Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Going for the interactive gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics
byThe 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will not just be about sports, they will be about sponsors trying to create a super-brand using online marketing. These Olympic Games are expected to be unlike any other, and it still remains to be seen whether the standout will be for “Brand China” or for the sponsors’ brand campaigns.
Coca-Cola is a top sponsor for the Beijing summer Olympic Games, and they are going interactive this year to connect Olympic fans, spectators, and athletes. In the Coke Side of Life campaign, Coca-Cola is inviting people from around the world to make their own digital artwork to display on their the iconic bottle through “Design the World a Coke.” Coca-Cola also has created an Olympic photo montage. The collaborative photo experience already has more than 17 million photos contributed submitted by Chinese consumers. Their goal is to make the largest Olympic photo in history.
McDonald’s, another sponsor of the Beijing Olympics, has launched a global alternate reality game called ”The Lost Ring”. Already, there are more than two million people from 100 countries playing the game. In it, players work online and offline to find 27 artifacts hidden all over the world and solve the mystery. The game includes a newly unveiled blogger, Track and Field Olympic Gold Medalist Edwin Moses.
The fast food chain is also kicking off its McDonald’s Champion Kids program, where more than 200 children from 40 countries are going to be able to visit Beijing and experience the Games.
Not to be outdone, Yahoo, another big name has gotten jumped on the interactive bandwagon. Their sports page now has a torch tracker so the most dedicated fans can watch it across the world. Super 8 has signed on as the sponsor of thisa torch-tracking feature, which involves a map showing the progress of the Olympic torch as it makes its way to Beijing.
In addition, Bank of America, a longtime official sponsor of the U.S. Olympic Team, is serving as the sponsor of an Olympics news show being published by Yahoo. They are using the new Yahoo platform to run video ads for the “America’s Cheer” campaign in which fans can send text, photo or video messages in support of athletes. Bank of America spokesman Joe Goode said the company’s online Olympics-linked advertising is part of a multimedia effort that also includes print ads, TV commercials, themed banking products, a traveling “Cheermobile” in which people can record their Olympic cheers, and the construction of a “Hometown Hopefuls Family Center” in Beijing, where American Olympians and their families can mingle, enjoy free meals, use phones and computers and watch videocasts of the games.
Goode said the online America’s Cheer campaign marks a significant investment for Bank of America in the social networking space. He noted all the cheers collected are hosted on AmericasCheer.com, and said the brand is using YouTube, Flickr and Facebook tools to support the effort. Since April, more than 3,000 “cheers” have been recorded including some from celebrities.
The long awaited Summer Olympic Games are approaching quickly, and thanks to big-name interactive sponsors, staying connected 24/7 has never been so easy and fun.
