Nick James asked:


How many goose bumps did you get when the Olympic bid announcement was read out, citing London as the victorious city for hosting the 2012 Olympics?

Let me tell you that I was shaking with emotion when the result was read out. It was such an exhilarating feeling.

Though, after the celebrations drew to a close, I decided to take took a closer look at the winning bid. “Why was it so successful?” I asked myself.

After collecting and putting all the pieces of the bid together, I’m convinced that there were two strategies used that any one of us can borrow and apply to effective use in getting our advertising messages to be super responsive.

The first ‘Master Secret’ was the use of a ‘CELEBRITY’ to spearhead the campaign.

It’s true that the Olympic bid was somewhat spluttering mid way through its campaign and something was needed, something drastic was needed in order to lift the flagging feeling of the bid.

Enter -(Lord) Sebastian Coe.

You may or may not remember the 800, 1500 meters and the one-mile battles that happened between Coe, Cram and Ovett in the early 80′s. Now, THAT was compelling viewing!

With that pedigree and history behind him, introducing Coe as the main ambassador of the bid, was a touch of genius. It gave credibility and a unique tie in to what the games were all about.

With hindsight or not, it’s fair to say that the London bid wouldn’t have had the same sparkling result if it were left to the politicians and other ‘dignitaries’ to lead the challenge.

Reason?

They’re not OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST CHAMPIONS! And… most are not ‘favourites’ with the general public.

So, how can you and I use the idea of a CELEBRITY to boost our response in the market place?

Well, all we need do is find a ‘Coe Comparative’ in whatever field we’re doing business in.

Say we’re a local butchers and we want to promote our new range of quality meats that have a certain zing and flavour to them. Something that just isn’t available anywhere else in the local area.

How about getting the editor of the local paper to be in the promotions saying something like, ” Geoff Swan of The Local Gazzette Swears He’d Never Buy Meat From Anywhere Else Than Blah Blah Butchers… The Meat’s Just Too Tasty, Just Too Succulent and Just Great Value!”

When everyone else’s shouting ‘we’ve got cut priced sausages’, you’re wading in there with a ‘glamour’ promotion that the likes of which many customers would never have seen before.

And that means… interest and… custom, plenty of it!

That tie in with a celebrity alone will draw in the customers. But, couple that with great offers, warm and friendly service and a continual communication, it’s possible you’d dominate the local area in pretty quick time.

Or, say you’re a local solicitor trying to get new clients, why not do a promotion that says something like, ” Nancy Kwan of The Chinese Gourmet Cook in Henderson Road Had Her Legal Problems Solved in Double Quick Time By Joe Blow Solicitors.”

Again, it’s quite unlike anything the regular ‘punter’ would’ve seen. And that ‘uniqueness’ in the marketplace is what all businesses, practices, services, etc, strive for.

See, the publicity by having a ‘CELEBRITY’ attached to your promotions, is like having an endorsement from someone in the local ‘public eye’. Someone the locals trust. A Seb Coe if you will.

Okay, the second BIG SECRET that the London bid pulled out of the hat was… presenting thirty children from a local East End School to be part of the bid! It drew the emotional strings like nothing else would have.

More than that, the children were a ‘promise of the future’.

Meaning, the Olympic Games will give these children the opportunity to have their minds and hearts filled with the passion and inspiration and spirit to be someone great. To achieve the highest honour in sport – THE OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL.

Having that promise ‘come to life’ in the form of those children, was again, a master stroke.

So, how can you incorporate a ‘promise of the future’ for your promotions and advertising?

Alright, let’s say that you’ve a auto repair shop dealing in cars that are 10 – 15 years old, and your expertise is to ‘bring back to life, good as new’.

Now, the way to bring the ‘promise of the future’ in the marketing and promotion for this auto repair shop, is by way of a testimonial picture showing a BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURE.

Of course, the AFTER picture is the ‘promise of the future’. It’s what all customers would want their car to look like. It’s what they want their ‘old banger’, to aspire towards.

Showing a customer the powerful future plusses in what a product or service will give them, is a proven and tested way of ensuring the sale.

In what ways can you use these powerful ‘OLYMPIC STRATEGIES’ to your benefit and gain?

If you spend a little time applying what you learn in these emails, you’ll see such an advantage in your business that it isn’t funny.

Go get ‘em tiger!

Jonathon Hardcastle asked:


Among the Greeks, fitness competitions and games were nationalistic in spirit; states were said to have been prouder of Olympic victories than of battles won. Women, foreigners, slaves, and dishonored persons were forbidden to compete. Contestants were required to train faithfully for 10 months before the games and had to take an oath that they had fulfilled the training requirements before participating. At first, the Olympic Games were confined to running, but over time new events were added. The winners of the Olympics were crowned with chaplets of wild olive, and in their home city-states male champions were also awarded valuable gifts and privileges.

As a visible focus of world energies, the Olympic Games have been prey to many factors that have thwarted their ideals of world co-operation and athletic excellence. Like in ancient Greece, nationalistic fervour has fostered intense rivalries that have at times threatened the survival of the games. Although officially only individuals are able to win Olympic medals, nations routinely assign political significance to the feats of their citizens and teams. For example, between 1952 and 1988 rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, rooted in mutual political antagonism, resulted in each boycotting games hosted by the other (Moscow, 1980; Los Angeles, 1984).

Politics has influenced the Olympic Games in other ways, from the propaganda of the ***** in Berlin (1936) to pressures leading to the exclusion of white-ruled Rhodesia from the Munich games (1972). At Munich, nine Israeli athletes were kidnapped and murdered by Palestinian terrorists.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which sets and enforces Olympic policy, has struggled with the licensing and commercialisation of the games, the need to schedule events to accommodate television networks, and the monitoring of athletes who seek illegal competitive advantage, often through the use of performance-enhancing drugs. In 1998 a scandal erupted with revelations that bribery and favouritism had played a role in the awarding of the 2002 Winter Games to Salt Lake City, Utah, and in the selection of some earlier venues.

But, regardless of the Olympic Games tensions, it is historically proven that sports have acted as a liaison between nations and have greatly contributed to their evolution. Beginning with the sociological, psychological and physiological aspects of the human nature, sports have gained the praise of people worldwide, as they have contributed to their well being. Group-oriented, since in order to be a winner one has to compete, sport brings people closer together and generates team-spirit along with mind and physical awareness. But, whether or not the contemporary Olympic Games act as an opportunity for nations to learn from one another and cooperate or are just another opportunity for people to engage in competitive and hostile rivalries, only historians of the future will be able to judge with some certainty.