Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, October 14 (Reporter Gao Peng, Ji Ye, single Lei) the International Olympic Committee's top sponsors lineup of recent turmoil, Panasonic, Toyota, Bridgestone has announced that the Olympic Global Partnership (TOP) agreement expires will not be renewed. Losing three top sponsors at once puts the IOC at risk of a shrinking “pocketbook”.

  Since 1985, the IOC launched the TOP program, companies have come in and out, but like three sponsors synchronized withdrawal of the situation is rare. Why these three Japanese companies will not be renewed? Olympic “gold” faded? Who will fill the empty space left by them?

The “gold standard” is fading?

  The TOP program has been recognized as the most successful sports marketing program to date. The IOC's market development report reveals that the TOP program accounts for about 30% of its total revenue, and is the largest source of income other than television broadcasting rights. The program is usually signed for a four-year period, consisting of one Summer Olympics and one Winter Olympics. Companies joining the TOP program have exclusive global Olympic marketing rights for their category and can use the five rings logo for brand promotion.

  Data show that between 1989 and 2012, the number of IOC global partners has been controlled at 10 to 12. Bach's presidency, this “elite club” gradually expanded, the Paris Olympic cycle has as many as 16 companies.

  It is understood that the Beijing 2008 Olympic cycle to join the program's sponsorship minimum threshold of 65 million U.S. dollars (1 U.S. dollar about 7.1 yuan), to the London Olympic cycle rose to 80 million U.S. dollars, the Rio Olympic cycle exceeded 100 million U.S. dollars, to the Paris Olympic cycle threshold has been raised to 200 million U.S. dollars. In fact, due to different industry categories and levels of competition, some companies pay far more to be a TOP sponsor. For example, as a global partner in the automotive category for both 2017-2024 Olympic cycles, Toyota's combined cash and in-kind sponsorship spend exceeded $800 million.

  Despite the high cost of sponsorship, the TOP sponsors have continued to expand over the past decade, with only four companies dropping out in that time. Thus, this time the three major Japanese brands will not renew their contracts, triggering concerns that the TOP program may be in for a major upheaval.

  For why exit TOP program, Panasonic and Bridgestone gave similar reasons - mainly based on the business environment and their own development strategy changes. Toyota's explanation seems more straightforward and unforgiving - the IOC has not used its sponsorship money effectively to support athletes and promote sport.

  The corporate exit, in the final analysis, considers the input-output ratio and whether the deal is value for money. Some Japanese media pointed out that the three Japanese companies most valued the Tokyo Olympics did not bring them the expected marketing effect. Affected by the epidemic, the Tokyo Olympics were postponed for a year, the audience was not allowed to enter the competition venues, reducing the exposure of sponsors, while increasing the cost of brand marketing.

  Some voices have suggested that it was the TOP program that went wrong, based on the fact that Toyota and Bridgestone, while abandoning the Olympics as a platform, did not give up on sports. In June of this year, Toyota announced that it had become a partner of the National NFL Flag Football Championship, while Bridgestone said it would focus on sponsoring motorsports in the future.

  However, many people believe that it is too early to conclude that the TOP program is going downhill.

Wang Shirley, director of Tsinghua University's Sports Industry Development Research Center, said that companies have different sponsorship purposes and marketing tools at different stages of development, and mature companies will make adjustments according to different needs. The fact that Toyota and Bridgestone have turned to sponsoring other sports activities does not mean that the attractiveness of the TOP program is declining, it just means that the companies think that the program no longer matches their current needs.

  Li Hong, a veteran sports marketing expert who served as the IOC's chief representative in China, agrees that the withdrawal of the three Japanese companies is nothing more than a normal rotation of TOP partners. “TOP partners change after every Olympics, and companies' sponsorship programs are not set in stone.” She said that judging from the televised data and market attention of the Paris Olympics, the Games are more attractive than ever, and she believes that there will be new companies joining the TOP program soon.

  Chinese brands in the game?

  Among the current IOC global partners, in addition to the three Japanese companies that will soon withdraw, there are five companies from the U.S., namely, Audemars Piguet, Coca-Cola, Intel, Procter & Gamble and Visa; two Chinese companies are Alibaba and Mengniu; and the other six come from Germany, France, Switzerland, the U.K., South Korea and Belgium. Due to the exclusivity of the TOP program, there can only be one partner in an industry category, and the withdrawal of a company gives other companies the opportunity to enter the game.

  Some analysts believe that there is a possibility for Chinese brands to fill the empty seats in both the automotive category where Toyota is located and the audiovisual equipment category where Panasonic is located. After all, in the soccer World Cup and European Championships, which are comparable to the Olympic Games in terms of attention and influence, the list of sponsors is growing with Chinese companies. In addition to Mengniu, Hisense and Vivo have sponsored two consecutive World Cups, while BYD has squeezed out Volkswagen to become the official travel partner of this year's European Championships.

  Of course, after the withdrawal of existing sponsors, the IOC can either choose to replace them with other brands in the same category, or turn to developing new sponsorship categories. In recent years, the IOC is committed to digital change, like Alibaba, Intel and other Internet-related companies are favored. Therefore, there are still many uncertainties as to who the new Olympic “gold master” will be.

  Shirley Wang and Li Hong both believe that under the right industry and cost thresholds, it is absolutely possible that more Chinese companies will become TOP partners in the future. However, Shirley Wang reminded that for sponsors, the greatest value of the TOP program lies in globalization; if they are not focusing on the global market, there is no need to join the TOP program, and they can choose other sponsorships that are more closely related to the target market, such as a certain country's (regional) Olympic Committee or sports teams.

  In addition, sponsoring companies using the Olympics as a platform for brand promotion must find the relevance between the Olympics and their corporate brand. If it is not possible to realize the enhancement of corporate brand value through the influence of the Olympic spirit, then sponsoring the Olympics is something that deserves to be put off.

  Some people compare the TOP program to a “super game”. To join this “game”, enterprises not only need to have money, but also have first-class products and services. However, joining this “high-end game” does not mean that it is a winner. Those disillusioned with the exit of the enterprise, to the later sounded the alarm - into the game has a risk, the sponsorship investment on the wisdom of the enterprise and the follow-up promotion is a huge test.