Advertising, Public Relations, and the 2008 Beijing Olympics



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Advertising, Public Relations, and the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Introduction

For the marketing experts, the Olympics of 2008 weren't just a global sports event; they were actually about building a super brand called 'China'. For decades, the Olympic Games have helped reshape the future of the host country, and they did the same for China. On July 13, 2001, after Beijing won the bid with a majority of votes from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the government invested heavily to improve its infrastructure and facilities. At the same time, efforts were made to create a positive image of the country by the help of advertising and public relation firms (Ong, 2004).

While China celebrated the winning of the Olympics bid, other nations, especially the US, were apprehensive of the selected country. China had the global image of being a country with a poor human rights history and there were widespread doubts about fulfillment of freedom and peace ideals required by the Olympics Charter. Hence, the role of a public relations firm was severely critical in this regard.

Discussion

Analysis of Hiring of a Western Public Relations Firm

Public relations (PR) can be called the thorough marketing system of a product. As defined by the Public Relations Society of America, the role of a public relations firm is to, 'build mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.' (www.prsa.org). Hence, in the case of the Beijing Olympics, the hired public relations firm had to make sure that China benefitted from the stakeholders and vice versa. The key point to be focused on was the polishing of the country's image. This is because the image is a macro-level variable that greatly influences attitudes of global audiences and also affects the purchasing behavior towards the country's products or brands (Kang & Yang, 2010). Moreover, China's awareness amongst the world and maximizing the number of sponsorships were also dependent on the public relations firm.

After the embarrassing protests against the torch relay in London, Paris and San Francisco, China decided to hire a foreign public relations firm to help clean out its image (Walker & Batty, 2008). Many PR agencies were interviewed after which the European account was won by Bell Pottinger while Weber Shandwick Worldwide (WSW) was chosen to handle the regions of America and Asia (Lepper, 2001). These Western PR agencies were hired because the Chinese government believed that these companies were better equipped to handle the global communication platforms than national ones. This would also cause the United States' criticism of China's selection as the Olympics venue, to die down. To handle a global event that required global expertise, China chose agencies that fit the description well.

Assessment of Protesters and Activists

The prime reason why protesters and activists target mega events like the Olympics is because they can take control of and use these already established platforms for their own motives. Since a large amount of money has been spent on these forums, there is no ...