CREATIVE SELECTION: Goodyear celebrates Olympic 2000 spirit with themed blimp

Lightship Asia-Pacific scored something of a first with the Goodyear "Spirit of the South Pacific" Blimp at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney. At first glance, the signage almost reads as "Goodyear" - in fact, one side read "Good luck", the other side reads "G'day". Mr Myles Kendrick, director of marketing for Lightship Asia-Pacific, described it as "a major breakthrough for Olympic branding". "No brand is allowed over an Olympic venue, yet here we managed to get something so close it might as well have been the regular branding," he said. "In fact, it's probably better than using the regular Goodyear branding." Goodyear stated that in live televised media value, it generated US$5.5 million on NBC in the US and AU$4 million on Channel 7 in Australia - that was only during the Olympic period and does not include radio and press. Goodyear Tyre & Rubber was given the green light by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) for the stunt, which cleverly circumvented the Olympic Games' "clean venue" guidelines prohibiting commercial branding at Olympic Games venues. Mr Michael Payne, director of marketing for the IOC, said: "The airship's new identification is an innovative way of communicating a uniquely Australian message to athletes and global TV audiences, and one that personifies the spirit of friendship and goodwill that the Olympic Games represents. "This is categorically not a breach of the Olympic clean venue guidelines, as has been reported in some media." The Goodyear blimp provided aerial TV pictures to accredited local and international broadcasters throughout the 17 days of Olympic Games competition. Goodyear Australia's national marketing manager, Mr Kris Matich, said Goodyear blimps had been involved in Olympic Games telecasts since the 1960s, when the birth of aerial camera technology made it possible to transmit high-quality video footage from the air for the first time. He further added that IOC Olympic Games clean venue guidelines prohibit any form of corporate branding at, near or above venues, and that during previous broadcasts, Goodyear had been required to conceal its unique logo on the blimp. "One of the reasons that Goodyear launched the Spirit of the South Pacific in June 1999 was to prepare for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games," said Mr Matich. "Rather than merely conceal the Goodyear branding on the blimp, we thought a much more creative approach would be to promote a uniquely Australian message to the athletes of the Olympic Games and the worldwide viewing audience, and one that personifies the spirit of friendship and goodwill that the Olympic movement is all about." Goodyear Tyre & Rubber is the world's largest manufacturer of tyres, and this year marks the 75th anniversary of the company's use of airships, across four continents throughout the world. The Goodyear blimp also carried a special website address underneath its new identification, www.olympics.com. As the official website of the Olympic Games, it featured a special section called 'Blimp Cam', where Web surfers could, with the click of a mouse button, view a range of scenic aerial pictures taken of Australian locations from the Goodyear blimp. Mr Matich said the website branding was closely linked to the blimp's role in providing downloadable aerial video footage of all over Australia for visitors to the official website of the Games. "Goodyear saw its fundamental role in broadcasting the Games as one of promoting Australia as a beautiful place to visit, and our aerial shots did just that," he said. Mr Matich said the combined investment in rebranding the Goodyear blimp, and funding the additional crew required for the Olympic Games, exceeded AU$500,000, but that it was worth it in view of the global audience the Games attracts. "Goodyear's association with the Olympic movement is now a tradition, and we're very glad that the Goodyear blimp played such a creative and highly visual role at the Games, in a very uniquely Australian way," he said.

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