MWG includes McCann Erickson, FutureBrand, Octagon, Universal McCann, MRM Worldwide and Momentum, and they were awarded the contract by London 2012 earlier this year to oversee the integrated marketing programme for the Olympics and Paralympics.

 

MWG signed up as a Tier Three partner of London 2012 in May in a deal worth £10 million.

 

It is the first time that an Olympics has signed-up a marketing company as an official partner.

 

The firm is part of the New York-based Interpublic Group which controversially beat Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP to the London 2012 account, is in charge of all aspects of marketing, from the voluntary programme and selling the Olympic mascot to selling tickets and giving advice on Olympic staff uniforms.

 

It is also responsible for website and digital media.

 

Subsidiaries of the group have been involved in previous Olympics, including the opening ceremonies in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.

 

Sykes told insidethegames:  "I would be lying if I said that the sheer scale of the project didn't worry me but this is something we have obviously considered long and hard before undertaking.

 

"In what has been a bad year for almost every company, nothing quite re-energises an organisation like the signing of a contract as big as this.

 

"It is probably the biggest partnership deal this company has ever undertaken – certainly in my time working here – and despite the anxiety, I am hugely confident that we can cope with the size and complexity of an event such the Olympic Games.

 

"And it is truly fantastic to be a part of the greatest sporting event in the world.

 

"It shows potential clients - and rivals - that we can handle an event of the biggest magnitude and the true values of sport that are embodied by the Olympic spirit are certainly something McCann Worldgroup wants to associate themselves with."
 

MWG - amongst a variety of responsibilities – will work with London 2012 to craft the overall look and feel the Games which will take place in under 1,000 days time.

 

Coe and Sykes were joined at a special reception to publicly launch the deal by Brett Gosper, the President and chief executive of McCann Worldgroup UK.

 

Athletes at the event included two of Britain’s table tennis hopes for 2012 – Darius Knight and Beijing 2008 Paralympian Will Bayley as well as swimmer Liam Tancock, who won 50 metres backstroke gold at the World Championships in Rome this year.

 

Coe said: "The London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games are the two largest sporting events on the planet and marketing them has to be one of the most complex tasks that any agency can face.

 

"McCann Worldgroup is one of the few companies in the UK which has the breadth and depth of capability to help us deliver the Games."

 

Gosper, whose father Kevan is a senior member of the International Olympic Committee, said: "In the same way that the Olympic and Paralympic Games provide the world’s greatest athletes with an unrivalled stage to exhibit their talents, it also provides McCann Worldgroup with the same spotlight to demonstrate the collective force of our integrated talents.

 

"McCann Worldgroup will be working to help make London 2012 the most successful and memorable Games ever."

 

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]

 

 

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