Nike closed out the London 2012 Olympics in China with a gold medal ambush marketing performance that parlayed its Find Your Greatness fauxlympics stunt to new heights.

We already noted how Nike retooled its campaign for China's star hurdler Liu Xiang after the former gold medalist imploded in the first few steps of a preliminary race. 

Now, Nike has used the same format — inspirational message superimposed on a photo — to suggest its support for many of China's star Olympic athletes, whether the Swoosh sponsored them or not. Goodness Gracious, Greatness Wall of China!Continue reading...

As the world (and London's Heathrow airport) bids adieu to the Summer Olympians and gets ready for the Paralympic Games, a few thoughts to leave you with:

IOC Chief Rogge Celebrates His Last Games            

International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge is getting ready to pass on the leadership torch and he is ending his long reign a happy man. Rogge toasted London’s Games Sunday, saying that these Olympics were “absolutely fabulous.” What bigger compliment can there be?

London 2012 Will Be Paid Off in Nine Years

The Summer Olympics may have cost billions for London to throw, including all the lost revenue from tourists who were scared away and residents who worked at home during the Games. But the Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates that the whole extravagant shebang will pay for itself by 2021. The big jump will come in 2015, the think tank estimates, when the country will start generating an extra £1.8billion ($2.8 billion) a year due to the Games.Continue reading...

In addition to featuring a Who's Who — including The Who — of British music (Annie Lennox, Ray Davies, the Spice Girls, George Michael, Madness, Blur), the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games paid tribute to British fashion brands.

The models hitting the Union Jack-shaped stage: Kate Moss (above) and Naomi Campbell in Alexander McQueen, Lily Donaldson wearing Vivienne Westwood, Stella Tennant in Christopher Kane, model/singer Karen Elson in Burberry, Lily Cole sporting Erdem, Georgia May Jagger (the offspring of fashion/music royalty Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall) wearing Victoria Beckham (a double brandcameo for the Spice Girl turned designer), Jourdan Dunn (Jonathan Saunders with headwear by milliner Stephen Jones) and David Gandy wearing Paul Smith.

The soundtrack: David Bowie's Fashion, of course. Bowie couldn't be included in the musical portion from the ceremony as he hasn't performed live since 2006.Continue reading...

London 2012 official sportswear partner Adidas released a mock music video on Sunday, in keeping with the Olympics' closing ceremony tribute to British music through the years. The video features members of Team GB including track and field star Jessica Ennis and Sir Chris Hoy. It's "directed" by David Beckham, with the British Olympians lip-synching Queen's "Can't Stop Me Now," and features the Twitter hashtag #stagetaken — a reference to the brand's "Take the Stage" campaign. 

"Our presence in and around the Olympic Games was fantastic," stated Herbert Hainer, CEO of the adidas Group, in a press release wrapping up the brand's London 2012 efforts and results. "It translates into record Olympic merchandise sales and a record year for the adidas Group in the UK. This clearly sets the stage for us to achieve market leadership in the UK by 2015."

An end-of-Games promotion from adidas invited fans to share their most "all-in" moment from the Games to win a pair of limited-edition London 2012 shoes from its Olympics customization studio as you can see below:Continue reading...

China is the second latest economy in the world, every significant brand's future is impacted by its growth (or collapse!); but who's got the time?!  A weekly potpourri of ten reads that will make you look like a keen China observer during any conversation about China. This week: Craft beer, China's Olympic spending splurge, Apple's Facetime suit and more:Continue reading...

Procter & Gamble is in the unaccustomed position of having to defend its business performance compared not only with rivals but with its own recent past, especially in North America and Europe.

For a company under that kind of watch, both perceptual and actual, what possibily could be better to get out there than images of U.S. Olympians — and their moms — taking advantage of P&G products at the company-supplied hair salon in the "home away from home" that it has set up in London?

The P&G Family Home pavilion at the Summer Olympics site has been a non-stop parade of Olympians and their family members, such as Olympic gold-medalist swimmer Breeja Larson (at right) and visiting fellow gold-medalist skier Lindsey Vonn (OK, she's a Winter Olympian) taking advantage of the salon's stylings featuring P&G's own family brands, and a photo opp showcasing the results.Continue reading...

Once again, Visa was quick off the mark with real-time congratulatory commercials for their sponsored athletes winning gold in the Summer Olympics. For Team USA women's beach volleyball champs Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor third consecutive (and final) Olympic gold medal, check out their reaction (below) to the new Morgan Freeman-narrated congratulatory spot (above). Also below, watch Visa's on-air congrats to Allyson Felix that aired on NBC after she won the gold (her first individual Olympic gold medal) in the women's 200m sprint.Continue reading...

With all the Olympic-themed ads that have been running during the London Summer Games, some might see the "Apple Genius" ads that debuted the first weekend of the games as a breath of fresh air. They featured a youthful employee who's been let loose from an Apple store's genius bar — still wearing his blue t-shirt and, whether it be on a plane, above, a street corner, or an apartment building, heroically ready to solve consumers' computer problems in the name of touting the brand's Mac line.

More often than not (under the watchful eye of an intensely involved Steve Jobs), Apple ads have always been considered a cut above the ordinary if not positively in a league of their own. Apple has always found a way to advertise a product with a good dose of humanity and a touch of humor. Witness the lauded "I'm a Mac" series from several years ago that brilliantly personified the differences between a Mac and a PC, and the current Siri campaign for the iPhone that feature celebrities including Zooey Deschanel, Samuel L. Jackson, John Malkovich and Martin Scorsese having intensely personal conversations with their iPhones.Continue reading...