2010 Olympics Business News for the Vancouver and Whistler regions of British Columbia. Plus, Alberta, the rest of Canada, Washington State, Oregon, Idaho, Montana & California

OlyBLOG Features:

Tips to Drive 2010 Traffic to your Retail Location & Restaurant

How to DEAL with NAYSAYERS ...

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson advised Vancouverites recently to prepare to become unaccredited citizen journalists so they can leverage Olympic momentum during Vancouver's 2010 Games. Many in the crowd underestimated the historical importance of his statement. It is the first time ever a reigning mayor encouraged locals to interfere in VANOC/IOC business using Web 2.0 technology. History in the making»
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:: 2010 Strategy Case Study :: Retailers & Restaurateurs
In September 2008 an interesting event occurred in Vancouver's trendy Kitsilano burb. The following case study demonstrates the unique challenges retailers face, and how difficult it is to market to and leverage an Olympic style crowd. I wrote about it at length on my web marketing website, and think OlyBLOG readers will also find it interesting.

Red Bull, the energy drink people, promoted an event on 4th Avenue that attracted what media estimated to be a crowd of about 35,000 Vancouverites. The turnout, massive by any standards, caught most retailers by surprise.

In fact, many 4th Avenue retailers are still wondering how so many people converged on the street on one sunny day in September, but yet for most retailers and restaurants the huge crowd only marginally boosted sales. Some shops actually did less business.

Shopkeepers watched in frustration as crushing crowds stumbled by.
Some experienced property damage, insurance risks, and a spike in shoplifting, but still the added expense of dealing with such a large crowd hardly increased sales enough to warrant the chaos. :: read more»