SPORTS MARKETING
SPORTS MARKETING
2018 Winter Olympics : What Lessons Can We Learn ?
By Richard Wanjohi
It ’ s only March and the year ’ s sporting events are unfolding faster than some of us can keep up . What ’ s even better is the active participation of Kenyan sporting talent . And are we ready for the offerings ? The first quarter of the year saw the main highlight being the Winter Olympic Games held in PyeongChang – South Korea .
Soft Diplomacy
To give some context , the Games had been won by the South Koreans six years ago beating top European and North American cities . PyeongChang also won the rights immediately after Sochi – Russia ’ s city - both cities hosting the events against a backdrop of major geopolitical activities . While Sochi did not endear itself much with its European counterparts , PyeongChang and South
Korean authorities managed to keep off the politics of the day .
They were able to convince their Northern counterparts to participate and also ease the hardline politics that had characterized the region in the last three years . The Games also offered a better distraction and meeting ground for the Korean and American political leaders .
The host country was able to use its influence to push for its advancement of its cultural and political agenda . Promoting the use of the Korean language which has seen rising interest among Englishspeaking countries is another of the small ‘ wins ’ of the Games .
Towards the start of the Games , there was a scare of some flu which caused a panic among participants and Games volunteers . Luckily the organizers were
Technologically , the PyeongChang Winter Games were the world ’ s first 5G Games . This aided in providing the fans and participants with reliable service and increased connectivity . It also helped media houses push out content at regular and faster rate especially on their social media platforms . Perhaps it also confirms why the region commands the largest number of mobile phone manufacturers . able to deal with it and downplay its effects to an all-too eager media . This worked well too within the period of the Games as a few isolated cases were reported and contained .
Doping by athletes especially from Russia had also served to taint the Games . The IOC and WADA officials didn ’ t come out of this looking good after making a 180 0 turn to allow majority of the Russian participants – the only disclaimer was they were not to use or wear the Russian flag / pendant . With the start of the Games , there were a number of cases reported though once again , these didn ’ t spiral out of control .
Afro-centricity
Coming closer home , the Games represented the highest participation ever from African countries – 8 in number . It also represented the first ever for Nigeria and Eritrea . Except for the North and South African states , it is common knowledge that none of the other countries have wintery conditions or anything similar to mimic the Winter Games surroundings .
Nevertheless representatives from countries such as Ghana , Kenya and even Madagascar were able to find training grounds in Europe and also arrived earlier in the host country to acclimatize with the surroundings . The countries were represented in the following disciplines – Alpine Skiing , Bobsleigh , Cross-country
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