Novell Forced To Go For Silver At 2002 Winter Olympics

Novell's marketing engine has spent millions of dollars on fish, ducks, fireflies and dogsleds to elevate Big Red's brand name.

But it may be denied a mammoth opportunity for 2002, even though the opportunity sits in its own backyard.

So far, the Provo, Utah, company's efforts to snag major promotional deals at the Salt Lake City event next February have fallen short.

In January, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded an exclusive multimillion-dollar contract to European giant Sema to be official Technology Systems Integrator for the Olympic games taking place between 2002 and 2008--including the 2002 Winter Olympics in Novell's hometown.

IBM walked away from the table due to the exclusivity of the Sema contract, sources say.

However, Novell's marketing team is working to ensure that, even if the company has missed out on the "gold medal" of promotional deals, the company's name and banner are slapped all over the event.

The company has snagged one minor promotional deal--it will sponsor the speed skating event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. And on Monday, Novell officials met with IOC members during Novell's annual BrainShare event in the hope that some opportunity exists for a bigger chance to get its name out.

"We definitely see this as a big opportunity," Darin Richins, Novell's vice president of corporate marketing, told CRN during an interview at BrainShare. "They ought to have a hometown supplier."

Last year, Novell embarked on a marketing mission to promote the Novell brand name and its One Net strategy. The company plans to continue its series of One Net commercials, featuring fish, ducks and fireflies, in 2001, and intends to spend another $40 million to $60 million this year to educate the market about One Net.

For example, later this year the company plans to launch a series of ads featuring big-name customers and new directory and management products and services. At BrainShare, Novell focused on big One Net wins with United Airlines, On Semiconductor, Bank of Montreal and the U.K. Ministry of Defense.

Sources also say the company recently won a deal with the French government that calls for more than 35 million seats for eDirectory--and that may be just the tip of the iceberg. Novell is also reportedly giving away many eDirectory seats in an attempt to become the de facto directory service for the Internet.

As part of that quest, next month Novell will launch a One Net advertising campaign featuring dogsleds--an image that may be related to its Olympic aspirations. But if Sema has its way, its name will dwarf that of Novell at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

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