Going for gold in an Olympic year – are sports personalities Brand campaign winners or another face in the crowd?

With London 2012 now less than 500 days away, there is a window of opportunity for brands across the UK to benefit from the nation’s biggest sporting event. The inevitable increased sports interest amongst media and consumers alike will see a swell of sports personalities within marketing and PR campaigns. The question is – what are the real advantages of partnering with personalities as ambassadors and how can brands assess and mitigate the risks of association?

On Thursday 14th April, Edelman Sport brought together a panel of experts to discuss the role of sports marketing and the benefits that sports personalities can bring to brands.

The panel included:

• Jason Gardener MBE, Olympic Gold Medalist
• Mihir Bose, Journalist & Author
• Jacquelin Magnay, Olympics Games Editor, Telegraph
• Abigail Storms, Associate Franchise Director, COMPEED
• James Pearce, Sports News Correspondent, BBC

Watch interviews with the panelists by clicking the right and left arrows below: