Samsung is never one to shy away from spending money on advertising or on marketing their products, especially when they can take center stage for a huge, world-like, event – such as the Olympics. According to their Press Release, Samsung began its involvement with the Olympic Games as a local sponsor in the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games. Samsung extended its commitment beginning with the Nagano 1998 Olympic Winter Games and made a commitment to the Olympic Movement as the Worldwide Olympic Partner in the Wireless Communications Equipment category (could the name be any longer?). Samsung has hosted various functions to bring excitement and awareness to the Olympic Games – so it only makes sense that after they handed out the Olympic Edition of the Galaxy Note 3 at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi to each and every athlete and coach – that they would extend this partnership through 2020.
The signing ceremony took place on August 17th in Nanjing, China, the host city of the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games. IOC President Thomas Bach and Jay Y. Lee, Vice Chairman at Samsung Electronics attended the ceremony. Younghee Lee, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing, IT & Mobile Division at Samsung Electronics said:
“Samsung aims to spread the Olympic spirit through our innovative products, enabling all fans around the world to stay connected and share the excitement of the Olympic Movement. We are proud to extend our involvement, as it is meaningful to us to inspire people through the passion that lies behind the Games and contribute to creating a smarter Olympic Games. Samsung will officially sponsor the Olympic Games through the Pyeong Chang 2018 Olympic Winter Games and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the “Wireless Communications Equipment and Computing Equipment” category.”
Thomas Bach, IOC President said, “We are delighted to be able to continue our partnership with Samsung. The funding generated by the TOP Programme directly supports the staging of every Olympic Games, as well as every one of the National Olympic Committees, enabling athletes from all over the world to prepare for and compete at each Games. Samsung also supports the operations of each Games by providing leading wireless telecommunications and technology equipment. In addition, Samsung’s technologies and global marketing reach will engage fans around the world with the Olympic values and the Olympic Movement.” It sounds like a partnership made in heaven – glad that Samsung can afford to support the Olympic Games and I am sure that the participants enjoy getting free devices. Please hit us up on our Google+ Page and let us know what you think about the Samsung-Olympic relationship…as always we would love to hear from you.