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Let the Olympic Hype Begin

Olympic sponsors like Coca-Cola and McDonald's are celebrating the start of the one-year countdown to the opening ceremonies with marketing initiatives intended to break through the Olympics ad hype. Coca-Cola took over about one-third of the bus shelters in Beijing in what it called "the biggest outdoor advertising presence ever seen in China." McDonald's announced, along with new menu items and ads aimed at Chinese consumers, an international competition for children to win trips to the Games.

A report last week from Group M, the media buying division of the WPP Group, underlined the importance of the Beijing Games to the global advertising economy. China is set to take over from the United States next year as the biggest source of growth in global ad spending. Although the United States remains a much larger advertising market over all, China will account for 24 percent of new spending worldwide, compared with 20 percent for the United States.

Even while China gains ascendancy in new ad spending, a recent dispute about a joint venture between Groupe Danone of France and its local partner in China, the Wahaha Group, has raised concern among some Western companies about a rise in Chinese nationalism, perhaps linked to the Olympics. Even as the Chinese prepare for the international scrutiny the Games will bring, international marketers are honing their local credentials.

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