Japanese companies in trouble at the Olympics

In 1964, the world used the giant antenna developed by NEC to watch the Tokyo Olympics through global satellite broadcasting for the first time.inside Tokyo Olympics Starting in July this year, NEC will deploy new technologies again.

The company’s facial recognition system will be installed in stadiums to identify athletes and staff, because despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the government will continue to promote its promised “safe and reliable” Olympics.

However, NEC or other Olympic sponsors may not promote the technology used in the Olympics this summer, whether it is related to Toyota’s self-driving cars or the safety robot developed by Secom.

As one sponsor sternly admitted, silence is the best marketing strategy for navigating in a toxic environment, in which any association with the event is possible Damage the corporate brand.

Another CEO quietly retracted the comments he had published to the Financial Times a few months ago that he loves sports and hopes that the Olympics will continue, and said that comments that should be harmless under any other circumstances are inappropriate. Yes, because the public’s opposition to sports lingers. game.

NEC’s unexpected involvement in a scandal further demonstrated the danger of the current situation. The scandal revealed how much risk the Olympics poses to the Japanese government and companies.

Since Takuya Hirai on Friday, the country’s Digital Minister, Has always been the topic of Japanese TV shows Leaked recording Obtained by Asahi newspaper. He heard him urge his subordinates to use “threats” against the NEC chairman. One comment from the online conference in April was particularly prominent: “If they complain too much about this Olympics, we will completely exclude them.”

At the heart of the event was a contract worth US$66 million-which does not seem to be related to Olympic sponsorship-signed by the government with a consortium including NEC to develop a smartphone application to track foreign audiences and other Olympic-related staff. Health status. With the decision to ban overseas audiences, the government has requested the cancellation of the contract with NEC.

Kazuo Hirai later admitted that his comments were inappropriate, but denied that these comments were directed at NEC. He also defended the use of his language to reflect his “strong determination” to cut costs. In addition to confirming that it has accepted the contract change, NEC declined to comment.

This incident may be just a ministerial mistake, but for NEC and 46 other Japanese companies that jointly paid more than US$3 billion to support the Olympics, whether the connection to the Olympics is really worth their money is a serious question.

The game is scheduled for Most sponsored Sports events in history, but even before they were postponed due to the pandemic, some CEOs privately expressed doubts about their return on investment.

Although the decision to participate in what is considered a national project initially seemed low-risk, the company accepted a non-exclusive contract, creating a situation where direct competitors such as Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways Holdings were sponsors.

The last time Tokyo hosted the Olympic Games was in 1964, when official and exclusive corporate sponsorship had not yet been established, and it seemed natural to participate in Japan’s post-war moments to showcase its company’s recovery from failure. But the same patriotism will no longer be enough to justify their sponsorship this year.

To be sure, as the vaccination program accelerates, public sentiment may change when the Olympics are held, and the company may even-although it is too late-get the marketing benefits they hope.

But even if they manage to survive these Olympics safely, global Olympic sponsors such as Toyota and Panasonic are facing another minefield. The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is approaching, and companies are likely to Under pressure from rights defense Oppose China’s human rights violations in Xinjiang.

For a long time, Japanese companies simply viewed sports as something they need to support, but as Olympic sponsorship becomes more politicized and controversial, more sophisticated technology will be required.

kana.inagaki@ft.com