Speaking at day one of the Summer Eventia conference (23 April) in Kings Place, Karen Webb said some companies are unsure of what they can do around the Games without breaking copyright and sponsorship rules.
"Companies get overwhelmed – the Olympics is hard to understand," she said. "Unless they are sponsors they don’t know how to get involved. I’ve worked with many businesses who don’t have a strategy.
"Even some sponsors don’t always know what to do around the Games, there’s a lack of understanding around branding rules."
Webb, who headed up marketing and communications for the Sydney 2000 Games’ Organising Committee, said: "I do think that Locog has gone above and beyond what we’ve seen before, but there’s a good reason for that – it’s to protect the rings."
The Olympic rings is one of the most protected symbols in the world. Locog’s branding guidelines restrict non-sponsors from associating themselves with the Games by using certain words and images and also prohibit any branding inside or around Olympic venues in the Clean Venue policy.
Webb was speaking in a panel debate on "The Olympic Boost" where she was joined by Tracy Halliwell of London & Partners and Chad Lion-Cachet from Sportsworld.
Summer Eventia continues today – don’t miss Event editor Jeremy King speaking with other magazine editors at 3.45pm on "The Future of the Events Industry" panel.
Does your company feel confident about what it can do within the guidelines? To leave a comment and let us know your thoughts.
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