Korea food industry to postpone marketing promotions for Tokyo Olympics
Jul 19, 2021
Seoul [South Korea], July 19 (ANI/Global Economic): The food industry used to release new products every season of global sports events such as the Olympics and the World Cups and hired sports stars as their products model.
However, it is analyzed that the food industry did not have enough time to prepare for the Olympics marketing promotions because it was uncertain whether the Olympics would be held this year.
Some food companies including CJ CheilJedang and LOTTERIA have started Olympics marketing. There are only a few companies conducting Olympic promotions, but it is expected that lots of food companies will start Olympics marketing if the Korean national team achieve the gold medal.
According to related industries July 16, 96 per cent of the Tokyo Olympics games, which will begin on July 23, will be held without spectators. This is because the Japanese government has declared the 4th COVID-19 state of emergency for six weeks until the 22nd of next month, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 before the Olympics.
In addition, French President Macron is the only overseas summit who announced to participate in the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. The summits of major countries such as the US and China reportedly refused to attend the opening ceremony due to the risk of COVID-19 infection.
The professional sports stars also refused to participate in Tokyo Olympics. The male tennis players, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, have declared they will not participate in the Olympics. Dustin Johnson, the word's golf champion, also announced that he would not compete in the Olympics. In addition, basketball stars LeBron James and Stephen Curry will not participate.
It was unclear until recently whether the Olympics would be held, and even though the Olympics was decided to be held, many sports stars and global leaders have declared to be absent. This is why the food industry delayed marketing for the Olympics.
Also, the anti-Japanese sentiment of the MZ generation (millennial + Z generation), the main consumer of the food industry, is getting greater. Japan marked Dokdo in Japanese in the Olympics map, and has also claimed sovereignty over Dokdo through the 2021 defense white paper.
As Japan has strongly claimed sovereignty over Korean territory, Dokdo islands, before the Olympics, the anti-Japanese sentiment has widely spread not only in the government but also in the Korean people. The food industry said that it is difficult to actively promote Olympic marketing in this situation.
However, some food companies have recently started Olympics marketing. CJ Cheil Jedang decided to carry out the Olympic campaign to support Korean national team of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with its brands, Bibigo and GOURMET.
LOTTERIA hired popular football star, Son Heung-min, as its model and has promoted the campaign to support Korean athletes. LOTTERIA's new advertisement has the message, 'Let's Not Lose', and supports Korean national team of the Tokyo Olympics.
There are some opinions that other companies in various industries including food industry will also start the Olympic campaigns and promotions to support the athletes if the Olympics are held on schedule and the Korean team wins gold medals.
The Tokyo Olympics are still criticized for being promoted by the Japanese government in the COVID-19 pandemic. However, if the Korean national team achieves good performances as the expectation of public, it is predicted that many campaigns and marketing will be promoted for consumption-boosting effects of the Tokyo Olympics. (ANI/Global Economic)