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1998 MAXI Awards

The Olympic Journey
Starts at Westfield

Westfield Holdings
Sydney, Australia

The Olympic Summer Games are coming to Sydney, Australia, in 2000. But since Sydney's selection in 1993 as host city, little marketing had been conducted to inform and excite the Australian public about the Olympics.

To help involve all Australians in this major event, Westfield developed a partnership with the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG). The company was named the exclusive shopping mall venue for all Sydney 2000 Olympic information and promotional programs. With SOCOG, Westfield set out to develop the first official marketing campaign for the games, the Olympic Journey.

OBJECTIVES

1) To link Westfield centers with the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, raising the centers' community profile. 2) To create a unique event that would reach all targeted markets and create mass PR coverage. 3) To offer customers and retailers special benefits associated with the Olympic Games. 4) To increase center visits and increase incremental sales.

IMPLEMENTATION

The Olympic Journey would include street parades, dinners, picnics and an exhibition of Olympic memorabilia touring Westfield centers across the country.

Westfield designed and built the exhibition, which presented a history of the Olympic Games, from Athens in 1896 to Atlanta in 1996, and looked ahead to Sydney's event in 2000. The collection included original Olympic torches, medals, apparel and other artifacts, interactive and animatronic exhibits, and a large-scale model of the Sydney Olympics site.

The exhibition would be displayed for two weeks at each of 18 Westfield centers, and would kick off at each center with an opening ceremony and exclusive previews attended by local schools, government officials, Olympic athletes, media representatives and community leaders. Retailers and customers were invited to march in parades, carrying the Olympic flags of past host nations.

To further support the exhibition, the Westfield team engaged Australian Olympians as ambassadors. They conducted media interviews, made personal appearances and visited stores, and gave public addresses.

The team also undertook a major press relations campaign, contacting newspapers and TV news programs with news stories, as well as pitching features to current affairs programs and segments about athletes and memorabilia to entertainment shows. Westfield also placed educational pages, souvenir liftouts, athlete-autographed card inserts and promotions for competitions in the newspapers.

A TV ad campaign, "Touch the Olympic Games at Westfield," featured Olympians and promoted the exhibition at the centers. It was supported by print ads that presented details of the Olympic Journey exhibition. Point-of-sale materials reinforced the message throughout the centers.

RESULTS

Westfield garnered more than $6 million in direct publicity from its involvement in the Olympic Journey campaign. Coverage included 235 TV interviews, 1,400 articles, and more than 400 radio interviews.

A telephone survey showed that awareness of Westfield's Olympic partnership rose from 11% to 72%, and 81% of respondents reported visiting a Westfield center to see the exhibition. An exit survey indicated that 42% of customers visiting the exhibition came from beyond the center's primary trade area, and more than 82% of visitors had made or intended to make a purchase at the center. Center traffic increased by an average 9% per week and retailers reported sales increases while the exhibition was on display.

CREDIT

Professional recognition to: Carol Angelosanto, general manager, marketing; Anthony Laver, Olympic marketing manager.

Expenses

Exhibition construction $200,000

POS material 12,000

Transportation, installation 110,000

Publicity 18,000

Ad placement 175,000

Agency fees 60,000

Prizes 7,000

Total $582,000