THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 1, 1995 TAG: 9507010495
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Hampton Roads didn't get to host the 1996 Olympics. Atlanta did. But a Norfolk business has plans to cash in on the famous five-ringed Olympic logo.
First Colony Coffee & Tea Co. has been granted a license from the Atlanta Olympic committee to use the Olympic symbol to sell its coffee and gifts.
``We're expecting to sell multimillions of dollars of the items over the next 18-month period,'' said Joseph Breslin, president and CEO of First Colony. ``We see it as a real boon, and we're happy to be helping the Olympic effort as well.''
First Colony's license won't place it among the ranks of multinational corporate patrons such as Coca-Cola, IBM, UPS and Xerox. Those companies have ponied up about $40 million each to be official sponsors.
The Norfolk coffee roaster's license to use the Olympic symbol falls into another tier of sponsorship. The licensing rights didn't cost First Colony anything up front, but the company will return a percentage of sales from the products to the committee's fund-raising effort.
Licensees for the games have already sold $250 million worth of merchandise, said Scott Mall, spokesman for The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.
``We're a little bit more than a year out from the start of the games,'' Mall said, ``and we've already reached the level of Los Angeles, which was a very successful program.''
Eighty percent of the $1.6 billion the Atlanta committee needs will come through sponsorships, licensees and television rights. The Atlanta committee needs to raise more money than Los Angeles, he said, because the Georgia city needs to build $500 million worth of stadiums and dormitories.
The Olympic organizing committee in Atlanta wanted to pull smaller companies - particularly from Georgia -into the marketing bonanza surrounding the games. Unable to find a Georgia coffee company, the committee found First Colony.
``Our reputation was good - and we were also fortunate,'' Breslin said. ``They were putting this program together, and they came to us.''
More than 100 companies have secured licenses to use the Olympic symbols like First Colony, Mall said. They include companies that will sell T-shirts, caps, key chains, candies and even Barbie dolls. But First Colony has exclusive rights within the gourmet coffee market, he said.
First Colony has been working on prototypes. A limited number of items will be available in two weeks, Breslin said, with a complete rollout in the fall.
Coffee flavors will play off the Olympics and its location: Torch Blend, Georgia Pecan and Gold Medal Blend.
The committee hopes First Colony sells a stadium full of coffee.
``I'm hoping it spurs sales for them,'' Mall said. ``Obviously, that's how we will make some money.
``It spreads our recognition a little bit further, earns us some money, and from their perspective it associates them with the largest peacetime event in world history.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Lawrence Jackson, Staff
The company's new coffee flavors will play off the Olympics: Torch
Blend and Gold Medal Blend.
Color drawing by Robert D. Voros, Staff
by CNB