The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games today announced the release of two new tier 1 sponsorship categories for the London 2012 Games.

An invitation to tender will shortly be issued for the two new categories – airlines and sportswear.

The announcement was made by London 2012 Commercial Director, Chris Townsend, in a key note address to 'The Power of the Games - 2012 Sponsorship Opportunities' conference in London.

London 2012’s new 5C model, designed to help partner companies access a wide range of powerful business benefits and opportunities associated with sponsoring of the Games was also unveiled for the first time at the conference.

The new model provides a way of quantifying and evaluating how an association with London 2012 could work for companies across five key areas in order to produce real benefits for the Company, its Customers and Colleagues, Communities and the Country.

The model builds on benefits and returns on investment achieved by domestic partners from previous Games and it works for companies in every sector and any size.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our UK partner companies to secure a range of company-wide business benefits that can fast track the transformation of an organisation or achieve core business goals like never before in the UK," Townsend told the conference.

"The Games provide the chance for organisations to achieve unique market differentiation, increased sales and productivity, new customers, improved community relationships, better staff recruitment and retention, and more," Townsend told the conference, which included senior executives from several of the UK’s leading companies.

London 2012 is currently in discussions with companies in six top tier categories – banking, insurance, oil and gas, utility services, automotive, and telecommunications.

Under the terms of the new Invitation to Tenders, companies in the airline and sportswear sectors will be asked to submit final bids to become a London 2012 domestic partner. The bids will be evaluated and any clarification sought before Games organisers enter into a period of exclusive negotiation with selected companies.

The conference identified a range of commercial opportunities that can be derived from partnerships with Olympic Games organising committees, drawing on the insight and experience of some of the world’s leading Olympic sponsorship and sports marketing experts and case studies from previous Olympic Games.

The conference also discussed examined what makes the Olympic Games a radically different sponsorship and partnership opportunity available to UK companies for the first time.

"The Domestic Partnership Programme for the London 2012 Games will transcend the boundaries of sponsorship in the UK. For the first time companies in the UK will have the opportunity to access powerful business benefits involved with the Games," Townsend said.

Partner companies will play one of the most important roles in delivering the London Games, providing cash as well as technology, infrastructure, personnel and essential goods and services needed to stage the Games and its key programmes and operations.

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For further information please contact the London 2012 Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 100 or visit the website at www.london2012.com.

Read more on the London 2012 blog 'Work in Progress': http://blog.london2012.com