spreading jam

With the Olympic games fast approaching, many marketeers are still left wondering how to associate their brands. Jam’s MD Alex Miller speaks to Brand Republic about the impact of social:

In 2010 we had the first social media Olympics, in Vancouver, where the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) eyes were opened to the huge opportunities on the platform. It also realised the seemingly impossible task of policing the Olympic Charter across the social web.

The IOC has since issued guidelines, outlining clear clauses to warn off non-sponsor brands. For example: ‘Participants are not permitted to promote any brand, product or service within a posting, blog or tweet on any social media platform or on any websites’.

Rather than try to bend the rules across traditional desktop platforms while competing with other brands, the real opportunities for non-sponsors lie in social mobile.

With an extra 2.5m people coming to London, many of them smartphone users, how can brands take advantage? Geo-location apps will go crazy with the influx of users looking for deals in London; recommendation apps and sites will direct people to special events or businesses. Mobile social networks will boom, creating a pool of people for brands to talk to.

The volume of unofficial content generated via mobile will present a real challenge for the IOC. If brands are smart, it could be a way to associate themselves with the spirit of the Games without breaking any rules.

You can view the full article here. We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.