Yili's Olympics Ad Campaign: An Excellent Venue for Evoking Emotions

LONDON, Aug. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The marketing competition between Olympic sponsors such as Coca Cola, McDonald's and Yili contributed exciting moments to the recently-concluded Games. Yili, a China-based sponsor for eight years, launched a campaign featuring ordinary Chinese people with extraordinary stories via London's signature red double-decker buses. A London columnist said, "Considering the people starring in the campaign, we can believe ordinary Chinese people are able to find life and start to enjoy life."

Inspiring national pride

Coca Cola's campaign, "China Beat, 2012 London Olympics", invited netizens to take part in the production of an anthem cheering for the Olympics. Hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers were gathered through the song: "The Beats of China Move the World".

Conveying warm Olympic feelings

McDonald's played the family card. A 90 sec TVC showed a boy who tried various ways to catch a glimpse of the Olympic action. His father finally made compromises, staying up late alongside him watching the games while sharing McDonald's fries.

Compared with oversea enterprises featuring family interaction in Ads, Chinese enterprises emphasized persistence in emotions. For example, the sixty-year-old couple who participated in Yili's campaign demonstrated their love by aging together. While pursuing the dream through cycling to London, they enjoy the happiness of interdependence. The campaigns used the Olympic platform to enhance the attitude that consumers held towards brands by touching viewers' emotions while staying away from any emphasis on product information.

Resonating in health values

The slogan: "Find Your Greatness" was remembered in Nike's campaign. Similarly, Yili developed the theme, "Be Your Own Champion", showing that athletes aren't the only stars at the Olympics and that everyone can be champions in their own health.

The "Yili Invites You to Olympics" campaign at the Games' midpoint received warm responses. It invited people to upload photos onto red buses roaming the virtual London streets. The campaign garnered 100,000 unique visitors on its first day.

Today, marketing isn't just about letting consumers know about products. It is about touching their hearts. Yili Group executive president Zhang Jianqiu said, "We have changed the way we view marketing and now focus more on Listening to customers, expressing their feelings and meeting their needs."