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Music began as lights were dimmed. Male, female and child models emerged into the spotlight from offstage, each dressed in sportswear adorned with the Olympic emblem: Dancing Beijing. Special Olympic souvenir pins they held were displayed to their Beijing International Convention Center audience.

Though this was a fashion show that displayed various bits of Olympic licensed merchandise, the November 2, 2005, show also marked the launch of the Beijing 2008 Licensing Programme.

The event was the opening of the second of a three-section Beijing 2008 Olympic Marketing Plan, a Sponsorship Programme that began on September 1, 2003. Stamp and special coin programmes are expected to follow in the programme’s third section. The Licensing Program is regarded as another milestone in Beijing’s preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games. 

Licensed manufacturers and retailers are key participants in the licensing programme, according to Yuan Bin, head of Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) Marketing Department. Licensed manufacturers are authorized by the BOCOG marketing department manage the rights to design, manufacture and sell licensed Olympic products, but licensed retailers are limited to selling products only. As a key element of the licensing program, Beijing 2008 Official Licensed Products refers to Olympic products manufactured or sold by the companies accredited by BOCOG. Only licensed manufacturers or retailers of Olympic products have delegated intellectual property rights to make or sell these products.

Yuan Bin said the recruitment of licensed manufacturers will be based on the categories of licensed products to be marketed; the selection of licensed retailers will take place in accord with the locations of licensed merchandise stores. Each activity will take place publicly and non-exclusively. Yuan said, as a basic requirement, that both licensed manufacturers and retailers should pay royalties for their licensed rights; amounts will vary according to the kinds of products sold. The money derived from this effort will go directly to the layout of the licensed merchandise stores and to relevant marketing research and training. The licensed companies will be allowed to profit from the manufacturing or sale of licensed products.

Evaluation and Measurement Criteria for Licensed manufacturers:

l        Status of credit and financing;

l        Authentications of relevant qualifications including quality authentication and environmental-protection certification;

l        Marketing strength;

l        Ability to conduct product research, development and design;

l        Production organising strength;

l        Ability of construction and management of information systems;

l        Logistics;

l        Licensed-operation plans and

l        Experience of the licensed operation.

Evaluation and Measurement Criteria for Licensed Retailers:

l        Status of credit and financing;

l        Experience in handling branded-product management;

l        Current sales networks;

l        Ability to build a sales network and management system;

l        Ability to construct and manage information systems;

l        Logistics;

l        Licensed retailing plan and

l        Experience of licensed retailing.

When answering a question concerning opportunities for overseas companies, Yuan Bin said, “Companies from the Hong Kong SAR are already involved in the design and manufacturing of the licensed products. For foreign companies, as stated in the Marketing Plan, the licensing programme is of two parts: a National and an International Programme. Selling Beijing 2008 Olympic licensed products in foreign countries is a part of the International Programme. An agreement must be reached between the International Olympic Committee, BOCOG and the National Olympic Committee of a third country before sales may begin in a country outside China. Foreign countries will surely have much chance.”

More Variety and More Channels for Consumers      

With a goal of promoting Olympic Ideals and the Olympic Brand and providing quality consumer products, the Beijing 2008 licensing programme will have more licensed products to meet the needs of consumers nationwide.

Six hundred designs, including licensed products, are already on the market and 11 categories of licensed products are expected to be developed. Among them are casual suits, pins, stationery, toys, trunks and bags, arts and crafts, daily use products, audio and video products, publications, sports utilities, food and more.

In addition to 27 licensed merchandisers in operation in Beijing, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, Nanjing, Chengdu and Shenzhen, more such stores will be opened in more cities and at more special locations. BOCOG is planning to provide purchase-by-mail service and will open online shops to serve Olympic-merchandise consumers. 

All licensed products are to be sold in licensed merchandise stores that will feature consistent store images, whose operations are certificated by BOCOG. Proof of certification can be seen inside the stores. To foil counterfeit producers, each licensed product has attached an anti-counterfeit label with a toll-free telephone number (800 810 0010). This has already proven to be a viable tactic against counterfeiters. The labels contain the addresses of licensed stores, varieties and prices of licensed products and are affixed with anti-counterfeit labels.       

The Mascot

Jian Xiaoyu, deputy executive chairman of BOCOG, said an announcement of the official mascot of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will be made at 8 p.m. on November 11, 2005. This is a key element of the licensed products programme and a major item affecting Olympic sales profits. Products featuring the Games’ mascot will be put on the market immediately following the announcement, which will mark a 1,000-day countdown to the Beijing Games.

Three hundred varieties of six categories of official mascots were created targeting audiences from children who may covet mascot markers costing only a few yuan to the high-end adults seeking gold pins worth thousands of yuan. Toy mascots are expected to be best-sellers, and on November 12, the State Post Bureau, authorized by BOCOG, will issue a first set of Beijing-Olympics-commemorative stamps featuring the emblem and mascot.  

For the sake of customer convenience, in addition to the merchandise stores that are already available, 160 temporary retailers have been chosen to market the Olympic-mascot products nationwide.

According to a speech made by Liang Mei, deputy-director and secretary-general of the China Toy Association, representing nationwide toys manufacturers at the Beijing 2008 Licensing Launch ceremony, four toy manufacturers have already been selected as licensed manufacturers for the mascots. Liang also said she felt honoured by and happy for the selected companies. 

l        Detailed information about the Beijing 2008 Licensing Programme and relevant information is available at: www.beijing2008.com 

Sidebar

l        The testing phrase of the Beijing 2008 Licensing Programme lasted from August 2004 to August 2005.

l        During that period, three recruitment drives seeking licensed companies were conducted and seven categories of products were developed, including casual suits, pins, stationery, toys, trunks and bags, arts and crafts and daily products.

l        Twenty-seven licensed merchandise stores were opened.

l        By the end of August 2005, 600 licensed products of different designs had been manufactured for sale and the total volume of these sales reached 600 million yuan (US$74.15 million).