Brands use "real time" TV ads

NEW YORK: Brand owners such as AT&T, Visa and Procter & Gamble all turned to innovative "real time" television spots to maximise the effectiveness of their Olympic Games sponsorships.

AT&T, the telecoms giant, was able to broadcast an ad incorporating actual event footage of Rebecca Soni winning a gold medal in the 200 metre breaststroke to US viewers just after they saw the race on NBC.

As soon as the race finished, this material was couriered from NBC's outpost in London to AT&T's production company, which inserted select content into a pre-shot ad showing a girl watching Soni on a mobile phone. It was then aired later that day in the US.

"Getting the footage into the commercial makes it more real and tangible," Esther Lee, AT&T's senior vice-president of brand marketing and advertising, told the Financial Times. "This is not business as usual."

The rise of social media means such innovation is vital. "It is the age-old adage about what makes news. It is the things that make people think 'wow'. We have to keep doing things that surprise people," Lee said.

Visa, the financial services group, used this strategy in 2008 in a spot featuring Michael Phelps, the swimmer. As a result of his success in London, Phelps now has more medals than anyone else, a fact Visa acknowledged in an ad containing 2012 footage and "cheers" uploaded by Facebook members.

The company recently ran similar commercials moments after Kerri Walsh, Misty May-Treanor and Allyson Felix, all Visa-sponsored athletes, won their respective gold medals.

"It is certainly a complicated process, but it is well worth it because we know it is important to stand out,” Kevin Burke, Visa's chief marketing officer of core products, said.

"This real-time communication increases consumer engagement, is hyper-relevant and can help stir social conversation."

For its part, Procter & Gamble, the consumer goods manufacturer, has leveraged equivalent tactics for its "Thank you, Mom" multibrand campaign starring the mothers of US competitors in the Games.

During a break in the beach volleyball match featuring Kerri Walsh it ran an spot where the athlete praised her mom. This was followed by an ad for Pampers, which sponsors Walsh.

"What's important from a marketing standpoint is the fact that part of our jobs as brand builders is to create content that people want to share," Marc Pritchard, P&G's global brand building officer, said.

Data sourced from Financial Times, AdAge; additional content by Warc staff, 13 August 2012

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