Lloyds Tsb Unveiled As First 2012 Sponsor
As expected, Lloyds TSB has been confirmed as the first top-tier sponsor to sign
up to the London 2012 Olympics taking the banking category in a reputed £80m
deal.
Lloyds TSB had been tipped to take up the sponsorship for the last few months
after rival bank HSBC pulled out of the running and the other financial services
firms could not meet the asking price.
London 2012 organising committee LOCOG had originally set the cost of each
top-tier category deal at £100m but is believed to have forced into a cut-price
deal with Lloyds TSB after the financial services categories were split into two
– retail banking and insurance.
The division of the categories, which came about after International Olympic
Committee global sponsor John Hancock Financial Services stated it was to
withdraw its commitment after Beijing 2008, meant that financial services firms
either had the choice of paying a combined £200m for both or take one category
and face the possibility of non-exclusivity among 2012 financial sponsors at a
domestic partner level.
The partnership is effective immediately, giving the Lloyds TSB Group
exclusive access and category marketing rights to Team GB and Paralympic GB for
Beijing 2008 and Vancouver 2010, as well as exclusive category marketing rights
for London 2012, including use of the new London 2012 brandmark which will be
launched later this year.
Lloyds TSB will also work with London 2012 on the sale and distribution of
tickets for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games when they go on sale in 2011.
Lloyds TSB will use its partnership with London 2012 to focus on two key
areas: youth and bringing the Games to the wider community with a range of
partnership programmes in both of these areas will be developed over the coming
months.
Using cutting-edge technology, LOCOG and Lloyds TSB are working together on a
programme of live sites, including big screens and performance spaces that will
connect communities up and down the country with the Games.
Lloyds TSB plans to integrate the sponsorship into all of its businesses and
the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be closely aligned with its
brand campaign, ‘For the journey…’.
The sponsorship will also complement the group’s existing community-based
corporate responsibility programme. Since formation in 1987, the Lloyds TSB
Foundations have made grants totalling over £300 million to grass roots
charities throughout the UK.
As well as retail banking and insurance, London 2012 is concentrating on
finding top-tier sponsors in the following categories – oil and gas, utilities
automotive, telecoms, sportswear, and airline, with LOCOG hoping each deal will
bring in £100m.
The oil and gas category is expected to be the next sponsorship contract to
be announced with BP seen as the frontrunner according to media reports.
A second-tier of sponsors, primarily made up of value-in-kind deals, are also
expected to bolster LOCOG’s coffers.
London 2012 has come under increasing pressure to clarify its budget with
media reports constantly escalating the cost of staging the Games – the latest
reports claiming that a £10bn budget is likely to be the end sum, over four
times the amount laid out in the initial bid.
The government is due to make an announcement on the new budget figure within
the next few weeks but any upwards revision of the current £2bn costs could see
the targets for domestic sponsorship rise from the existing goal of £750m.
