The Olympics Games will kick off tomorrow (23 July), and a number of teams representing Kenya in various sports have already arrived in Japan.
The National Olympic Committee of Kenya has since released a legal advisory regarding corporate conduct during the games.
The guidelines are strict, and the Committee expects corporates to adhere to them else they will be sued.
According to the Committee, the guidelines are based on the Olympic Charter of 2020, as well as the IOC Commercial Opportunities Guidelines 2020.
The first regulation states that all Olympic properties, including but not limited to the Olympic rings, the Olympic Anthem, the Olympic flag, the Olympic motto, Olympic flame and torches, the Olympic designations, words “Olympics”, “Tokyo 2020”, “Team Kenya” and all other Team “X” refer to the competing teams, and the names, images, and likeness of Team Kenya sportsmen and women, are under the custody of the Kenya Committee that is also representing the International Olympics Committee.
To this end, corporates must be cleared and licensed by the Committee before using the aforementioned designations or properties.
The Committee adds that no corporate entity unless licensed by the Partner of Team Kenya, has the right to use or publish the materials for reasons of direct or indirect marketing promotions.
That’s not all as the Committee adds that congratulatory messages on social media and all other public platforms including but not limited to TV advertising and print advertising attempting to infer an association with the Games or the team are highly prohibited.
Celebs and influencers have also been warned against using the materials for their sponsored posts with the games.
Ambush marketing is frowned upon and will result in legal action.
Social media use cases will apply approved hashtags: #TeamKenya #Tokyo2020 #Olympics and derivatives created from the Olympics properties. However, the tags are only the preserve of the Kenya Committee.
To note: #TeamKenya will be used for editorial purposes by the media, but only after they have been licensed by the CA.
However, private citizens, meaning you and I can use #TeamKenya and other tags for personal use on social media pages.
Another note: the official Team Kenya Partners are Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage, Kenya Breweries Ltd – Tusker, Kenya Charity Sweepstake and Safaricom.
