Visa Launches Olympics Campaign With Global Harmony Theme

Visa Today Launching "Go World" Olympic Ad Campaign

IOC TOP sponsor Visa today is launching a "feel-good advertising campaign that focuses on the international goodwill" that results from the Olympics, according to Stephanie Kang of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The campaign tagline, "Go World," is "meant to stress global harmony over nationalistic competition." The first TV spot, titled "Come Together," shows fans "from all over the world cheering during past Olympic Games." Actor Morgan Freeman narrates the ad, saying, "We don't always agree. But for a few shining weeks we set it all aside." Other spots, also narrated by Freeman, focus on "pivotal Olympic moments from the past," including athletes overcoming injuries during previous Games. The TV, print and online ads, via TBWA Worldwide, are shot in sepia instead of color and "are meant to strike an emotional, aspirational tone while being light on product-selling." Visa CMO Antonio Lucio said the company will "continue to do what I call 'bread-and-butter' spots, celebrating the rational benefits of our products by product lines." Lucio: "But we made the decision that there will be times like the Olympics or FIFA, where Visa will ... just talk about the emotional component'' of the brand. Chicago-based research firm IEG reported that Visa paid "about $75[M] to be an official sponsor" of the '06 Turin Games and this summer's Beijing Games. TBWA Global Dir of Media Arts Lee Clow said that the "political issues around the Olympics didn't affect the campaign." Lucio added that while Visa has "met with many protest groups," its position on its "role as an Olympic sponsor 'has not changed one bit.'" Lucio: "We will support the Olympic movement and we will ride this wave because we think the good that they bring is more important than the negatives" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 5/19).