A landmark deal on home soil is reshaping the sports marketing playbook. We unpack Commonwealth Bank’s blockbuster move into the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games alongside CMO Jo Boundy.
The Commonwealth Bank has become the founding partner and official bank of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, supporting a defining moment on home soil and helping deliver lasting economic and community benefit. In addition to this partnership, CommBank is also the premier banking partner for the Australian Olympic Committee, Paralympics Australia and the Australian Olympics and Paralympic teams.
Our cluey readers would have noticed that CommBank has come on board six years before the Olympics grace Brisbane. That’s no accident, for head marketer Boundy, the Games provides a unique opportunity. The Olympics, she told B&T, will “create such a great impact for the country, and we wanted to come on board early to start to drive some of the great benefits for the nation”.
Brisbane 2032 is expected to drive significant economic activity across Queensland and the broader Australian economy, while showcasing the country on the global stage. It offers unparalleled attention, too, with around five billion people tuning in for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Independent analysis commissioned at the time of Brisbane’s bid estimated up to $17.6 billion in national economic benefit and $8.1 billion for Queensland over a 20-year period over the life of the Games and its legacy impacts. Additionally, analysis projected the Games to support more than 120,000 full-time equivalent jobs, across construction, tourism, hospitality and event delivery.
For Boundy, the play goes well beyond sponsorship optics, with a focus on long-term national and commercial impact. The fact that CommBank only operates in Australia has not deterred Boundy from inking the deal with the global sporting competition.
“This is all about leaving a really big, lasting legacy and impact for Australia. There’s $2.5 billion of goods and services which has been identified that will need to be procured in part of building towards the game. So how do we come up more early to help our small business customers put their best foot forward for that? How do we help the government with the infrastructure build? How do we help our customers think about, you know, how they’re going to participate in with the game. That’s why it’s so much more than a logo on a sporting outfit,” she added.
CommBank is no stranger in the sporting space, it is the largest supporter of football in Australia’s history and it sponsors CommBank Stadium, supporting the communities of Western Sydney.
Boundy lifted the lid on how the bank weighs up its sporting partnerships, explaining that it looks beyond logos and leagues to where it can drive the greatest national impact.
“This global tournament has a significant impact. When we look at sponsorships and partnership strategies, we don’t just look at one particular component. We do an assessment and we look at where can we have the biggest impact for the country, and that’s whether that includes the economy, includes our communities, it’s where we can have the biggest impact for our customers. And when we were assessing this opportunity, it was evident that it ticked all of those boxes,” she said.
Jo Boundy was one of the 20 extraordinary head marketers to be featured in B&T’s CMO Power List, presented by atn.
