by Neil Lakeland chairman, Chartered Institute of Marketing, Kent branch

With just over a year to the opening ceremony of the Olympics, it is now time, if you've not already started, to plan how to take advantage of the opportunities the Games will bring.

However, a recent CIM survey found that while 35 per cent of respondents believe their company may conduct some form of marketing activity around the Games, 88 per cent admitted their knowledge of the relevant legislation was poor.

So that you do not fall foul of the tightening legislation to protect sponsors from 'ambush marketing' it is vital that care is taken.

For example, readers who bought tickets will have noticed that Visa was the only payment method accepted on the official website.

This is because Visa is an official sponsor whilst the other providers, such as MasterCard and American Express, are not.

What you may not have noticed is the renaming of the O2 to North Greenwich Arena for the duration of the Games.

This is because there are going to be clean zones around venues where no branding is visible. In addition, O2 is not an Olympic Tier 1 or Tier 2 sponsor.

Crucially though the legislation makes it clear that it is forbidden to appear to create an association where none exists.

This is not purely by using the array of banned words together - for example, "gold," "silver," "London summer games", "2012" - but it could be through the use of imagery or some aspect of the design.

The impact of these is immense and, if the respondents of CIM survey are representative, not widely understood.

Slogans such as "2012 Summer Games" will not be allowed to be used, nor will the slightly cheeky but previously acceptable strapline of "win gold this summer."

Transport companies that are not official sponsors will be barred from using the line "Your choice for the Games this summer".

Suppliers too are not exempt. Unless they are also a sponsor, they cannot leverage any additional benefits from the association. The phrase "supplier to the Olympics" is forbidden.

It is the CIM's belief that some aspects of this legislation are unfairly loaded against small businesses which wil be unaware of the dangers of certain words and imagery.

Larger companies may be able to afford the fines, and leverage PR benefits from media reports. But not smaller ones.

It is vital not only to be innovative but also to heed LOCOG's website guidance before commissioning any campaign.

Further advice is also available from the CIM through its two Shape the Agenda papers Ambush Marketing and The Event That Dare Not Speak its Name.