5 ms·
> I simply can't understand how it could be viewed positively by any consumer Visa's market research suggests a significant increase in Visa usage and Visa bra
by dangrossman 14y ago
> I simply can't understand how it could be viewed positively by any consumer
Visa's market research suggests a significant increase in Visa usage and Visa brand value among consumers aware of their Olympic sponsorship (which has been ongoing since 1986, and already committed through the next 4 Olympics games):
> According to the U.S. Sponsorship Tracker, a Visa commissioned study following the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games conducted by Performance Research, an independent research company, Visa cardholders
who were aware of Visa’s Olympic Games sponsorship claimed a 16 percent and nine percent increase in Visa card usage in Canada and the US respectively. The same report found Visa’s brand equity was 32 percent and 38 percent higher among consumers who were aware of Visa’s sponsorship in Canada
and the US respectively.
http://corporate.visa.com/_media/olympic-games-media-kit/visa-and-the-olympic-games.pdf http://corporate.visa.com/_media/olympic-games-media-kit/vis...
> I've been trying really hard to understand why Visa would make such an obviously unfriendly and counter-productive decision
The first Olympics game where Visa was exclusively accepted was Calgary 1988. This isn't a decision they just made.
- jacalata 14y agoHe wasn't asking 'why sponsor the olympics', he was asking 'why take the exclusive angle'. Saying 'they've been doing it for years' does not answer that.
- thebigshane 14y agoSaying "they've been doing it for years" implies that it probably works. That is the answer (well okay, it's his answer)
- Deestan 14y agoThat's basically a "Monkey Cage" answer. http://paws.kettering.edu/~jhuggins/humor/banana.html http://paws.kettering.edu/~jhuggins/humor/banana.html
- thebigshane 14y agoFunny but not very enlightening. This isn't a case of generations of companies still following the same pointless habits (wearing suits and ties, etc). If those monkeys were responsible for monitoring a return on a 700 million dollar investment, I think that one of monkeys would try to investigate the situation further. Also, I think science suggests humans are smarter than monkeys [citation needed].
- nopassrecover 14y ago> Visa's market research suggests a significant increase in Visa usage and Visa brand value among consumers aware of their Olympic sponsorship. Couldn't this be that heavy-Visa users notice the company's sponsorship and usage more generally? This doesn't really prove that Olympics sponsorship increases usage. > The same report found Visa’s brand equity was higher among consumers who were aware of Visa’s sponsorship. Again, couldn't it just be that the kinds of people who notice that Visa sponsors things are the kinds of people who already like Visa? This doesn't establish that sponsoring the Olympics helps Visa.
- roel_v 14y ago"Again, couldn't it just be that the kinds of people who notice that Visa sponsors things are the kinds of people who already like Visa?" Could be, but it's highly unlikely that a company who does surveys as its core business doesn't know this and tries to control for it, or at least explain it in they methodology section of the report they deliver.
- jellicle 14y ago>According to the U.S. Sponsorship Tracker, a Visa commissioned study following the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games conducted by Performance Research When a company is paying for research about its own decisions, the research always comes back that the decision was wonderful, or that research firm doesn't get hired again.
- pyre 14y agoJust depends on whether or not the results are meant to public consumption. I find it hard that no one at Visa would want an honest study from time to time, but I can also easily believe that sometimes studies are commissioned with the end-goal being to justify an already set-in-store decision.
- thebigshane 14y agoWouldn't they just be able to look at their own records to see any trends (or lack thereof)? Presumably Visa is investing multi-millions of dollars of into this, surely they expect to see a return on that investment. If the fail to see that return, surely they would stop. They haven't stopped. I'm thinking that the research firm was probably right.
- brazzy 14y agoVisa is not a person. The person who sponsored that campaign probably prioritizes his career over the RoI of the company.
- thebigshane 14y agoI doubt it was one person who decided, negotiated and implemented the sponsoring of this campaign. So what is your point? Does it really seem reasonable to you that no one would notice how entirely unprofitable (hypothetically) the investment is? Over the course of a dozen+ years!?
- brazzy 14y agoIt could quite easily be one high-ranking manager who decided and pushed through such a campaign, and now uses company money to pay for research that "proves" its success and enables him to brush off those who doubt it but lack similar clout. This kind of thing is par of the course for company politics. But probably unlikely to persist this long.
- apike 14y agoA lot of us in Vancouver really resented the "only accepts Visa" thing. It was particularly aggravating in Canada where most people pay with a bank debit card, not Visa or Mastercard. That said, it's not surprising that the overall effect of the sponsorship was positive since refusing MasterCard and debit was only one small aspect of Visa's campaign. Reading about this again in London made me all riled up again, but Morgan Freeman's soothing voice will likely undo the damage soon enough.
- thaumasiotes 14y agoMy bank debit card... IS Visa. I don't think I would have been able to get one that wasn't.
- apike 14y agoIn Canada, debit cards are run by a not-for-profit venture founded by the major banks called Interac. Everybody's standard ATM bank card is usable as a debit card. This is the most common method of payment in the country.
- linuxhansl 14y agoThat is completely besides the point. I'm sure people appreciate VISA's Olympic sponsorship, there is little question about this. Exclusive sponsorship if different from limiting the choices of vendors and customers. People do not like being limited in their choices, I do not think that benefited them.
- VigUi7vv8G2 14y agoRight, but being a Olympics sponsor is mainly something people find out about on TV, not by actually going to the games. Where is the evidence that actually preventing people from using mastercard helps?
- pbreit 14y agoI'm not sure I even understand what is being reported. I have little doubt that the opposite could be demonstrated with equally valid numbers. And did they also survey for spectator displeasure?
- dangrossman 14y agoIf spectator displeasure was a problem on the scale Visa could care about, then brand equity among those surveyed would have gone down instead of up. Why would they care to survey that directly? What matters is whether the sponsorship is a net gain for the Visa brand or not. The research says it is, big time.