Westfield on the East side

Yesterday, some of the Marketing Week team got a sneak preview of the Westfield Stratford City shopping mall that sits at the entrance to the London Olympic park.

I’ll be honest that despite Marketing Week’s coverage of the Games and its sponsors, living in East London, and having entered the race to get some Olympic tickets, it’s not something I’ve been hugely interested in before now.

The site visit included a walk around the yet to be finished mall and some really interesting insights into the Westfield/LOCOG partnership for the 2012 Games that have piqued my interest in the whole thing

It’s the first time that a commercial venture such as Westfield’s new mall has been this close to the Olympic site and so the possibilities for brands – sponsors and non-sponsors – to get involved in the Games has a completely different dynamic.

Of course there are the usual rules and regulations that make sure official sponsors such as Adidas, P&G, McDonald’s and Coca Cola get the premium they’ve paid for but due to proximity alone what an opportunity for brands that aren’t on the official roster to get a glimpse of the action.

With slightly over a year to go until the London Games begins, and even less until Westfield Stratford City opens its doors in September, The opportunity for retailers, brands and Olympic partners at the East London site are phenomenal.