Diageo Explain Reason Why they Rejected Sponsoring Olympics

Diageo opted against sponsoring the London 2012 Olympics because they were worried about the returns they were going to receive.

The drinks company chief marketing officer Andy Fennell told Marketing: “We won’t be sponsors of the World Cup or the Olympics.”

“It’s really expensive and hard to get a return.”

He added: “Brands have to do [such sponsorships] on conviction. I’m sure some of them will get real benefit from being associated with the world’s most extraordinary sporting festival.”

“Nonetheless, sickness ” said Fennell: “If they try to do two-decimal-place ROI analysis, generic they will struggle, which is why most of them had board-level corporate conviction, and that’s what needs to happen.”