenes technology needed to stage a Super Bowl.