UPDATED 10:12 EST / JULY 26 2012

Tech Gets Sporty: Mobile Business and Usage at 2012 London Olympics

It seems like marketers are hoping to win bigger than the athletes at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Leading brands like Coca Cola and Visa are launching their largest, multi-dimensional marketing campaigns for the Games. The three tech companies (of 11 total corporate sponsors), Samsung, Acer and Panasonic, are outnumbered by other businesses sponsoring the games. Still, a recent Essendex infographic suggests all the mobile activity surrounding the events promises a big return on tech investment.

Olympic fans around the world are using their phones to watch the games, share their favorite moments, and keep up with the latest news and results. The BBC will feature 2,500 hours of mobile coverage on tablets, mobile phones and internet connected televisions.

Samsung’s Galaxy S III, it’s latest Android, is the official phone of the games. Samsung is providing a special edition of the Galaxy S III with a Visa payment app that includes a NFC (Near Field Communications) feature to make purchases at Visa’s PayWave kiosks across the Olympic grounds and London. The NFC allows for easy payment by simply tapping the phone at a booth; According to Joanna Stern of ABC News, there are over 140,000 payment terminals across the United Kingdom.

The 29.4 million international visitors to the UK will enjoy access to the 500,000 wi-fi hotspots set up for the London games. 87% of people state they will use social media or text about the summer Olympics.

After Camille Lacourt’s Gold Medal win for swimming, a friend revealed his cell phone number on French TV. Soon after, Lacourt received 7,000 SMS messages. Mobile communication is as fast as it is pervasive: “2, 117, 180 SMS messages can be sent worldwide in the time it takes Jamaica’s Usain Bolt to run his 100 meter record of 9.58 seconds!”


The Mobile Olympics infographic


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