By Katie Davis T here is more to the Olympics than just the athletes, the games and the medals. The Olympics whether you like it or not is all about marketing, sponsor- ship and brand awareness. Ambev, a Brazilian brewing company formally known as Companhia de Bebidas das Américas , which translates in English to Americas’ Beverage Company, hence the name, took on a very costly sponsorship deal at this year’s Olympics, but it paid off as Ambev souvenir cups were almost more sought after by those attending the games than the medals themselves. The Brazilian beer company which is controlled by Anheus- er-Busch, was promoting its Skol brand with Olympic souvenir cups. Not just a single cup, but 42. Each of the 42 cups emblazoned with a different Olympic sport. This marketing strategy not only lead to athletes and specta- tors guzzling hundreds of reais worth of beer to collect all 42 cups, it also got the Skol brand name into thousands of homes, basement bars and man caves all over the world and that kind of exposure is priceless. This was marketing genius by the biggest brewery in Latin America and the fifth in the world as the 13 reais paid, about $4 USD, for the Skol beer and souvenir cups was a steal as T-shirts from the Rio Olympics 2016 megastore were costing between 80 to 100 reais or $32 USD, with
Olympic hats are going for about 60 reais or $20 USD and and keychains are 35 reais or $12 USD making the Skol Olympic souvenir cups a relative bargain and Skol’s beer stations to be bustling with activity as fans lined up 25 deep at some “cerveja” stands throughout the Rio games for cups and a refreshing beverage of course. Ambev after the huge investment sponsoring the games needed to deliver a strong result at the Rio Olympics and they did. Ambev was banking on this as Brazil is in the midst of a recession and the company has sold less beer by volume in the second quarter than it has in last seven years for the same period as Skol lost market share to less expensive rivals. The idea to pay homage to the different Olympic sports events by Skol was deserving of a Gold medal for market- ing as the cups have turned into a hot collector’s item and given global recognition to the brand. Skol’s Olympic strategy was not totally unique as Bud- weiser, which Ambev sells as a premium brand in Brazil, had a collectible cup at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in 2014. Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Co have done some similar cups for different events; however the gimmick of building a collection of Skol cups sets Ambev’s strategy apart and puts them for the time being as Olympic Champions.
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS • OCTOBER 2016
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