Monday marked the start of the 100-day countdown to host-city election day in Singapore for NYC2012 and the other Olympic bid hopefuls, and just as New Yorkers have come to expect, it’s yet another reason for the bid committee to launch a celebration to honor the occasion.

Video screens in Times Square lit up countdown clocks and 100 parks across the city were decorated with NYC2012 flags adding to the already intense local marketing effort. But perhaps Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff is primarily concerned with a themed number that didn’t appear in the marketing materials – the approximately 100 votes to be cast on the first voting day ballot. That’s why you’ll see the bid proceed on two fronts this week.

The bid’s executive team will lead the first front, traveling to Brisbane, Australia, this weekend to present to the Oceania National Olympic Committees along with the four other contenders.

At this event, one of the few scheduled meetings where the IOC has approved Olympic bid campaigning, they’ll be competing for the votes of five IOC members who represent the region. While these stakes may seem minimal, NYC2012 won’t be sparing any effort.

Since face time with IOC members is scarce, this may be the only opportunity to try to secure support from senior and influential IOC members such as Kevan Gosper, a former IOC vice president.

In a race as tight as this one, you can’t put a price on the potential value of a single vote. Well, at least not since the scandalous vote-buying days when the price was set at $35,000 – that being the cost of each of two votes the Sydney bid committee bought on election eve before defeating Beijing to host the 2000 Olympic Games. That margin of victory – two votes – made it one of the smartest investments on record.

For NYC2012, a two-vote margin could help stave off an early round elimination, or win on the final ballot. But in the new era of IOC ethics, those votes must be earned, and the costs will likely be tenfold after money is spent on travel, presentation materials, and expert consultants.

Consider the marketing effort required by NYC2012. Their key demographic is very small, but spread evenly across the globe, immersed in various cultures and speaking different languages. Then factor in the strict rules that govern communication with this group – restrictions that render most personal communication impossible. You’ll quickly understand why it will cost most bids more than $1 million for each of the approximately 55 votes required to win – and why bid committees will use mass-marketing techniques to help win them.

The public opinion polls have been recorded, the evaluation report has been written, and the evaluation team isn’t coming back. But that won’t stop the barrage of NYC2012 signs, flags, bumper stickers, television commercials, milestone events, and media opportunities. All of that will continue as NYC2012 fights the bid war this week on a second front, an extremely inefficient but important effort that involves New Yorkers but is not intended for their benefit.

The bid team will try to keep the buzz and excitement accelerating up until the deciding vote because they know that IOC members around the world will be reading, watching television, browsing the Internet, and talking to people, and many of them still haven’t finalized their choice for the host city.

Over the next 100 days, the bid team will look for any opportunity to positively reinforce its message while hoping the essence of it trickles down to the IOC members themselves. They’ll be contacting key foreign media outlets, fishing for positive press and the chance that it will be well received by potential voters in Africa, South America, and anywhere else an IOC member might be found. They’ll assume members will access local New York media over the Internet, perhaps even a certain column in The New York Sun.

NYC2012 might be able to get more mileage out if its “Trump” card. Real estate magnate Donald Trump has already hosted the IOC evaluation delegation for a gymnastics demonstration at Trump Tower, but don’t be surprised if Mr. Trump comes up with a clever tie-in or branding opportunity to promote the bid in an upcoming episode of NBC’s popular reality show “The Apprentice.”

The remaining days of NYC2012’s 10-year quest are the most critical. There will be two more high-profile meetings after Brisbane, and then the release of the IOC evaluation report. Many IOC members have not made up their minds, so the ultimate prize is still up for grabs.

Mr. Livingstone is producer of GamesBids.com.