Beijing Olympics - Case Study Example

? Beijing Olympics (Case 13 of the of the Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Analyze the reasons why the Chinese government hired a Western public relations firm to work on the 2008 Beijing Olympics 3 Assess the reasons why protesters and activists target events such as the Olympics 4 Evaluate whether the opportunity to reach a global audience by advertising during the Olympics offsets the potential for bad publicity 5 Analyze how well of a job the companies identified in this case did in anticipating and responding to the protests 6 Reference 7 Analyze the reasons why the Chinese government hired a Western public relations firm to work on the 2008 Beijing Olympics The Olympic Games are mega sports and athletics event which is being organized by International Olympic Committee (IOC) in every four years. In 2008, China was the host country for the Olympic and the country has organized the ‘the greatest show on earth” quite brilliantly (Heslop, Nadeau, & O’Reilly, 2010). According to these research scholars, China has not only used its capital city Beijing but also its other cities to showcase its cultural and infrastructural accomplishments during the time of Olympics. Interesting fact is that Chinese government hired a Western public relations firm to work on the 2008 Beijing Olympics instead of local firms in order showcase the brilliance of Chinese culture, technological superiority and infrastructure to rest of the world (Foss and Walkosz, 2008 & Fram, 2008). During the Olympic, Olympic organizing committee took help of public relations firm Hill & Knowlton (WPP Group) to handle its public relationship activities (Clifford, 2008). For last many decades, Chinese government is facing problem from Tibet support groups who are protesting against the encroachment of China in their country. China had experienced bad publicity stint due to widespread publicity of the protest of Tibet support groups before the inauguration of Olympic. Pro-Tibet supporters showed their protest in various cities of western world such as Paris, London, and San Francisco and also interrupted in activities like Olympic torch relay before the Olympic. In some cases, Chinese embassies were attacked by Tibet support groups. Sensitivity of the issue forced Chinese government to think about hiring an international public-relation (PR) who can handle the situation professionally (Ballas & Kanoff, 2008). Preuss (2008) has highlighted the fact that, although China had plenty of domestic PR organizations but Chinese government was not confident enough to take help of these mediocre PR companies to represent the country in the world stage. Chinese government took Olympic game as the stage to showcase their efficiency in terms of infrastructure, technology, marketing etc to western worlds hence in such context, taking help of domestic firms might malign their reputation (Preuss, 2008). Assess the reasons why protesters and activists target events such as the Olympics Olympic is an international event where more than 100 countries participate and China was first time hosting Olympic during 2008. Hence it was the perfect timing for protester to show their protest and bring their agenda for free Tibet in front of representative of international countries. Research scholars such as Fram (2008) and Ballas & Kanoff (2008) have pointed out that Tibet support groups have strategically planned the protest program in order highlight their agenda in front of international countries and gain their support on the agenda. The leaders of protesting groups had created a communication plan and training program for fellow protesters for teaching them how to give interview or even rappel (Clifford, 2008). During the course of Olympic, protesters have changed their agenda from protesting the right of Beijing to organize Olympic to human right violation of Chinese government in different parts of China and China’s investments in Sudan (Clifford, 2008). Kalaya’an Mendoza (who was the coordinator for the forum for Students for a Free Tibet) has stated that Olympic was the monumental opportunity for them to highlight their problems in front representatives and audience of foreign countries and make their agenda as an international issue of concern (Clifford, 2008). Evaluate whether the opportunity to reach a global audience by advertising during the Olympics offsets the potential for bad publicity The answer for the question can’t be a simple one, because using integrated marketing communication (IMC) techniques might help companies, institutions or government to promote its offering but there is still no research available which shows that advertising can help government to completely eradicate or address the damage created by negative publicity. However, there is no doubt that public relation play significant activities play significant role in restoring the confidence of people. However, the case is slightly different in case of usefulness of advertising activities during Beijing Olympic ion order to offset the negative vibe created by supporters of free Tibet. Traditional concept of marketing is dysfunctional in case of restoring public trust and confident which had been damaged due to the protest of supporters of free Tibet. For example, reputation of China is an intangible aspect hence it is subjected to political dimension of the country, one can restore the public confidence on products that have been performed poorly in previous occasion through public relationship activities such as press release or apologetic advertising stints but such efforts might not be sufficient to restore the image of country which has been disgraced by the protest of supporters who are fighting for a moral cause (Ballas & Kanoff, 2008). Taking help of the Zuckerman’s (1979) research, it can be assumed that advertising and public relation of activities might had helped Chinese government to distract the attention of some visitors and audience who are not politically aware of the condition of Tibet but there were people who supported the protest of Tibetans. For these politically aware visitors and audience, public relation activities or advertising were dysfunctional to distract their concern for Tibetans. Zuckerman (1979) has stated that it is very difficult to address intrinsic value system of individuals which is directly related to his/her moral-fiber through external stimulators such as advertising; hence it was difficult for advertising during the Olympics to offset the potential for bad publicity of the country created by supporters of Free Tibet. Analyze how well of a job the companies identified in this case did in anticipating and responding to the protests It is unfortunate that the researcher cannot appreciate the role of public relationship companies such as Hill & Knowlton (WPP Group) and others for their role in anticipating and responding to the protests. Nyiri (2006) has pointed out that it is very difficult to create a standard policy for China due to huge geographic diversity. The PR companies almost failed to judge the magnitude of the protest from Tibetan supporters and they only concentrated in restoring confidence of international visitors and audience while interest of local individuals are largely being ignored by the PR firms (Clifford, 2008 and Ballas & Kanoff, 2008). However, PR companies can’t be blamed for their failure to judge the depth of the issue because the problem was more of political in nature which might not be addressed in 100% accurate manner through integrated marketing communication (IMC) techniques without active intervention of Chinese government. Reference Ballas, T., & Kanoff, E. (2008). Beijing Olympics. Retrieved from http://psucomm473.blogspot.in/2008/11/beijing-olympics-by-tim-ballas-and.html. Clifford, S. (2008). Tibet backers show china value of p.r. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/business/media/14adco.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Foss, S. K., & Walkosz, B. J. (2008). Definition, equivocation, accumulation, and anticipation: American media’s ideological reading of China’s Olympic Games”, in Price, M. E., & Dayan, D. (Eds). Owning the olympics: Narratives of the new china. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. pp. 346-74. Fram, A. (2008). Poll: Most in china expect olympics to help image. New York, NY: Associated Press. Heslop, L. A., Nadeau, J., & O’Reilly, N. (2010). China and the olympics: Views of insiders and outsiders. International Marketing Review, (27.4), 404-433. Nyiri, P. (2006). Scenic spots: Chinese tourism, the state, and cultural authority. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. Preuss, H. (2008). Signaling growth: China’s major benefit from staging the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Harvard Asia Pacific Review, (9.1), 45-9. Zuckerman, M. (1979). Attribution of success and failure revisited or the motivational bias is alive and well in attribution theory. Journal or Personality, (47.2), 246-87. Read More