London 2012 - Full coverage of marketing and brand activity at the Olympics in London

Paralympics coverage changed disability perceptions, says C4

Channel 4 has claimed its coverage of the Paralympics, which reached 37 million people and nearly doubled its average viewing share, has helped change public perception of disability.

Paralympic ceremony 'exactly right' to widen focus from Britishness

The Paralympic closing ceremony was right to focus on a wider message than just expressing 'Britishness', comms PROs have suggested.

Sport celebrates London 2012 but admits commercial gains limited

Sport, UTV's free London weekly magazine, has extended its print run so it can be distributed during Team GB's victory parade today, but admits commercial gains this summer have been limited.

London 2012 Paralympics Closing Ceremony attracts 7.7m

Coldplay's set during the Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony helped Channel 4 attract a peak audience of 7.7 million, nearly as high as ITV's long-established ratings topper 'X Factor'.

BA to say 'thank you' in flypast over Olympics parade

British Airways is to lead a fly-past with the Red Arrows over London today during the Olympics Greatest Team Parade to mark the end of the games.

Peacock and Weir have mainstream appeal, say sponsorship experts 1

Jonnie Peacock, David Weir and other Team GB Paralympian stars now have mainstream appeal and will attract similar size sponsorship deals to Olympians, but the stars will need to cash in now, according to sponsorships experts.

Samsung enlists Paralympic athlete bloggers

Samsung has enlisted Paralympic athletes to create digital content using its devices, as part of its sponsorship of the Paralympic Games, which start today (29 August).

C4 and BP team up for Paralympic tweet campaign

BP has teamed up with Channel 4 to persuade the nation to tweet good luck messages to the energy giant's three Paralympic athlete ambassadors.

Cadbury's Olympic sponsorship leads to 2.5m social media fans 2

Cadbury is planning to mirror its social media Olympic activity with a similar push supporting the Paralympics, after claiming its Olympic sponsorship has won it millions of new social fans.

C4 Paralympic ad slots attract big advertisers

Tesco, Apple and Google are among more than 50 non-Olympic-sponsor brands understood to have bought ad packages around Channel 4's coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Yorkshire Tea mints Gold tactical ad

Yorkshire Tea has run a tactical press ad rejoicing at the number of Olympic gold medals won by athletes from the county.

VIDEO: Q&A with Coke's global Olympics marketer

Claudia Navarro, Coca-Cola's global director of marketing for the Olympic Games, speaks to Marketing about the brand's learnings from London 2012 and strategy for the next Olympics.

Visa celebrates Usain Bolt's win

Visa Europe has turned around a 10-second ad featuring Usain Bolt's 100 metres Olympic win, which took place on Sunday night (5 August) and was watched by 20 million UK viewers, as part of its 'Flow Faster' campaign.

Retail sector limps along with 'lacklustre' Olympic effect 1

Retail failed to receive a pre-Olympics boost in July and the "lacklustre" performance is expected to continue through London 2012, according to the BRC-KPMG retail sales monitor.

Adidas targeted with giant 'exploitation' projection at Olympic Park

Olympic sponsor Adidas has been ambushed by a giant projection on a tower block overlooking the Olympic Park, that linked the brand with exploitation.

BT launches brand campaign to boost Olympic profile

BT is launching an ad campaign midway through the London 2012 Olympics to highlight its role in delivering communication services during the Games.

McDonald's responsive Olympic campaign airs with fans' footage

McDonald's has shifted into the next phase of its £10m Olympics campaign, airing pictures and footage straight from fans during the events, which are used as the creative for its 'We're All Making The Games' campaign.

Jessica Ennis tipped for sponsorship frenzy

Jessica Ennis could net £3m a year in sponsorship deals following her Olympic success while fellow gold medallists Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah are also set to attract sizeable interest, according to marketing experts.

Mo Farah's gold brings BBC 17.1m viewers

Mo Farah, the British long-distance runner who won gold in the 10,000 metres at the Olympic Games on Saturday night delivered an audience of 17.1 million viewers, the highest audience so far.

Oddbins escapes legal action from 2012 organisers

Oddbins has escaped legal action from London 2012 organisers over its controversial Olympic marketing stunt, which highlighted how the chain has been prevented from referring to the Games in its marketing while pushing its discounts on wine.

Coca-Cola chief counters Olympic seats issue

Coca-Cola's chief executive Muhtar Kent has sought to distance his company from the public backlash over empty seats at Olympic venues, claiming the brand has "a very, very high usage of tickets allocated to us".

Industry view: Will Opening Ceremony boost Britain's appeal abroad? 1

Only one country could call on Bean, Bond and the Queen to sell itself to the world, but what did the inbound tourism industry make of the Olympic Opening Ceremony's smoking chimneys and skydiving sovereign?

Haymarket Network tackles 4,000 page Olympic task

With the London 2012 Olympic Games in full swing official programmes and magazines supplier Haymarket Network is set to produce 27 daily guides as part of a bigger project spanning more than 4,000 pages of content.

Olympic Opening Ceremony tweeted about 9.7 million times 2

The London 2012 Opening Ceremony was tweeted about nearly 10 million times worldwide, while social media has been blamed for disruption to the weekend's Olympics broadcasts, in what has been billed as the world's first "social Olympics".

London 2012 Opening Ceremony peaks at 26.9m viewers

A domestic TV audience of at least 19 million people stayed tuned from start to finish of the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony as Danny Boyle's idiosyncratic portrayal of Britain was unfolded to the world.

