• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, August 7, 2007

With one year to go before the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, sponsors Lenovo and AT&T on Monday stepped up the buzz.

Lenovo, the world's No. 3 PC maker, unveiled a limited-edition notebook PC to auction off online. The Olympic Torch PC, a version of Lenovo's Tianyi notebook line for consumers, is black and red. Decorated in bold colors and graphic designs, the PC inspired by the 2008 Olympic torch celebrates the one-year mark prior to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Auction site eBay will provide the IT backbone infrastructure to power lenovohopefundauctions.com, where the auctions will take place, according to a spokeswoman for the notebook manufacturer. Campaign plans are still being honed, she says.

Lenovo will manufacture 2,044 of the special notebooks, but auction off only 39, autographed by athletes. The remainder will be used by the PC maker for other trade show promotions. Without the commemorative Olympic touch, the notebook retails for $1919.

Marking the six-month countdown to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Lenovo plans to hold a series of week-long auctions that begin Feb. 8 and conclude just prior to the Olympic Games. Each week, consumers will have seven days to bid on a notebook PC with the theme "Cloud of Promise." The event aims to raise money for charities through the Lenovo Hope Fund. The organization will distribute the proceeds from the auction to select philanthropies, including Right to Play.

Some industry experts expect companies to spend more than a combined $30 billion on ad and marketing campaigns related to the 2008 Beijing Olympics--more than 30 times the budget for the 1984 games, estimates Peter Lawless, founder of marketing consultancy 3R, who tracks Olympic sponsorships.

"Look out for the likes of global giants like Google to jump on the bandwagon. Also, companies with less to fear from China will take advantage," he says. "My take on the total spend for the 12 principal sponsors will be between $150 and $200 million each, with tier-two companies spending upwards of $20 million to get on the bandwagon."

Consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates the Olympics will boost ad spending in 2008 to raise awareness for brands. The Internet will continue as the fastest-growing category, rising at an 18.8% compound annual rate, driven by increased online penetration and an expanding broadband market. TV networks will grow by 6.5% compounded annually, with a double-digit spike in 2008 associated with the Olympics in Beijing, according to PwC.

As for AT&T, the company plans to provide the U.S. Olympic Committee with long-distance, data service, audio/videoconferencing, virtual private networks, managed Internet Protocol, wireless and Web hosting. AT&T also signed a deal with China Netcom Group that allows NBC to transmit digital television coverage of the games from Aug. 8 to Aug. 24. The two companies collaborated on setting up a circuit for NBC, which the network will use to broadcast live coverage on "The Today Show" Aug. 8, as part of the one-year countdown celebration in Tiananmen Square.

AT&T has supported communications services in China for more than 20 years. With the Sino-foreign telecom services joint venture in Shanghai and network interconnections agreements with local carriers, including China Netcom, AT&T supports 135 cities and serves 300 multinational customers in China. Look for the company to announce details of its sponsorship for the 2008 Beijing Olympics soon.