Beijing Olympics 2008
Beijing Olympics Planners Hit the Ground Running
A few short months after the Chinese capital's successful bid to host the 2008 Olympics, the city now has its powerful official "Beijing Organizing Committee
for the Games of th
e XX1X Olympiad (BOCOG for short) up and running. Already its members are fast getting to grips with the vast amount of work that
needs to be carried out to fulfill the city's promised "excellent" Games, enabling Business Beijing to provide this early summary of the organizational and other challenges they face in the
months and years ahead. Most of the questions were directed at BOCOG's departmental heads.
When precisely will the Beijing Games be held?
They will open on July 25, 2008, and finish on August 10 -a total of 16 days.
Can you provide a brief account of the work being done on BOCOG's "Action Plan" for the Games?
The International Olympic
Committee (IOC) asks a host city to work out a timetable, what it calls a Mast Plan, of each and every aspect of the Games preparatory work. This plan is in 13 sections, embracing the likes of
competition sites construction, the organization of competitions, TV rights, market development, and the various services to be rendered to the Games. In November last year, IOC officials came to Be
ijing
to fully explain the Mast Plan to us and advise how it should be prepared.
We will present the Beijing draft plan to the IOC in June this year in accordance with a timetable approved by the IOC. The initial draft was due for completion at the
end of 2001. Meanwhile, we have also prepared an initial timetable detailing more than 900 specific jobs that we will carry out. Before presenting the final draft of the timetable to the IOC we will
first discuss it with its officials. This will be after the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
What is the organizational structure of BOCOG, and how many people will be involved in its work?
Currently it has 13 working
departments, including Secretarial and Administrative; Human Resources; International Liaison; Information and Publicity; Sports; Market Development; and
Technical. Until the end of this year, BOCOG's working staff will be limited to 200. Up to the 2004 Olympics in Athens, it will rise to 500. By 2008, it will employ a maximum of around 4,000.
What is the role of the Market Development Department?
It is charged with fund-raising for the Beijing Olympics. The budget, as
stated in the city's bid report, is set at US$1.625 billion. More than 80 percent of the sum will have to be raised on the market because subsidies from the central and local governments will be
limited. To make up the shortfall, BOCOG will transfer the intellectual property rights under its ownership in order to raise funds, material supplies, technologies and services, including the
Games?official name and logo, plus the name, logo and mascot to be used by the 2008 Olympic Games.
Revenues of the Games will come from nine sources. Specifically, these are: TV rights; sponsors (those involved in The Olympic Partners Program (TOP), and Chinese
sponsors); suppliers; donations; the franchised production and marketing of souvenirs; the production and marketing of stamps and commemorative coins; the torch relay and activities with cultural
themes; ticketing; and what might be termed as other Olympics-related business.
What currently are the jobs of the Market Development Department?
Preparations for marketing actually began
when BOCOG was being set up. Market development will assume increasingly greater importance along with progress of the preparatory work. Right now, the department is: 
1.
Organizing task forces for market development, including recruiting market development specialists;
2. Preparing a progress sheet and drawing up strategies and specific plans for market
development;
3. Preparing for the signing of a marketing agreement between the Preparatory Committee and the IOC;
4. Drawing up a market development plan jointly with the IOC;
5. Undertaking
studies and investigations that pinpoint what needs to be done for the Beijing Games, as well as identifying potential sponsors and areas for market development;
6. Protecting Olympics-related
intellectual property.
BOCOG will publish a market development plan at the end of this year or in early 2003. The [marketing] department will see to it that the most important sponsorship
contracts will be signed before the 2004 Athens Games begin. After the BOCOG logo and mascot for the Beijing Games are chosen, the committee will, with IOC approval, begin working to promote the
franchised production and marketing of souvenirs in China. The same will apply worldwide after the 2004 Olympics.
Michael R. Payne, the IOC marketing director, said the IOC will provide BOCOG with US$1 billion. What is this all about?
When here
last October, he said the IOC had this sum ready, from TOP, for use by Beijing to host the 2008 Games. TOP is the worldwide marketing program of the Olympic Movement, providing exclusive sponsorship
opportunities for the Olympic Winter Games, the Olympic Games, the world's 199 national Olympic committees and their Olympic teams, and the IOC itself. Many of the world's most powerful companies have
joined TOP, including Coca-Cola, Eastman Kodak, McDonald's and VISA. Each TOP is of four years?duration, encompassing one Winter Games and one Olympic Games. The sixth will cover the 2005-2008 period.
Under its own rules, the IOC will earmark 40 percent of revenues from the sale of TV rights, and a certain percentage of TOP revenues for use by Beijing to host the 2008 event.
So far, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) of the United States has signed a contract with the IOC on TV rights. In addition, Coca-Cola, Eastman Kodak and two other
transnational companies have joined the sixth TOP. The share earmarked by the IOC for Beijing from the revenues pledged by the five companies is already large enough to make up the $1 billion. Payne
was quite optimistic about the marketing of the Beijing Olympics, saying that never in the past had four sponsors been recruited for TOP as long as seven years before a Games was held.