Olympic sponsors deny being at fault for empty seats 1

London 2012 top sponsors have denied being at fault for the empty seats during the first two days of the Olympic Games, while Locog has also claimed the problem is not related to sponsors.

'G4S debacle is a blessing in disguise', claims Olympic advisor 2

The failure of security company G4S to deliver enough guards to safeguard the Olympics will end up being a blessing in disguise for brand London 2012, according to one of the International Olympic Committee's key marketing advisors.

Adidas boosts Olympic sponsorship with Metro deal 1

Adidas, the official sportswear partner of London 2012, is coverwrapping the Metro newspaper for 17 consecutive days during the Olympics, its biggest-ever print campaign.

Nike tests adidas with 'London' spot 2

Nike has revealed a global brand campaign that features amateur athletes from places around the world called London, challenging the official Olympic sponsor adidas.

Paddy Power seeks court order over banned London athletics ads 2

Paddy Power has started legal proceedings against Locog after the organiser of the London Olympics told JCDecaux to take down billboards promoting the bookmaker's sponsorship of an athletics event in London, France.

Gillette goes outdoor for Great Start Olympic campaign 1

Gillette, the shaving brand owned by Procter & Gamble (P&G), has unveiled a major outdoor push as part of its 'Great Start' Olympic campaign, featuring brand ambassadors Sir Chris Hoy, Liam Tancock and Tyson Gay.

Beckham kicks off London Olympics in Samsung ad 1

David Beckham kicks a ball into a drum to signal the beginning of the London 2012 Olympic Games in a new TV ad for worldwide sponsor Samsung.

John Lewis gets patriotic with store wraps

John Lewis, the official department store of London 2012, has wrapped its Oxford Street and Westfield Stratford City stores with branded banners as part of its support for the Games.

Radio Times launches Olympics bumper issue ad

Radio Times has released a TV ad to accompany the release of its special Olympics edition.

Lord Coe misheard Nike question, claims London 2012 comms chief

The London 2012 Olympic's communications chief today (20 July) claimed Seb Coe misheard the question, after the London 2012 chairman appeared confused as to whether the public would be allowed to wear Nike trainers at Olympic venues.

Olympic brand police hit the streets

Around 250 experts in advertising and trading will begin patrolling areas outside Olympic venues, to clamp down on ambush marketing and unlicensed traders.

Border guards striking on eve of Olympics are 'justified'

An industrial correspondent has defended a powerful union for announcing plans to go on strike on the eve of the Olympics.

BOA overturns decision to grant The Voice Olympic stadium accreditation

The British Olympic Association (BOA) has made an embarrassing u-turn after an online campaign forced it to grant accreditation to The Voice newspaper.

London 2012 organisers forced to withdraw 500,000 tickets due to poor sales

London 2012 organisers have been forced to take 500,000 football tickets off the market due to faltering sales, despite supporting the football tournament with marketing activity.

EDF to power London Eye light shows with Olympic tweets

EDF Energy will illuminate the London Eye during the Olympics and Paralympics with a light show made from tweets about the Games.

OMC's Baker vows to 'squash' outdoor ad sabotage campaign 1

Outdoor Media Centre chief executive Mike Baker has confirmed the billboard ads attacked by the subversive 'Brandalism' campaign are in the process of being restored, stating that he wants to "squash it as quickly as possible".

London 2012 transport fears likened to 'Millennium Bug' by Boris Johnson's marketer

Fears of a transport meltdown during the Olympics have been blown out of proportion and will, in the main, prove to be unfounded, like the Millennium Bug, according to the mayor's marketing chief.

British Olympic Association picks Pitch for medallists' brief

The British Olympic Association has chosen sports specialist Pitch to support its Olympics comms and merchandising.

G4S comes under fire for defensive comms stance 2

A G4S insider has criticised its global comms unit for focusing on 'damage control' rather than ongoing reputational enhancement, as the security firm faces calls for the chief executive to resign over the Olympics security fiasco.

Non-sponsors buy majority of Olympic outdoor sites 3

Non-sponsors are understood to have taken the majority of the outdoor media sites within the vicinity of the Olympic venues since rules restricting them to Games sponsors were loosened in January.

Westfield pits East against West for Olympics campaign

Shopping centre operator Westfield is pitting East and West London against each other with a social media campaign that will feature an Olympic merchandise giveaway and a £25,000 prize fund.

McDonald's 'we all make the Games' by Leo Burnett External website

McDonald's, the official restaurant of London 2012 and presenting partner for the Games Maker programme, has launched a spot marking its Olympics association.

London 2012 Olympics rules leading to 'watered-down' PR campaigns

The London 2012 Olympics is in danger of 'alienating audiences' as it bows to corporate backing, leading to 'watered-down' PR campaigns.

GSK pushes Olympic anti-doping role

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is launching its first UK consumer-facing corporate brand campaign for the Olympics, which will showcase its anti-doping operations during the Games.

G4S head of PR defends media handling of Olympic crisis 1

G4S' head of PR has defended the media handling of the Olympics security issue, explaining that the CEO is too busy 'getting the delivery right' to speak to the press.

C4 Paralympics spot invites Britain to 'meet the superhumans'

Channel 4's in-house agency 4creative has created an upbeat 90-second ad showing the herculean preparations of the UK's leading Paralympians and telling the country to 'forget eveything you know about humans'.