The old saying "mind your p's and q's" gets a modern renovation this summer for the 2012 Summer Olympics Games in London with something more along the lines of "mind your posts and tweets." There is only 98 days until the Opening Ceremony in London on July 27th and by being dubbed the first "social games," it presents extra baggage that must be looked after.
The Olympic Summer Games are one of the most popular sporting events in the world with an incredible global reach of people vying for national pride. The Olympics are extra special because it is a culmination of 4 years of hard work where results may end up coming down to the difference of mere seconds.
Aside from the athletics, the Olympics are a huge cash cow for the host city and the business within the area. Advertisers, of course, want to be a part of this event that brings eyeballs to TVs in every country on the planet. With a steep price tag of $15M (£9.3B) to put on these events it is no wonder the International Olympics Committee (IOC) charges big bucks to let brands promote themselves. Reports show that for a 4 year stint of having the rights in a given industry with Olympics affiliation, companies are expected to pay roughly $100M. Brands like Coca-Cola and McDonald's control their markets (beverage and restaurant, respectively) for the 4 years leading up to the Summer Games.
Social media has forced advertisers and the IOC to take a completely new approach to govern its advertising policies. It has become a lot easier since 2008, when Facebook and Twitter were still in beginning stages compared to where they are at now, to share thoughts, photos, videos you name it, with the world via social media. Companies expect to have their brands highlighted throughout the Olympics Games with the price they pay, so seeing other brands, thus affiliating themselves with the Olympics, would be unacceptable. It was easier in years past with the control of TV and print advertising, but not so much anymore with the power of social networking sites.
The way it works is IOC will be policing Olympic related content on social media, so everything from athletes to fans and their interactions with each other. Athletes are not allowed to post pictures with logos on Facebook or tweet about brands unless those brands are an Olympic sponsor. For example, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, 3-time gold medal winner in Beijing in 2008, would not be able to take a picture of himself with a Pepsi and tweet it because Coca-Cola is a sponsor and that would be a violation of contracts. Same goes for another athlete talking about how great Reebok shoes are on Facebook, but with Adidas as the sponsor the athlete would not be allowed to share it.
Athletes are used to sponsorship loyalty and can be briefed on such policies throughout the games by their management teams, but what about for the average spectator? Surprisingly IOC will patrol social media outlets for spectator photos for unaffiliated brands. Under the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act of 2006, formal commercial promotion of these brands not affiliated with IOC was to be banned. The problem here is that the act was meant to ban formal commercial promotion, but the Act is so vague that even sharing a family photo from the Olympics with friends on Facebook has the potential to be a violation of the law.
This summer is sure to be successful especially as the first "social games." The interaction between athletes, fans, and reporters will be unprecedented with incredible angles that will be seen and heard like never before. The only black cloud hovering over this event will be the uncertainty of the social media freedom determined by the IOC.