London 2012: Location Analysis at its finest!

Aug. 13, 2012 - PRLog -- Over the course of the past few weeks, millions of people have been glued to their TVs as the excitement of the 2012 Summer Olympics takes place. But, how did London earn such an esteemed position in the public eye and become this summer's hub of international attention? For that matter, how did Sochi, Russia win the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, or Rio de Janeiro the 2016 Summer Olympics?
Selecting the host city for the Olympic Games is no simple matter. Hosting the Olympics is a highly coveted achievement for any city, as it brings with it grand international attention and provides a huge economic boon to any city bestowed with the honor. As such, the privilege of hosting the Olympics is a vigorous competition in itself.
Some say that the three most important considerations in business is location, location, location. A premium site location creates the opportunity for continued business success. When conducting location analysis, a business seeks to answer two questions: "Why here?" and "How can I succeed here?"
Why here?
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) examines prospective host cities for certain basic technical requirements; arguably, logistical evaluation (such as space, access, accommodations, transportation, and safety/security) is a paramount consideration. At the end of the initial selection phase, the IOC Executive Board whittles candidate cities down, wherein a select few become Official Candidate Cities. The cities that have made it this far in the selection process have answered the “Why here?” and move on to more in-depth analysis, namely, "How can I succeed here?"
So why London you ask? London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, and tourism. It is the world's leading financial center, alongside New York City. London has been described as a world cultural capital. It is the world's most-visited city and has the world’s largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic.
How can I succeed here?
In terms of location analysis, many businesses have access to valuable data, but fail to take the next step of analyzing the data for maximum success. Technology and the great recession have changed business forever. Gone is the repetitive business landscape, replaced and redesigned to engage the customer on their own terms. Today it’s all about bringing the product to the customer rather than thinking the customer is inclined to seek your products out. Businesses realize that they need to keep on top of these trends and that place matters.
That’s where location analysis comes in to shift the power back to the business. Intelligent Marketing (visit www.utahbizmarketing.com ), utilizes geographic information systems (GIS) to comprehensively perform location analysis.  GIS is a proven technology that delivers market strategies that not only enhance customer satisfaction but also drive incremental sales. If you want to know how to deliver what customers want – buildings/stores in the right markets, with the right products for their demographic mix, then you’ve got to get into location analysis.
(D. Janes; Intelligent Marketing)