P&G Adds Global Olympic Sponsorship; Reaffirms USOC Commitment
Procter & Gamble, as expected, today announced a TOP partnership with the International Olympic Committee for the next five Olympic Games, starting with London 2012 and running through the 2020 Games.
Some of the P&G brands that will be participating in the partnership include Pampers, Tide, Ariel, Always, Whisper, Crest, Pantene and Olay.
The company also reaffirmed its continuing support of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and announced an additional $50,000 donation to help cover training and expenses for elite U.S. athletes. The company maintains that the new global Olympic partnership only adds to its support of the USOC, a deal which began before the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, and will run through 2020.
"We are thrilled to continue our commitment to the global Olympic Movement with our new global Olympic partnership, but also by showing the families of all U.S. Olympians, Paralympians and hopefuls that we appreciate their dedication to Team USA," said Kirk Perry, Vice President, North America, Procter & Gamble. "We are proud to help the USOC with this new, additional donation and continue to value our partnership with this organization whose purpose of improving lives through sport so closely matches our own of touching and improving more lives, more completely."
Perry added that P&G is in the early stages of evaluating plans to host a family home facility at the London 2012 Olympic Games for all U.S. athletes, similar to the one in Vancouver at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
"P&G is proud to support the Olympic Movement for the next 10 years," said P&G Global Marketing and Brand Building Officer, Marc Pritchard. "But, we know from our successful results in Vancouver that this is about much more than a sponsorship. For P&G, it's about partnering with the IOC to make life better for athletes, moms and their families as we take the Olympic Movement to our four billion consumers around the world that our brands already serve."
IOC President Jacques Rogge said, "Procter & Gamble is a first class company and we are absolutely delighted to announce we will be partnering with them through 2020. P&G's global reach and consumer insight will be a real boost in our efforts to communicate the Olympic values to a worldwide audience and their financial support over the next decade will benefit the entire Olympic Movement including the athletes themselves."
P&G has partnered with the moms of six Olympians from across the world and the mom of a U.S. Paralympian to create a campaign called 'Proud Sponsor of Moms' which will aim to touch and improve the lives of athletes, moms and families around the world. The moms include: Debbie Phelps (mom of U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps), Marlene Shirley (mom of U.S. Paralympic sprinter Marlon Shirley), Jennifer Bolt (mom of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt), Rosemary Jones (mum of Australian swimmer Leisel Jones), Cao Lihua (mom of Chinese beach volleyball player Xue Chen), Aster Menagesha (Mom of Ethiopian long-distance runner Meseret Defar) and Pat Radcliffe (mum of British long-distance runner Paula Radcliffe).
As part of the activation, P&G plans to produce a documentary video series called "Raising an Olympian, The P&G Momumentary Project."
"As we look forward to the next Olympic and Paralympic Games, we are thankful for P&G's commitment to the USOC and to the moms of our athletes," said USOC Chief Executive Officer Scott Blackmun. "The generosity of P&G helps shape the athletes of our nation. With the announcement of the new IOC sponsorship, P&G has shown its dedication to the Olympic Movement, not only domestically, but on a global scale."
Earlier this month, Dow Chemical was also announced as a global Olympic partner through 2020, and on Monday, the USOC confirmed that BMW has signed on as its official automobile partner for the next six years.
Financial terms of P&G's deal were not released, but TOP partners routinely spend around $100 million in cash and in-kind products and services for each Olympiad. The USOC is contractually entitled to 20% of sponsorship revenue the IOC receives from global deals such as the those recently announced with Dow Chemical and P&G.
