Consumer Goods Technology recently published an interesting feature that discusses how companies like Coca-Cola, Hershey, Nike and Ralph Lauren are "turning their red, white and blue into green."

The Coca-Cola Company, a sponsor of the Olympics for 80 years, is producing limited-edition, Olympic-themed collectible cans bearing the iconic Coca-Cola logo in different languages. This effort marks a first in the U.S. with new designs timed to be released every two to three weeks that bear Ethiopian, Russian, Thai, Mandarin and English languages, according to the Consumer Goods Technology article. In addition, a special Coca-Cola "Six Pack" of athletes is featured on collectible packaging and in-store materials, featuring various gold medalists. Coca-Cola is also featuring themed packaging on its Minute Maid orange juice, lemonade and fruit drinks.

Manufacturers like Samsung are also betting big on the Olympics this year, according to The Wall Street Journal (registration required). The Journal said Samsung is spending more than $100 million on its sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics, "a sum that is helping fuel faster growth in one of the company's biggest and most important markets, its top China executive said." China has been a major manufacturing base for Samsung for quite some time, and sales of its electronics are rising as the country's growing middle-class population finds itself with larger pockets for such spending.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Samsung, whose products also include liquid-crystal-display television sets and semiconductors, has been a full sponsor of the Olympics since the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. ... With the Olympics, [the company's] goal is to raise the profile not just of Samsung's cell phones but also other products among China's consumers, who [...] are more discerning than consumers in many other markets.

While larger corporate entities will always utilize the Olympics as a vehicle to gain visibility and pump up their supply chains, there are always a few noteworthy newcomers each year.

For instance, Bicycle Retailer has reported (via AllBusiness.com) that the BMX racing industry, primarily comprised of midmarket bike companies like Pacific Cycle and Redline, is hoping to generate a higher degree of interest in China for its bikes and accessories, now that BMX racing is a new sport for the 2008 Olympic Games.

While it's easy to pay attention to products like soft drinks, electronics and bikes, how do other primarily non-branded manufacturers make a splash at the Olympics? If you're German chemical company BASF, you try to let everyone know that your company was responsible for helping build the Beijing Olympic Stadium, among other things.

From a recent BASF news release:

Nicknamed the Bird's Nest because of its unique steel-lattice structures, the new stadium, which seats 91,000, has already become a landmark. BASF concrete admixtures enabled a shorter construction period while ensuring top quality concrete and stability. These advantages were also used in the construction of the Olympic Village, the Tennis Center and the Aquatics Center.

(See Sporting an Olympic-Size Material of the Future for more on the Beijing National Stadium and Beijing National Aquatics Center.)

The global chemical company further notes that it also has a hand in creating vitamin-fortified drinks, sportswear and track surfaces at the 2008 Games.

Consumer Goods Technology concludes:

Just as consumers look forward to the Super Bowl's commercials, advertisements for the Olympic Games are arguably anticipated just the same. Who owns the official beverage, candy, shoes or clothes? While there is no doubt that Olympic-themed products serve a CG company's bottom line, their messages of hope, dreams, struggle and victory are all apparent in these campaigns and products, which promote the acceptance of different cultures and languages through the shirt they wear, the can of soda they drink and the candy they eat.

Clearly, manufacturers understand the global audience and buying power that comes with such a worldwide sporting event as the Olympic Games. Will it pay off?