There’s excitement, tension and still a bit of mystery surrounding the Boston 2024 Olympic dream of being a host city, which keeps moving forward in anticipation of a November statewide 2016 referendum. The International Olympic Committee plans on making its host selection in 2017.
In recent weeks, we’ve seen a flurry of announcements about venue sites for tennis (Quincy), sailing (New Bedford) and last Thursday we learned that TD Garden ( Boston ) would host gymnastics and basketball finals, should Boston get the nod from the Unites State Olympic Committee (USOC) and be named host of the Games.
The recent shift in marketing strategy hasn’t gone unnoticed by Harvard Business School Professor Stephen Greyser, who teaches Marketing and Business and specializes in brand marketing, corporate communications and the business of sports.
In an interview with WGBH Morning Edition host Bob Seay, Greyser says, “ there’s no question that Boston 2024 has changed direction, and what they hope is a positive direction from there initial approach, which has been the marketing of great vision, but not marketing a great plan, which was inadequate.”
Greyser, says, “Clearly the venue shifts of more widespread sites, including New Bedford and Billerica, counter’s the Boston 2024 Committee's original premise and promise of a walk- able Olympics. However, he says having a few new city sites is a key element of the new plan.” He says says spreading out the venue for events brings broader engagement and community pride.
However, Greyser says it could be problem if the USOC doesn’t’ choose Boston as host City, possibly creating the risk of an image problem for Boston, as to whether it's up to the challenge of being a world-class city.
To listen to the entire interview with Harvard Business School Professor Stephen Greyser and Bob Seay click on the audio file above.
