• by Karl Greenberg , January 11, 2011

General Motors, an advertiser on NBC coverage of the Olympics since the Sydney summer games in 2000, has inked a new deal with NBC Universal. Unlike the automaker's former programs, which have also involved sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic Committee, its new partnership is a "strictly media" deal.

The program puts GM brands in the network's U.S. coverage of the 2012 London Olympic Games. The deal gives GM exclusive domestic automotive advertising rights.

The General will give its Chevrolet and Cadillac divisions the spotlight in the program from July 27 to Aug. 12 next year. The brands will also be central to NBC Olympic-related programming leading up to the Games and online at NBCOlympics.com.

"Media partnerships like this provide great opportunities for us to spread the word about our newest cars, trucks and crossovers," said Joel Ewanick, GM's global chief marketing officer.

"We opted not to renew sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) after the 2008 Beijing games," says GM spokesperson Ryndee Carney, who points out that the USOC partnership gives sponsors "ring rights" and the ability to do activation on the ground where the games are taking place. "This [new program] is a pure media deal."

Carney adds that GM was also looking for more wiggle room as the automaker's past programs around the Olympics and the USOC had been 4-year deals. "We were looking for more flexibility -- an ability to adjust marketing plans. Also, in 2008 things were starting to not be so rosy for us from a business perspective."

Chevrolet will likely use GM's Olympic position to promote a car it introduced this week at the Detroit auto show. The automaker will start making the new small four-door sedan, Sonic, later this year, which is also the 100th anniversary of the Chevrolet brand.

The Sonic fills a vacant lineup in Chevrolet's portfolio below Cruze, a spot inhabited by Aveo. The car will compete in a segment of the market that high fuel prices shocked back into life last year and one that has received new blood with vehicles like Ford Fiesta, Honda Fit.

BMW, which last summer signed a six-year deal with Team U.S., is now "Official Mobility Partner" of the USOC through 2016.