One day before the unveiling of the emblem for the 2008 Olympic
Games, Hein Verbruggen, chairman of IOC's Coordination Commission
for the 2008 Games, lavished his praise on the logo Saturday.
Verbruggen, who is in Beijing for Sunday's official unveiling of
the emblem at the Temple of Heaven, said the emblem was a "strong
one".
"We (the IOC) are extremely pleased with the logo," said
Verbruggen.
"Of course we have some problems to understand the characters
(on the logo), but even for somebody who isn't able to read
Chinese, visually it is strong," he added.
The IOC gave its approval to the emblem for the 2008 Games in
March. The unveiling of the emblem, which was originally scheduled
for May 25, was postponed due to the outbreak of SARS.
Verbruggen said the unveiling of the logo plays an important
role in presenting the Beijing Games to the world.
"The launch of the logo tomorrow is, perhaps, one of the two or
three highlights up to the Games," he said.
"I have great expectations for tomorrow night."
IOC marketing director Michael Payne said the unveiling of the
logo is key to success of the Olympic Marketing Program.
"The emblem is the first element .... It's just the beginning,"
said Payne.
"The official emblem is key to the marketing program, by which
sponsors associate themselves with the Beijing Games," he
added.
Beijing organizers plan to initiate their marketing campaign in
September.
(Xinhua News Agency, August 2, 2003)