Sponsors mark Paralympic Opening
Sponsors EDF, Lloyds TSB and Samsung have launched fresh marketing drives to mark tonight’s (29 August) Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony.
The ceremony, called ‘Enlightenment’ takes place at the Olympic Park in London and is expected to be watched by a record one billion people around the world.
EDF Energy is running a competition in today’s Daily Mail Paralympic supplement to win £10,000. The promotion is part of the utilities firm’s London 2012 ‘Energy of the Nation’ campaign, which is being fronted by Paralympic and Olympic athletes including swimmer Ellie Simmonds.
Lloyds is kicking off a social media drive on Twitter and Facebook to rally public support behind the 15 Paralympic GB team athletes such as Jon-Allan Butterworth and Sophia Warner that have all come through its Local Heroes athlete development programme.
Elsewhere, Samsung is extending its deal with the Times to run a Paralympic-themed cover-wrap to wish the British athletes good luck, while McDonald’s is set to air the final advert advert in its Leo Burnett created ‘We All Make The Games’ series during tonight’s ceremony.
The electronics brand is also inviting 47 Paralympians to create blog and video content.
BP, BT and Sainsbury’s are among several of the other sponsors to step up their marketing this week in a bid to tap into the growing interest in the Games. A record 2.2 million tickets have already been sold for the Games.
