I landed an interesting gig during the Olympics. I was hired to take pictures of the various types of advertising and marketing that was going on for the Olympics. My main task at hand was to see what the major Olympic sponsors were doing as far as advertising and marketing was concerned: McDonalds, Samsung, Panasonic, Omega (Watches), Coca-Cola, Acer, Visa, General Electric and Atos Origin.
I have to say, I was expecting “SuperBowl” quality advertising around the city, but I think the efforts all fell a little short. Many took the same approach: advertising on bus stops, sides of buses, in the subway, etc. However, there was some good advertising going on. Below are some of my favorites:
LiveCity Yaletown. Brilliant advertising, as four of the official Olympic sponsors (Coca-Cola, Panasonic, Samsung and Acer) had pavilions here at LiveCity. What was LiveCity? It was a venue that had free entertainment, highlights of the days Olympic events on huge TV screens, and of course, the four sponsors pavillions. LiveCity was opened from 11:00am-11:00pm the entire length of the Olympics. Each night would culminate with a concert of a headlining band followed by a spectacular fireworks show. Oh, and it was ALL FREE.
This was a Nike billboard that was actually a projection screen on the side of the Sear’s building in downtown Vancouver. This billboard was a CITY BLOCK LONG! I lent a camera to a friend of mine for a job he had, and it turns out the job was to take a picture of this billboard! So I found out some info on it. It is actually SIX projectors that are lined up perfectly along the block up on a rooftop from across the street projecting this image on the side of the building. I thought this was a great idea, because the ads could be changed EASILY whenever they wanted.
Olympic Mittens. Hands down the best marketing strategy of the Vancouver Olympic Commitee (VANOC). Everybody at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games had a pair (or at least it seemed like it). It was part of the “Own the Podium” campaign, and it worked, Canada owned the podium at this years winter Olympics. They sold 3.5 million pairs, and at $10/pair, well, you do the math. The good news is that all of the proceeds go to supporting Canada’s Olympic athletes.
The crowd stopping knee-high white leather olympic boots with red maple leafs. I know they were a crowd-stopper because my wife owned a pair, and was stopped constantly by people asking her where she got them or just to say that they thought they were great. Rockport shoes, in hopes of landing the official Olympic footwear bid, made a numbered, limited edition of these boots (2010 of them). But after they lost the bid to another supplier, VANOC said they could not have a numbered edition since they weren’t OFFICIAL Olympic gear. So only 1500 of them were numbered. These boots sold out quickly (they were sold at Ronson’s Shoes), and are now selling on Craigslist for $1000 a pair.
Ads on Feet. Just a clever way of getting your advertising out there on the streets. This particular person was walking around broadcasting the Olympic coverage on CTV, the official Olympic network.
Vitamin Water had a fun game of Curling with a bottle of Vitamin Water. I was hoping to see more “Street Team” marketing out there, but didn’t see anything else like this. Oh, and you got to keep the bottle after your turn at Curling.
Visa. Bigger than life. Huge billboard on the side of the building.
Coca-Cola Billboard. Every time Canada scored a medal, it went up on the billboard. I don’t think they were expecting to be putting so many up!
Samsung and official Olympic Mascots. This at the Vancouver Airport.
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