The Winter Olympics have begun, just five days after another mega television event, the Super Bowl. A prevalent viewpoint has been that the two sports heavyweights were scheduled uncomfortably close together, spurring some advertisers to pull out of the Big Game and invest in the Winter Games. Cited as examples are Visa and McDonald’s, clients that advertised in the 2005 Super Bowl but opted this time around to put their ad bucks in the Winter Games. A prime lure for Visa was the opportunity to be the official credit card of the Winter Olympics in Torino.
Some contend that multiple ads over two weeks during the Winter Games showcase can be more conducive to brand building than the one-shot thrust of a Super Bowl commercial. Another contention is that it’s a most attractive proposition to align a brand with the Olympic spirit, particularly as the drama of the competition plays out over 17 days. Furthermore, the Winter Games arguably draw more upscale viewers than the Super Bowl.
Yet there’s a growing school of thought that the virtually back-to-back scheduling of the Big Game and the Winter Games can prove advantageous for certain advertisers–an assessment shared by Marshall Ross, chief creative officer of Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago, whose client CareerBuilder.com ran spots in the Super Bowl and will debut work during the Winter Olympics as well. All the commercials were directed by Bryan Buckley of bicoastal/international Hungry Man.
“We love the proximity of the two events. That proximity clinched it [the decision to buy time on both] for us,” said Ross. “We love what the Super Bowl can do, getting a company and brand talked about. Then with the Winter Olympics you can build on that Super Bowl buzz. With the Olympics we can follow up on the Super Bowl hype with messages that viewers receive in a different way while continuing to build the brand.”
Ross related that many Super Bowl viewers actually want to see the commercials. “By contrast, the Olympics attract a harder audience–more selective, more fickle and fleeting. They’re not there to watch spots. But I think we’re positioned well creatively with our commercials to bridge both events.”
Of that positioning, Ross explained that CareerBuilder.com has gone to the next level with its monkey-at-the-workplace campaign that premiered during the ’05 Super Bowl. “That first year it was all about the monkeys,” said Ross. “This year the monkeys are back but the concepts are more human. It’s less about the funny chimp moments and more about funny business moments that people can relate to and empathize with. The story resonates more, which makes it well suited to engaging the [Olympics] audience. The campaign plays better across the Super Bowl and Olympics platforms than last year’s [Super Bowl] campaign would have.”
Indeed there are several Super Bowl advertisers who will surface during the Olympics, including the likes of Emerald Nuts with a spot out of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, directed by Jim Hosking, who at the time was with bicoastal Partizan and has since joined Biscuit Filmworks, Los Angeles; and Nationwide Insurance directed by Kinka Usher of House of Usher Films, Santa Monica, for TM Advertising, Irving, Tx.
The average cost for 30 seconds of ad time on the Olympics is running around $750,000. The Super Bowl carried a price tag on average of some $2.5 million per :30 slot. However, on another high-profile numerical front, the Winter Olympics dwarf the Super Bowl. In terms of hours of coverage, the Winter Games will reach record heights. NBC Universal Networks–NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, the USA Network, NBC HD and Universal HD–will collectively provide more than 400 total hours of coverage from Torino. That exceeds the some 375 hours the nets provided for the Winter Games in Salt Lake City in ’02. Additionally this year, NBC-owned Spanish-language network Telemundo will show regular news updates, including a late night Olympics highlights show from Torino, following the NBC Olympic highlights program.
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At press time many clients and advertisers remained secretive regarding their plans for the Winter Games. Through the grapevine SHOOT was able to shake loose some details and credits regarding the ad lineup. A prime starting point are the two earlier alluded to major advertisers who opted for the Winter Games over this year’s Super Bowl–Visa and McDonald’s.
The latter has prospective Olympics fare coming from two agencies: Leo Burnett USA, Chicago, and TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles. In the Burnett work, Ronald McDonald trains for freestyle skiing, pairs figure skating and ski jumping, among other events. The TV spot from TBWA/Chiat/Day is reportedly a combo live-action/CG piece which shows a youngster moving from the real world into a fantasy land where he performs breathtaking feats, including taking a snowboard jump over the moon. The director was the Motion Theory ensemble from Venice, Calif.-based studio Motion Theory.
TBWA/Chiat/Day also is behind the Visa work for the Winter Games. Meanwhile, underscoring the international depth and breadth of the Olympics are campaigns worldwide. For example, Visa has a visually driven ad from BBDO Shanghai slated to run in China. That spot, “Victory,” is an entry in this week’s “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery. The commercial was directed by Hari Carlos Sama of Catatonia Films, Mexico City.
And Grey, London, may also have some new Visa projects to debut for European audiences. Recently airing in Europe have been spots promoting a program whereby Visa users can accumulate points to earn a ticket to the Winter Olympics. The centerpiece spot, “Petrol,” shows three male truckers continuously stopping at petrol stations–two of the guys are raking in the points while the third, unaware of the program, only gains complimentary ice hockey figurines. “Petrol” was directed by Scott Vincent via bicoastal/international Hungry Man for Grey, London.
United Airlines’ “Dragon” will make its national debut during the Winter Games. The stop-motion animation spot ran in select markets (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Washington, D.C.) on the Super Bowl. Directed by Jamie Caliri of Duck Studios, Los Angeles, for Fallon, Minneapolis, “Dragon” centers on the relationship between a father and son, and is presented from the latter’s perspective as the youngster dreams about the heroic journey his dad takes when he leaves home on a business trip.
BBDO New York has some possible work for GE in the hopper, and word is that Merkley & Partners, New York, may have some Mercedes-Benz work that could air in numerous markets during the Winter Games.
Among other potential Olympic spots are: Coca-Cola directed by Phil Morrison of bicoastal Epoch Films for Wieden+Kennedy, New York; Home Depot helmed by Phil Joanou of bicoastal/international MJZ for The Richards Group, Dallas; Microsoft directed by Andrew Douglas of bicoastal Anonymous Content for McCann Erickson, San Francisco; 24 Hour Fitness directed by Jon Watts of bicoastal Smuggler for Publicis & Hal Riney, San Francisco; and AT&T’s “Ski Lift” directed by Colin Gregg of Therapy Films, London, for GSD&M, Austin, Tx.
In the AT&T commercial, a network of chairlifts transports American athletes from the U.S. all the way to Torino. Visual effects were done by Brickyard VFX, which maintains studios in Santa Monica and Boston.
Another spot dynamic entails advertisers who have ties to the Olympics but aren’t official Winter Game sponsors. For example, Sprint is playing up its U.S. ski team sponsorship with “Crevasse,” a spot directed by Acne of bicoastal/international RSA for TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York.
Also noteworthy is NBC’s promo work for the Winter Games. Prominent in the mix is “Forces of Nature,” a piece directed by Kendall Bowlin of the in-house NBC Agency, with extensive visual effects produced by Ring Of Fire, West Hollywood. Assorted network promos were cut from this project.
