Walking into the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee in Shougang Park, Park Xuedong, director of the Market Development Department, sat at a desk full of licensed goods for the Winter Olympics and was interviewed by a Xinhua reporter. Less than a month before the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the market development work of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games has actively innovated mechanisms and strived to achieve a double harvest of economic and social benefits.
Under the epidemic situation, the market development work has been solidly promoted
In February 2017, the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee officially launched the market development plan for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Park Xuedong recalled: "In fact, I came to the Winter Olympic Organizing Committee on February 20, 2016 to report, and then formed our team, and now it is about to turn six years. In the process of market development, we have always been aiming at 'actively innovating the mechanism and striving to achieve both economic and social benefits'. In this process, we have not only completed the milestone task, but also responded to the challenge of normalization of the new crown pneumonia epidemic. So far, the market development work has been relatively stable, and the expected tasks have been completed on the whole, which is not easy. ”
As a "city of two Olympic Games", the market development of the 2022 Winter Olympics is "standing on the shoulders of giants" - based on the success of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and at the same time, there are many differences in depth, breadth, strength, intensity and difficulty compared with the time.
In the face of the impact of the new crown epidemic, Park Xuedong introduced that the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee and enterprises share weal and woe, empathize, and work together to find flexible ways to cope with changes. "For example, we used the 'Eye-catching' system developed by Suirui Technology Group Co., Ltd., one of the official suppliers, to hold more than 40,000 hours of video conferences, and the products and services of the sponsoring companies were used in the work during the epidemic, improving our work efficiency."
The sponsorship solicitation process is fair, just and open
At present, 45 sponsors have signed contracts for the Beijing Winter Olympics, including 11 official partners, 11 official sponsors, 10 official exclusive suppliers and 13 official suppliers.
If you want to become a sponsor of the Beijing Winter Olympics, you must go through the test of "passing five levels and cutting six generals". Park Xuedong introduced that the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee has five major criteria for selecting sponsoring enterprises, namely enterprise qualifications, sponsorship quotations, product and service guarantee capabilities, brand influence and marketing promotion capabilities. Meet these five criteria to enter the shortlist and have the opportunity to enter the call for entry, and the real test has just begun. There are ten steps in the sponsorship enterprise solicitation process, from signing the Market Development Plan Agreement with the International Olympic Committee, laying the foundation for market development cooperation, communicating the intention of sponsorship cooperation with potential enterprises, and then holding a sponsorship solicitation review meeting and contract negotiation, which reflects the rigor and seriousness of the sponsorship collection process.
Park Xuedong said: "According to this procedure, a company according to this procedure from the beginning of the solicitation to the final announcement, the short one takes about 5 months, and the long one can reach two and a half years. The market development department strictly follows the relevant laws and regulations, processes and systems to ensure the fairness, impartiality and openness of the sponsorship collection. ”
In this process, the biggest challenge for the Organizing Committee of the Winter Olympics is the balance of various stakeholders. In response to this challenge, the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee strives to seek the greatest common denominator, explore the best solution, and strive to not only make the cake bigger, but also make more new cake.
Licensed products for the Winter Olympics take into account both the Olympic spirit and Chinese culture
Since the launch of the franchise trial operation plan for the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games on December 16, 2017, the Beijing Winter Olympic Games has developed more than 5,000 licensed products in 16 categories. By the end of 2021, 5 sets of commemorative stamps with a total of 18 commemorative stamps have been issued, and two sets of 19 gold and silver commemorative coins, 2 commemorative banknotes and 2 winter Paralympic gold and silver commemorative coins have been issued.
In addition, a total of 29 franchised production enterprises were recruited, of which 2 enterprises with disabilities were centrally placed, 58 franchised retail enterprises were recruited, more than 190 licensed commodity retail stores were set up nationwide, the Olympic official flagship store was opened on the Tmall platform, and the Beijing 2022 official licensed commodity flagship store and badge exchange center were set up in the Wangfujing Gongmei Building. Sponsoring companies such as Bank of China, China Post, ANTA brand stores, China Unicom, PetroChina, Sinopec, etc. have all opened offline physical retail channels.
"Buying Winter Olympic licensed goods allows a wider range of consumers to closely integrate with the Winter Olympics." Park Xuedong said that he hopes that the licensed goods will become a carrier, telling the Olympic spirit, telling the concept of Beijing 2022, telling the Chinese story, presenting the culture of the host city, and driving public participation.
The Beijing Winter Olympics coincide with the Spring Festival, a traditional Chinese festival. "We strive to reflect China's excellent traditional culture in the licensed goods of the Winter Olympics, excavate sports-related and Spring Festival culture, and many of the more than 5,000 (licensed products) fully reflect China's excellent traditional culture, so that friends who care about the Winter Olympics can cherish a memory." Park Xuedong said.
Since 2018, the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee has designated the first Saturday of each month as the "new day of the charter" for the Winter Olympics. On the Saturday of January 1, the Organizing Committee of the Winter Olympics launched a "Four Famous Winter Olympic Badges", namely Liu Xuande's visit to Kong Ming, Tang Sanzang's ice walking through the Heavenly River, Lin Jiaotou's Fengxue Mountain Temple, and Xue Baoqin's search for Mei Li Cui'an. Park Xuedong recommended this elaborate badge in an exclusive interview: "We have developed the ice and snow elements in the four masterpieces of traditional Chinese literature, combined with the theme of the Winter Olympics, which is a limited edition. In addition, the opening ceremony commemorative stamps will be sold after the curtain opens at the Winter Olympics, and the design, production, distribution and other links are currently carried out confidentially, so please look forward to it. ”
Four masterpieces of the Winter Olympics badges
With less than a month to go before the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the Market Development Department of the Winter Olympic Organizing Committee will also take one step at a time, do a good job in team building, and complete the sponsorship plan, franchise plan and brand protection work, and jointly contribute to the strength of the market development team to welcome the simple, safe and wonderful Winter Olympic Games.
Reporters Zhang Yueshan, Su Bin, Lin Deren and Zhan Peng