The Industry Column – 14th October

Ryan Jones, senior account executive at Weber Shandwick Sport, looks at the necessity of delivering a well organised Olympic Games to boost its legacy after the troubles at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Regardless of how well the home nations have done in the Commonwealth games, can anybody say that these games will be remembered for anything other than the myriad of issues surrounding athlete safety, the village and attendance levels?

This calls into perspective the importance of preparation and planning, not only to deliver a well organised games, but to continue to deliver benefits long after the closing ceremony.

In the lead up to the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games there’s been lots of talk about an Olympic legacy, although the definition of the term differs depending on who you speak to. I would define the Olympic legacy as the long term benefits that come with being a host nation, and I stress the word nation. The three areas identified by LOCOG (the organising committee for the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games) that define the legacy are sports, social and economic growth, and in order for the legacy objectives to be achieved Lord Coe et al need to ensure that there is a real national resonance of benefits before, during and particularly after the games.

Major, multi-national brands would not be signing up to be key tier one sponsors if the exposure and coverage would not be valuable to them. Weber Shandwick has now launched an Olympic Marketing service to ensure that all of our clients have their interests promoted before during and after the games. The scale and nature of these organisations are extremely wide ranging, but all aim to ensure that attaching their messaging to the Olympics is beneficial in terms of positioning and, of course, bottom line return. This rings true regardless of where the organisation is based geographically.

Similarly, the governing bodies of all Olympic sports know that the games will give their discipline exposure to a whole new generation of potential athletes. In terms of raising participation levels and challenging the wider public to change their lifestyles, the Olympics offer an event with the potential to transform British sport.

But what about the rest of the legacy statement? As with the points raised earlier, in terms of awareness raising, it is easy to see how such a widely watched event would aid in the first two, but how will the games develop economic growth outside of the host region?

Quite simply, the entire country stands to benefit from the Olympics. The last Olympic Games took place in Beijing and still managed to have a positive impact on the UK economy. Consider that in the wake of the 2008 games in Beijing, sales on a wide range of sporting goods rocketed, thanks in no small part to the performances of athletes such as Sir Chris Hoy and Rebecca Adlington. As part of this ‘Beijing Bounce’, as it came to be known, sales of racing cycles jumped up 36 per cent in one month.

Given the number of cycling stores across the UK, ranging from small independent retailers through to nationwide chains such as Halfords, another successful outing by Team GB Cycling could see another spike in what is already an extremely popular participation sport. Multiply this effect by every sport (particularly sports such as swimming where GB is likely to excel) and it’s easy to see how retailers nationwide can benefit from increased sales revenue.

Participation in sport also has a number of knock on effects across the nation. There are a number of national governing bodies based outside of London, such as our client the England Handball Association in Salford, that are aiming to be the number one legacy sport of a home games. If these associations can grow their member base and increase their funds, just as British Cycling did in the wake of Beijing when citing their “highest membership numbers in 40 years”, then the UK could end up with a wealth of world class National Governing Bodies.

There is no doubt that, as the Commonwealth Games did in Manchester in 2002, London will inherit some fantastic sporting facilities in the wake of the games. This will create a new generation of future stars and shine a light on some of the lesser known sports, offering young people that are often left uninspired by mainstream sports, the chance to try something new and stay active.

Let’s not forget that a number of events will be hosted outside of the capital. The football tournament is one such event which will roll out away from the capital, allowing the games to have a tangible presence in communities across the UK.

The stadium most local to our office, Old Trafford, has been chosen as one to host a number of football matches, but will this have any kind of legacy attached to it? One would argue that hosting football matches at Old Trafford would do nothing to aid the legacy, given that the overwhelming majority of people with an interest in football (and otherwise, one assumes) have heard of Manchester United.

The matches, however, may prove a great revenue driver for both the club and the various service industries within Manchester that support the sports industry in the city (accommodation, shops, bars, public transport etc) during football’s off season. Multiply this by the five other provincial stadiums hosting games, all of which have a fairly even geographical spread, and it becomes fairly plain to see how the regions directly benefit.

LOCOG have done a superb job so far and I have every faith that the games will be a fantastic spectacle, but the real work starts the day after the event in making sure that all of the invested money and effort makes a tangible difference to Brits from London to Liverpool and beyond.

If we can grow sports sector businesses across the land, we can convince more major events to select Britain as  host nation and get a whole new generation involved in sport then there will be no doubt as to what the legacy of the games is.