Security dulls China’s buzz, but it’s opening up

Beijing — Showers scrubbed the air midway through the 2008 Olympics, leaving a clear view from the local offices of Helios, the Atlanta-based sports marketing giant.

What CEO Chris Welton saw when asked to assess the Games so far was a mixed bag.

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JENNIFER BRETT/jbrett@ajc.com

That’s not an athlete signing for fans – it’s David Brooks, head of Coca-Cola China’s Beijing Olympic Project Group.

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JENNIFER BRETT/jbrett@ajc.com

Says former Atlantan Nancy Tao: ‘Early on, they dubbed this the ‘no-fun Olympics.’ It’s definitely evolving, growing.’

ADDING THINGS UP AT THE OLYMPICS

• 17 million+: Population of Beijing.
• 3,866: The number of individual fireworks in the opening ceremony.
• $40 billion: Estimated amount China spent to hold the 2008 Olympics.
• $75 million to $90 million: Estimated amount of Coca-Cola's investment in marketing and sponsorships.
• Nearly 50%: Percentage of people who spontaneously mentioned Coke as a sponsor in a survey of consumers in 10 cities in China.
• More than 86%: Percentage of people in the study who recognized the brand when prompted.
• 2 million: Approximate number of foreign visitors expected in Beijing for the Olympics.
• 300,000: Number of surveillance cameras watching them.

— Sources: Xinhua News Agency, China Economic Review, R3 marketing consultancy, CSM Media Research, Reuters

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“The athletes appear to be extremely well taken care of,” said Welton, whose firm has worked with a slew of Olympic host cities (including Beijing) and international sports federations. “They’re having a good time.”

On the flip side, he says, the stringent security may explain the slow traffic at some corporate pavilions and what he sees as a lack of citywide buzz.

“In other Olympic cities, there’s literally stuff going on until early in the morning,” he said. “Here you just don’t get the festival feeling, even during the day. They don’t understand the concept of fun.”

Maybe not like Americans, says Nancy Tao, but it’s catching on. Born in America to Chinese parents, Tao and her husband moved here with their 3-year-old son six months ago. A marketing professional, Tao was recruited to work for the Atlanta Games and lived in Atlanta from 1993 until the move.

“Culturally, Chinese don’t show a lot of emotion,” she said. “The Olympics has provided an outlet for them to show their pride.”

Since living here, she’s attended concerts and sporting events where few spectators applauded. But at Olympics events, she’s seen a change. At beach volleyball, for example, the Chinese in the crowd have been shouting and doing the wave — something she never would have imagined.

“Early on, they dubbed this the ‘no-fun Olympics,’ ” she said, referring to reports about tight security precluding much of a party. “It’s definitely evolving, growing.”

While Chinese fans roared Monday night as China’s Zhang Zhilei triumphed in the boxing ring, a sort of regulated fun seems to be the norm at a few Olympics-themed events around town. At an outdoor basketball demonstration in a popular shopping district, for example, spectators lined up to participate while a handful of security guards monitored the crowd.

Yu Lei, a banker, was visiting a Beijing mall with girlfriend Lu Ying the other day. Near one of the entrances, a pair of official Olympics gift stores were mobbed with shoppers eager for rings-themed souvenirs.

“Olympics mean China opens to the world, contact with foreigners,” he said. “It is not important who has the most medals.”

The couple posed for pictures at a display of mannequins of Chinese basketball players. As they took turns snapping pictures, a security guard hurried over — to remind them not to touch the ball.

“You have to remember,” said Tao, the ACOGer turned ex-pat, “this is a Communist country.”

Still, potential capitalism abounds. American firms with an Olympic presence are banking not only on unlocking the power of billions of new customers here but in enhancing their brand back home.

Atlanta Chamber of Commerce President Sam Williams and economic development Senior Vice President Hans Gant have been here promoting present and potential business exchange between Atlanta and China. A raft of former ACOG officials who have gone on to make the Olympics a career have been spotted at after-hours parties.

“What we’re witnessing here is the changing of a nation,” said Atlanta’s George Hirthler, author of the “One World One Dream” logo that adorns nearly every flat surface in Beijing (and is set up in giant letters like the ‘Hollywood’ sign near the Great Wall of China). “This represents the opening of China to the world.”

Not to mention potential profit. Bank of America started casing potential venues for a hospitality pavilion in 2006, said spokesman Joe Goode. The swank, 16,000-square-foot venue hosts about 1,500 visitors a day— mostly Bank of America-sponsored athletes like Dunwoody fencer Sada Jacobson and their families.

“When they know we’re supporting America’s Olympic athletes, our customers are twice as likely to purchase a product,” said Goode. The banking giant has sold “tens of thousands” of Olympic-themed credit cards and checks, he said.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola executives have been mobbed like rock stars at Coke’s pavilion on the Olympic Green. Following a recent event at the venue, residents surged forward for photos and autographs with David Brooks, general manager of Coca-Cola China’s Beijing Olympic Project Group.

Jamie Metzl, executive vice president of the Asia Society, is here working during the Games and sees opportunity and challenge for China.

“The high levels of security have definitely dampened down some of the spontaneity of the Games and made Beijing less fun than it could be,” said Metzl, whose New York-based concern promotes business, cultural and educational exchange between America and Asia. “The Beijing authorities have clearly come to the conclusion that they would rather have less excitement in Beijing than lose control of the message they are trying to deliver with one voice. One world, one dream, the Olympic slogan, is taken quite literally by the government, and there is little room available for the expression of other dreams that could emerge in a more open environment.”

Still, he said, “The Olympics also represent an important next step in the opening of China to outside influences.”