Faster, higher, stronger and digital
— -- Marketing around the Olympics used to be like a 100-meter cakewalk.
You'd pay a gazillion dollars to the International Olympic Committee, then pay a gazillion more to brag like heck about it on TV and in print ads.
That was then. This is now: Add on a multi-pronged digital ad strategy that feeds on megabuzz. It must touch all the hot buttons from the hippest social-networking sites to the coolest blogs to the cellphones of those most coveted by marketers — trendsetters ages 18 to 26.
That's why McDonald's mcd has created an outside-the-box digital game that's being played online in 100 countries in seven languages. It's why Lenovo will have more than 100 Olympic athletes blogging. It's why YouTube goog struck a deal to provide three hours of daily Olympic content to 77 territories outside the USA not officially covered by Olympic sponsors.
And it's why NBC Universal ge will digitally broadcast (at NBCOlympics.com) a record 2,200 hours of live competition, with gobs more available on demand.
"By all accounts," says Dan Shust, director of emerging media for Resource Interactive, "this will be the biggest digital event ever."
Millions of Americans will watch the Olympics but never turn on a TV set.
The Beijing Games will be the first Olympics in which a chunk of viewers — up to 5% — will watch their Olympic coverage via personal computers or mobile phones, estimates Dean DeBiase, CEO of TNS Media, which measures media outlets globally. And those viewers are the coveted trendsetting ones marketers want to reach.
The best place to reach them: social media.
The Olympics are emotional, with heartbreaking wins and losses. When viewers are touched by something, they increasingly express those feelings via social-networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace.
Sociable and strategic
Savvy marketers want to tap into that, says Donna Hoffman, co-director of the Sloan Center for Internet Retailing at the University of California-Riverside. They'll spend big chunks of their media budgets that used to go to traditional advertising.
McDonald's spent zero on digital marketing in the 2004 Summer Games but will spend about 10% of its 2008 Olympic marketing budget on new media, says Mary Dillon, marketing chief. Coke's digital spending is up 50% from the 2006 Winter Games.
Kleenex, kmb a U.S. Olympic Team supplier, will devote 30% of its Olympic budget to digital marketing. And Speedo, which spent virtually nothing on digital Olympic marketing in 2004, will spend 100% of its Olympic budget on digital — and public relations — in 2008, says Craig Brommers, marketing chief.
"In the past, it was about being a proud sponsor of the Olympics," says Hoffman. But now, by linking up with social-networking sites or even individual bloggers, "Sponsors can get a lot closer to the action by sponsoring the people who are talking about it."
Some 73% of Americans who have Internet access viewed video online in May, according to a recent Nielsen study. More than 154 million Americans will watch online videos this year, up 12% from last year, according to eMarketer's latest report.
More than one in three mobile phone owners have video-capable cellphones, Nielsen reports. More than 147 million people worldwide now participate in a social network via their mobile phones, eMarketer reports.
"It's the American Idol model," says Paul Swangard, sports marketing professor at the University of Oregon. "The consumer dictates."
Here's how savvy Olympic marketers will digitally tap in:
• Creating digital games. McDonald's has unleashed what it calls the largest-ever alternate-reality game.
The Lost Ring (www.thelostring.com) has been seen by 4 million people. It's an Internet mystery with ancient Olympic secrets found via clues. It's the buzz on blogs and social networks from Facebook to YouTube. "There's no way a traditional 30-second commercial could bring people together in this way," Dillon says.
Samsung Mobile has launched an Internet scavenger hunt for "virtual" gold medals. Folks who register at MedalMania.com get clues by e-mail or text message.
•Sharing videos. Olympic sponsor Johnson & Johnson's jnj baby division will unveil a YouTube channel linked to the Olympics. Ads with six Olympians giving thanks to moms are featured at the site, youtube.com/baby.
Nike nke also is turning to YouTube. It has a YouTube channel with a 60-second ad about athletic courage that will air on NBC. Viewers can link to the channel at Nike.com/nikecourage and check out 42 stills from the ad.
Lenovo launched several TV ads on YouTube this week — days before they'll run on NBC — to get word-of-mouth buzz.
• Blogging from China. The Beijing Games are the first to allow athletes to blog during the Games. In the past, athletes could blog only until opening day, then resume after the Games ended. But new International Olympic Committee rules permit blogging during the Games.
Lenovo doled out computers and video cameras to more than 100 Olympians, asking them to tell their tales. Lenovo.com/VoicesOfTheGames has contributions from athletes representing more than 25 countries.
Bank of America bac outfitted the 12 athletes it endorses with cameras and encouraged them to post online updates.
• Sharing ideas digitally. At mycoke.com, visitors can buy the world a personalized Coke bottle. Consumers choose from some 200 digital images to decorate virtual bottles. The designs can be posted to a gallery where site visitors rate them. As of Thursday evening, users from 47 nations had made 60,000 bottles.
Nike gives an inside look at two new apparel technologies at nikelab.com. The high-tech materials are in more than 100 apparel and footwear products worn by athletes in 28 Olympic sports. Visitors to the site can watch 130 videos on products, athletes and interviews with Nike designers and send any of the videos to sharing sites such as Twitter and Facebook with one click.
• Rooting virally. Bank of America is urging fans to post text messages, audio recordings and videos of encouraging cheers for U.S. athletes on AmericasCheer.com. It teamed with YouTube to allow video uploads, Flickr for photos and Facebook to cull text-based cheers.
On Tuesday, GE launched its own cheering squad with the debut of a global intranet service for its employees to send rallying messages to athletes in China. Each message will be translated to English and Chinese and posted on a digital billboard on GE's two-story facility at the Games.
•Using bloggers. Kleenex hired bloggers to drum up interest in the making of a 40-minute Olympic documentary.
"Let it Out" follows the same format of the brand's current ad campaign, in which a man listens to emotional stories of people on the street as they sit on a blue couch. The theme: emotional Olympic moments. "We felt we had a great fit with everything the Olympics stands for," says Anya Schmidt, brand manager.
• Generating videos. Consumer-generated videos — a familiar component of recent Super Bowl advertising — have also made their way into the Beijing Games.
Lenovo sponsored a global contest for three "new thinkers" with "the most original idea" for carrying the Olympic torch in the pre-Games relay. More than 6,000 people submitted essays to the computer maker. With feedback from defending beach volleyball gold medalists Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, Lenovo cut the list to 18 finalists, from eight countries. The winning three torch bearers came from Argentina, Brazil and Canada.
Each finalist created a 30-second video explaining why they wanted to run, and Lenovo posted the videos at Lenovo.com/torch for online voting.
• Revamping websites. Expecting a record amount of online traffic, Speedo redid its website, SpeedoUSA.com. The new site has an e-commerce area, where consumers can buy the athletic wear that Olympians are donning in China. GE.com will be revamped to tout its global Games sponsorship — and also provide behind-the-scenes information on how NBC Universal will manage digital coverage.
• Snatching search terms. Many marketers want to have their brands noticed when consumers use search engines such as Google or Yahoo to get Olympic updates. To promote its music-download program, AT&T t bought terms such as "AT&T music," and "2008 Team USA."
Lenovo began to buy Olympic-related search terms a few weeks ago — and will update its buys throughout the games, says CMO Deepak Advani.
• Hopping digital cabs. There's no getting way from digital marketing, even in local cabs.
GE is running interactive ads on small screens embedded behind the front passenger seat of about 1,000 Beijing taxis. Riders can touch different sections of the screen to learn about GE's contributions in making the Games' venues eco-friendly. One in-cab video details GE's efforts to outfit the "Bird's Nest" stadium with rainwater recycling technology.