Marketers' efforts to grab a piece of China's 2008 Olympic Games have begun in earnest--and they're beginning to set new standards. For example, tradition calls for category exclusivity for most
sponsors. There is usually only one credit-card sponsor, one wristwatch marketer, etc., allowed to put its brand on the Games. Not this time. The 2008 Games already boast three official beers:
Tsingtao, Yanjing and Budweiser. "One beer cannot cover all China," says Liu Jun, deputy director of marketing of the Beijing Organizing Committee, or Bocog. China's huge number of beer drinkers and
the fragmented market justified the triple play. Plus, each beer company has established a different target audience. "Our point of view is this is the first time China will conduct the Olympics,"
says a Tsingtao representative. "We believe it is a great thing that many Chinese brands and businesses are able to participate." Beer marketers are not the only ones already in the game. The
23-year-old Olympic hurdler Liu Xiang is now appearing in ads for Visa, Coca-Cola, Yili milk, Nike, and China Mobile cell phone services.
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