The 2012 London Olympics Brand Activation Index examines which brands were most effectively activated through their advertising during the Olympics. Based on metrics like social media engagement, searches, and sentiment, Fruit of the Loom won Gold, Nike won Silver, and Chevrolet won Bronze. While Nike slipped to Silver from the first week's Gold, it maintained strong, consistent activation throughout the Olympics. The index methodology measures brand engagement across online platforms both during and after the Olympic broadcasts.

1. By Ted Kohnen, Vice President, Integrated Marketing, Stein + Partners Brand Activation
The 2012 London Olympics Brand Activation Index, Part 2
The games of the 30th Olympiad have come to a Vegas-like close. It seems fitting that I
write this installment of the Olympic Brand Activation Index (OBAI) from London,
overlooking the Olympic rings hung from the Tower Bridge. I’m in town for a Business
Branding Network (BBN) meeting on international marketing and, while the Games are
over, I can still feel the impact of brands that made major marketing investments in them.
My previous post, “The 2012
London Olympics Brand
Activation Index, Part 1: Three
Brands That Took Home Medals
In Week 1,” examined whether the
enormous dollars spent by
advertisers effectively “activated”
those brands. The OBAI is a
measure of brands whose
broadcast ad presence during the
Olympics generated extended and
positive engagement online.
Through week one, Nike, Visa,
and P&G took home the Gold,
Silver and Bronze, respectively, as
determined by the OBAI methodology described below. Today, we share the medal
winners determined by the application of our methodology to the entire 17 days of the
Olympics.
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2. Marketers have come to realize that the real value of a strong television presence at the
Olympics is not realized through 30 seconds of airtime. Even the best spot in and of itself
will not activate a brand. But the right ad can be a catalyst for engagement that ultimately
leads to brand activation. The OBAI looks at that real impact that an investment of
$400,000 per spot during the event has on a brand.
Brand activation is not a short-term proposition. But as the saying goes, “It’s easier to get
to the top than it is to stay there.” The final installment of the OBAI saw two new brands
on the podium and one that has solidly established itself.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the pinnacle of brand activation, the Gold, Silver, and
Bronze medal winners are:
Gold Medal–Fruit of the Loom: Move
OBAI: 9.17
Fruit of the Loom finished just out of the medals in the first installment of the OBAI. But,
like Usain Bolt, it poured on the power in the home stretch. Fruit of the Loom increased
Facebook likes by more than 10 percent in the final week (more than 3 times other
advertisers) and more than 66 percent in the past 3 weeks. The percent of people talking
about the brand shot up 28 percent, while previous medal winners declined. Fruit of the
Loom also experienced a 63 percent increase in interest across Google, while many other
advertisers fell. In fact, this brand’s greatest gains were experienced in the final week of
the games.
Silver Medal–Nike: Find Your Greatness And Fuel
OBAI: 9.07
Nike slipped from the Gold medal spot in week one to Silver–although just medaling is in
honor all should embrace. Nike pivoted from the Find Your Greatness campaign to Nike
Fuel. The result was nonstop conversation about the brand. Of all Olympic advertisers,
the interest in the brand and the campaign stayed strong. While, as a percentage, people
talking about the brand was lower than its peak time in week one, the decrease was less
than all other advertisers. And what people had to say was affirming: Ninety percent of
comments/conversation about the brand and the campaign were positive. Further, Nike’s
Facebook campaign page became a top five traffic driver for the main Web site (Google
being the primary driver).
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3. Bronze Medal–Chevrolet: Chevy Runs Deep/Hundred Years
OBAI: 8.88
Another newcomer to the medal stand, Chevrolet, knocks off P&G’s “Thank You Mom”
campaign. P&G’s week one performance was significantly accelerated/elevated by
NBC’s nonstop montages of moms and dads celebrating their sons' or daughters'
achievements (think Michael Phelps or Gabby Douglas). But in week two, Chevrolet hit
the gas (sorry--pun intended). Chevy experienced a 500-plus percent increase in people
talking about the brand and its compelling “love it or return it” offer. This iconic brand,
which had a slow start when it first launched the offer in early July, drew strong interest
levels throughout the Olympics. Viewers took to Twitter, resulting in hashtag volume that
was greater than Coke, Nike, or Visa.
To add a subjective thought to this math, in looking back over the volume of data for the
past 17 days I feel like Nike probably received the greatest value for its Olympic
investment. Nike’s smart, emotional, and exciting advertising led to the most consistently
activated performance for its brand, with fewer spikes and fluctuations. And that
performance continues to activate the Nike brand.
Next on the Brand Activation Index editorial calendar will be the World Series, followed
by our 2nd annual Super Bowl Brand Activation Index.
Methodology Overview
Search volume measured across Google, Yahoo, and Bing for branded keywords
and key phrases/campaign names of advertisers.
Interest as measured by Google Insight.
Facebook wall volume for all advertisers and percent change pre- vs. post-
Olympics.
Sentiment tracking (percentage of comments that were positive, negative or
neutral.)
Tweet volume and hashtag volume for all advertisers and percent change pre- vs.
post-Olympics.
Measurements taken prior, during and post U.S. primetime broadcast.
Read more: http://www.cmo.com/branding/2012-london-olympics-brand-activation-
index-part-2#ixzz27b1C87by
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