(2/23/99)
New Olympic boss Mitt Romney is heading to New York, where he's counting on
an intensive media tour to brush up Salt Lake's Olympic reputation.
News Specialist John Daley explains what Romney's up to.
Romney is meeting with more than half a dozen major New York media outlets.
After months of scandal--he wants the world--especially the world of
corporate sponsors--to know Salt Lake is moving forward.
Salt Lake got the Games, lost some splendor with the scandal, and now wants
to rewin its reputation. That's priority number one with the man hired to set
things straight. "Because the Olympics is about sport not business," Romney
said.
But business is the bobsled that powers Olympic sport.
To help convince corporate sponsors to jump back on board--Romney is
embarking on a three-day East Coast media blitz.
He'll be on TV: NBC News, Moneyline, CBS This Morning.
He'll be in print:
- The Wall Street Journal
- The New York Times
- Newsweek
- Business Week
- Financial Times
Marketing expert Mickey Gallivan says sponsors are the key target audience.
"Ultimately, the goal is to re-establish the value of the brand. It has become
tarnished, but it's still one of the strongest brands in the world. And the
value of that brand is all important to the sponsors. Our present sponsors and
our potential sponsors."
Olympic organizers still need to bring in $600 million to pay for the 2002
Games.
That's 40 percent of their one a half billion dollar budget.
The majority of that cash will come from sponsors.
The top Olympic money man, John Krimsky of the U.S.O.C., says sponsors
seem reassured by Romney's efforts. "We're on our way back. I think the
sponsors will recognize and support that."
And there's no better way for them to recognize that, than to see Mitt Romney
carrying Salt Lake's Olympic torch to the national media.
Gallivan says, "He is showing his great political ability. This is indeed a
political campaign. He has to re-win the credibility of sponsors and the
American people and the people of Utah."
An official with the United States Olympic Committee tells me--"by the end of
March, the sponsors could be resting a lot easier."
Next month, the International Olympic Committee meets in Switzerland.
If major reforms are announced there, that'll go a long way to shoring up
sponsor support.
