Non-Olympic sponsors can get close to the action at Westfield
Westfield says it wants to be a “good neighbour” to The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) at its Stratford City mall but that non-sponsor brands will be able to advertise within its centre during the Games.
The Westfield Stratford City shopping centre is the gateway to the London Olympic Park and more than 70% of Olympic visitors are expected to access the Games via the mall.
Mark Zimmer, head of Olympic brand alliance, says: “It’s the first time this opportunity has been available this close to the park at an Olympic Games. It’s the closest you can be without infringing on LOCOG and it’s a real opportunity for companies not able to sponsor.”
All retailers and brands present in the shopping mall have signed “anti-ambush marketing” contracts, which will be policed by LOCOG, but unlike in the Beijing Olympics non-sponsors are not required to cover their external signage.
The 2006 Olympic Act, which regulates advertising around the Games, ensures that all outdoor advertising space within the proximity zone to the park is auctioned off to official sponsors, but it doesn’t cover advertising space within the mall.
This means ad space and experiential areas inside the Westfield centre are available to non-sponsors which can buy a heavily branded presence within the mall during the Games.
Westfield is also installing temporary corporate hospitality areas on the rooftops and surrounding areas that are available to sponsors, non-sponsors and broadcasters.
Zimmer adds: “We could take the most contentious [non-sponsor] brands to advertise in our malls but we want to be good neighbours to LOCOG and hope that it will be members of the Olympic family that take the space.”
“We could have the Pepsi challenge going on inside the mall if we wanted to but we don’t want to become ambush central.”
The mall, which will be the biggest shopping centre in Europe, is due to open in September, ahead of the Games.
Read Rosie Baker’s blog on Westfield Stratford City
Westfield in numbers:
- £1.5bn investment
- 1.9 million sq ft of retail space
- 2.5 million people to visit during the Games
- 300 brands
- Two hotels
- 18,000 new jobs
- One cinema – 14 screens
- 6 minutes from St Pancras International
- Tier One Partners – Adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB.
- Tier Two Partners – Adecco, ArcelorMittal, Cadbury, Cisco, Deloitte, Thomas Cook and UPS.
- Tier Three Partners – Aggreko, Airwave, Atkins, Boston Consulting Group, CBS Outdoor, Crystal CG, Eurostar, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, G4S, GSK, Gymnova, Heineken UK, Holiday Inn, John Lewis, McCann Worldgroup, Mondo, Next, The Nielsen Company, Populous, Rapiscan Systems, Rio Tinto, Technogym, Ticketmaster and Trebor.
- Tier One Paralympic Games Partner – Sainsbury’s.
- Tier Three Paralympic Supplier – Otto Bock.
- Worldwide Olympic Partners – Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos Origin, Dow Chemical Company, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Procter & Gamble, Samsung and Visa.
