Over the next few days and weeks the debate as to who the biggest marketing “winners” from the Olympics will be played out…Shaun White, Apollo Ohno, Lindsay Vonn, Julia Mancuso, even Shani Davis…will all appear on the watch list, make the TV rounds etc etc. with all the requestite experts chiming in. Then spring comes and we are on to baseball, soccer, NASCAR…the faces we see, hear and relate to every year and find a strong allegiance to.. The Olympians, despite their powerful platform and their inspiring stories, seem to get tucked away until the next cycle. Is there a way to find a link to keep that cycle going, thus keeping these great stories engaged and top of mind even if their biggest stage is still four years away in Soch.? For one idea, we can look to Michael Phelps. Many thought it strange that Subway, and even in some NBC promos, linked Phelps to the goings-on in Vancouver. However he is a transcendant athlete, away from his season and exposure point, and is link to the games raised the tide and perhaps got the Vancouver Games a little more buss going in. Prior to the Games, USA Wrestling, obviously in their transition time between Beijing and London, found ways to cross-promote with the USA Women's Hockey Team, using some of their marketing and branding muscle to get the team some additional exposure while they were a bit dormant. So with the Winter and Summer Games in two year cycles, why can’t a winter sport find a summer sport to work with and share marketing and star building power during the complete four year cycl.? Could swimming work with spped skating to cross promote athlete.? How about Beach Volleyball working with skier. BMX and snowboardingThe Administration also announced a task force to grow and work with Olympic and Youth Sports. Why can’t elite winter and summer athletes, especially when they are not in peak training for their games, be a joint platform for the administratio.? Right now as the Vancouver sun sets, the two year cycle for the London games should begin, and a marriage of elite summer and winter athletes to promote the greatness of sport would be very timely, and a way to keep the Olympic branding flam. always burning and keep all the great stories we just witnessed alive and more top of mind than ever before.
Couldn’t agree with you more and it’s really unfortunate that most of these athletes don’t get the attention they deserve in between games. As you pointed out, philanthropy can be a very powerful platform to keep the athletes in the public eye as is the involvement of a sport’s National Governing Body. A great example of this is what USA Swimming is doing with Cullen Jones. Last year, Cullen became the face of USAS Foundation’s “Make a Splash” initiative to help reduce drownings among minority youth (Jones himself almost drowned as a child). The NGB (USAS) partnered with its major sponsor, Conoco-Phillips to present a national campaign targeting African American and Hispanic parents and kids that included local market visits by Jones. The media attention garnered both nationally and in local markets was perhaps the most ever generated in a non-Olympic year and Cullen’s profile was raised significantly. The program will continue in 2010 and will no doubt continue to yield very positive results and “keep the fire burning.”
Inspirational athlete + NBG support + partnership with a major brand = Big win for everyone.
@melinda_travis