MMD Newswire: Press Release News Wire

March 17, 2010 (MMD Newswire) -- Although awareness of the Olympic Games was high, interest was not. In Asia, of those sampled, a total of 91% were aware that the Winter Games were taking place in 2010 and of this subset, a total of 81% were aware that these Games were taking place in Canada. In stark contrast, only 36% of respondents in Asia were very interested in the Winter Games, which is much lower than interest in the Summer Games (52%).

A total of 34% reported to be watching the Winter Games. This means that three quarters did not watch such monumental Olympic moments such as American Evan Lysacek outskating Evengi Plushenko to take gold in men's figure skating, or Sydney Crosby scoring in overtime to reunite the Canadian Men's hockey team with gold. This is despite the fact that more than half of the population predicts they will watch the Olympic Summer Games in two years.

One way to cultivate interest in the Winter Olympic Games in the East is to promote Women's events. Surprisingly, the Winter Games attracts more people who plan to watch women's events than those who plan to watch men's.

Another way to nurture interest in the Winter Games in the East is to promote the Games via television advertising. It was found that the more television a person watched, the more interested they were in the Games.

In conclusion, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games evoked pride and excitement in people all over the world, but Asia's lack of interest and engagement for the Winter Games can be met with strategic promotions and positioning for the upcoming 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.

Jason Ten-Pow

OnResearch Inc.
President of Research Operations
905.731.5567 x223
jtenpow@onresearch.com | www.onresearch.com

Anthony Plescia

OnResearch Inc.
Research Analyst
905.731.5567 x262
aplescia@onresearch.com | www.onresearch.com

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