The Olympics catch the world's attention every two years, but for Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co., the games are a nonstop endeavor.

An Olympic supporter since 1928, Coca-Cola is constantly honing its Olympic marketing plan. The group responsible for those efforts also works on the company's FIFA World Cup sponsorship — the only global sporting event that rivals the Olympics.

Coke teams already are working in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games and London for the 2012 Summer Games. The company is laying out plans for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010 and Brazil in 2014. Preliminary work also is being done for the Russia Winter Games in 2014.

Coke's planning for an Olympics begins years in advance. Coke used the 2004 Athens summer games and 2006 Turin winter games to conduct marketing research that shaped its approach to this year's Summer Games in Beijing.

Coke assembled groups in eight countries, meeting with consumers at a W Hotel in Seattle, a villa in Greece and poolside in Italy.

The Olympics are unlike most sports sponsorships, said Kevin Tressler, Coke's director of worldwide sports and entertainment marketing.

Most sports are a constant passion for fans, Tressler said. The Olympics surfaces every two years and pulls in a wide range of viewers who may not be passionate sports fans, he said.

The Olympics stir up thoughts of global harmony, friendship, integrity and striving to be your best, Tressler said.

The underlying theme for Coke's sponsorship is "Live Olympic."

"The whole idea is: 'How can you be inspired to be the best you can be?'" Tressler said.

Coke has a wide range of global marketing efforts to hammer home this connection.

• It has launched a set of Olympic cans and plastic bottles featuring Coca-Cola labeling in languages from around the world. In the weeks building up to the games, special Chinese-language cans and bottles will be sold in 150 countries.
• As part of a West meets East campaign dubbed "WE8," Coke commissioned Chinese artists to create a set of eight limited edition aluminum bottles. Western deejays then created music inspired by one of the bottle designs.
• Coke is partnering with McDonald's in 25 countries for a commemorative set of glasses.

The intensity of the marketing program will vary by country, Tressler said. Activity is strongest in the host country, he said.

Coke began its marketing campaign in earnest in China in February 2007, coinciding with the Chinese New Year celebration.

Outside of the host country, marketing begins a couple of months ahead of the games, Tressler said. The Olympics and Coke's marketing push is strongest in countries such as the United States and Russia, which historically do well at the games, he said.

Marketing elements will be different in each country, but the underlying theme will be the same, Tressler said.

"You will rarely see the Coca-Cola brand around the world in work which shows a lot of athletes running around," he said. "The tonality of the brand is happy; the tonality of the brand is sharing optimism. There is no competition. The idea is how we can bring the world together in a positive way."