Advertising rate hike expected when Olympics come to London

Brands should prepare for media inflation when the Olympics come to London in 2012, according to a leading media executive.

Ian Clarke, partner at Starcom Europe, Middle East and Africa, has analysed the last Olympics in Athens and he finds that there was an average increase in price of 30 per cent across all media in Greece during the Games.

Commercial channels in the UK also commanded higher prices, up between four and five per cent, during the Athens Olympics – despite the fact that the BBC held the broadcasting rights for the event.

Clarke says: “We will probably see pockets of massive inflation at outdoor sites around London – particularly at key sites on the way in from the airports.”

He predicts that TV prices will also increase, although not by 30 per cent, and thinks there will be extra interest in online as a medium.

“The real-time nature of online really increases consumption of the Olympics and it will be a very mature medium by 2012,” he adds.

Clarke’s research also finds that 90 per cent of individuals in the UK watched Olympic programming at least once during the Athens games, with the opening and closing ceremonies attracting the most viewers.

London won the race to host the Olympics in 2012 after a final ballot with Paris in Singapore last week.