How can Chinese and foreign companies become involved in the Beijing Games?
Our Games are open to all countries, and international
practices will be applied in all its marketing operations. Chinese and foreign companies will be treated as equals, and the competition will be very intense. As everybody knows, involvement in an
Olympic Games is a golden opportunity in the development of companies. Past experiences prove that such involvement helps promote their global image and increase their share of both the domestic and
international markets. Companies played a vital role in ensuring the success of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, and will again do so at the 2004 and 2008 Games.
There is a wide range of areas in which companies can become involved -sponsorships, supply of materials, technologies /services, franchised production and marketing,
and other things. Right now, companies should lose no time in acquainting themselves with the rules of Olympic marketing, enabling them to prepare sound strategies and plans for involvement.
Beijing's Olympic Games Bid Committee (BOBICO) had a logo. Does BOCOG want a new logo, along with a mascot for the 2008 Games?
The
experience of cities which have hosted Games shows that their organizing committee needed a logo for many reasons ?to protect its own rights and interests, for example. This year, BOCOG will begin
collecting designs for its own logo, anthem and mascot for the 2008 event. Anyone interested in the Beijing Games, and who supports the city, is welcome to contribute. To facilitate marketing, the
committee will make public the final designs of the logo, anthem and mascot before the end of 2002. Selection of the logo and mascot will be the most important job for our Information and Publicity
Department in 2002.
Can you update our readers on the construction of competition sites?
This will be in four phases. The first phase began in August
last year, and will end during this coming June when plans for construction will be finalized ... in effect, the construction sites location decided. Meanwhile, BOCOG will work out various policies for
(construction) bid invitation and tendering, and the specific methods and policies for public bidding to ensure open, fair competition. The second phase begins this month (January), and will finish in
mid-2003. During this period, bidding will be completed for the proprietorship of construction plans and projects. Preparations will be made for actually starting constructions, entailing an
environmental assessment of each project, the ground-leveling of sites, and resettlement of residents in these areas.
The third phase covers mid-2003 to the end of 2006. This will be the major phase of construction, from start to finish. Meanwhile, plans will be drawn up for the
operation of each stadium or gymnasium. From mid-2006, the various stadiums and gymnasiums will be fitted with the type of equipment needed for Olympic contests. Thus everything will be ready before
the Beijing Games open.
What of the budget for construction of the Olympic stadiums and gymnasiums?
The Games total budget is estimated at $1.625 billion.
BOCOG will invest $130 million, mainly in equipment for use during the Games. The government is expected to put in some money, but the bulk of the budget will be covered by funds raised through the
committee's marketing operations. The Beijing Municipal Development Planning Commission is now busy working out fund-raising plans and how the funds from different sources will be used.
In undertaking construction of competition sites, BOCOG will strive to integrate what will be needed for the Olympic Games and what will be required to serve the city's
long-term development. All Olympic-specific facilities must meet the best international standard. Meanwhile, existing facilities will be fully utilized to minimize capital investment. In short, we'll
stick to the principle of practicing economy in hosting the Olympic Games. (Beijing Mayor and BOCOG president Liu Qi has promised an "open and frugal" Beijing Games.)
How will BOCOG effectively supervise construction of Olympics-specific projects?
The Beijing Municipal Government is setting up
an, in effect, "watchdog" office for this purpose. The office will be charged with ensuring that bid invitations and tendering will be fair, open and legitimate. In other words, bid
invitations and tendering will be in strict accordance with the law. Supervisory methods are being worked out to ensure the quality of construction projects, and so is an auditing system for
Olympics-specific construction. Supervision by the general public will be strengthened. To this end, a hotline and web-site will be set up as channels for the reporting of wrong-doings.
What will be done to ensure the fair sharing of business opportunities surrounding the Games?
Public bidding will be open to all
companies in the world. It will cover the entire process for implementation of a project, ranging from its design and construction to the purchase of materials and equipment. While China's bidding and
construction laws are honored, internationally applicable methods will be used at every step. All bidding information will be made public to ensure fair competition.
In February last year, an IOC evaluation commission made a final inspection of Beijing and advised that the proposed sites for the beach volleyball, mountain biking and
"iron-man triathlon events be changed. What was the outcome of the commission's suggestion? BOCOG has now proposed two sites for the beach volleyball competition as alternates to Tian'anmen
Square. A final decision will be made through consultation with the International Volleyball Federation, and the decision will be reported to the IOC for approval.
Following the advice of the IOC commission, the swimming segment of the "iron-man" triathlon will be held in Beihai Park, not Yuyuantan Lake as we had
originally planned.
The mountain biking competition will be at Laoshan Velodrome as originally planned, but the cycling lanes will be renovated on the advice of the Union Cyclist International. This alteration has been approved by the IOC.
