EY in Brazil had recently made a large acquisition, making it the largest of the Big 4 in Brazil and were interested in becoming a Partner of Rio 2016 – to promote its newly acquired scale and to help embed the acquisition.
Redmandarin at that stage had been working with EY for about five years and given our deep understanding of the Olympics, we were brought in to support the due diligence and negotiations. Although funding came primarily from EY Brazil, there was a requirement for global and US support to maximise the value of the partnership for the global brand.
Redmandarin provided support by helping EY Brazil understand the likely negotiation position of the Organising Committee. The tender was competitive, with Deloitte seeking to extend their relationship with the Olympics post London, and so we helped EY to develop their business case and optimise their negotiating position. This included developing activation concepts and programs which could be extended beyond Rio and Brazil, such as EY commitment to women athletes.
EY successfully secured the position as a Tier 2 Partner, downgrading the OC’s expectations of a Tier One Partnership for the category on our advice. EY’s commitment to women athletes became a permanent platform for EY to reach out to women entrepreneurs globally. Above all, the partnership was successful in cementing the new acquisition. Analysis of the impact of the Partnership on brand was highly positive and attribution analysis of the hospitality offering showed considerable revenue driven from new and existing clients.
