1996 Atlanta Olympic Games: Sponsors' and non-sponsors' marketing strategies

The purpose of the present study was to describe if the official Atlanta Olympic sponsors used the marketing factors in their advertising during NBC'S Olympic broadcast. All 26 hours of commercial advertising were viewed and analyzed with respect to the salient factors supported by the literature related to successful marketing and advertising. The factors included use of the Olympic logo, use of a verbal or written message to communicate a connection to the Olympics, and use of athletes or a sport theme. It appeared that the most salient factors used during the 1996 Olympic focused on sport; the use of athletes or a sport theme. Also, the sponsor protection program established by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) appeared to limit non-sponsors' "ambushing" of official sponsors.