Gymnast Simone Biles Heads Five First-Time Olympians Signed By Kellogg

USOC sponsor Kellogg has signed five first-time Olympic hopefuls to lead its “What Gets You Started?” campaign centered around the run-up to the Rio Games: Gymnast Simone Biles, women's soccer player Julie Johnston, swimmer Tom Shields, sprinter Ajee Wilson and Paralymics discus thrower Natalie Bieule. Retired swimmer Dara Torres will serve as “team captain." Each athlete will anchor online and social videos about how Kellogg’s products help them start days of training and will also appear on Kellogg’s cereal boxes in June. Krispr advised on overall strategy, and Krispr and UEG helped recruit and sign the athletes. Octagon repped Shield and Biles; Caric Sports repped Johnston, Flynn Sports repped Wilson, Bieule repped herself, and PMG Sports repped Torres (Ben Fischer, Staff Writer). AD AGE's Jessica Wohl noted Kellogg's is switching from past Olympic efforts by "not featuring athletes who have already appeared" in the Games. The "What Gets You Started" effort is an "update to the line Kellogg's used" during the '12 London and '14 Sochi Games, which was "From Great Stars Come Great Things." A 60-second video shows this year's five endorsers "going through their morning routines, which includes cereal and their workouts." However, Kellogg's "does not plan to run the athletes' video as a TV commercial." Kellogg's Associate Marketing Dir Andy Shripka said that the brand instead will run ads during NBC's Olympics coverage that "focus on individual brand messages, though Kellogg's is looking at ways to tie those together with the 'What Gets You Started' idea." He added that Kellogg's will "sponsor special video segments as part of the deal it has with NBC" (ADAGE.com, 4/28).

THE PICK-UP ARTIST: In Cincinnati, Barrett Brunsman noted sprinter Allyson Felix has signed on to endorse P&G's Bounty brand ahead of Rio, as she is "inviting people to join Bounty's Team Quicker Picker Upper online and at local events nationwide 'to share their tips and tricks for picking up spills and messes in world-record time.'" This comes after Felix appeared Wednesday on NBC's "Today" to promote P&G's "Thank You Mom" effort (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/28).

COCONUT GROVE: Zico Beverages, which serves as the official coconut water of the Games, has named diver David Boudia and women's soccer player Ali Krieger as brand ambassadors for Rio. They will appear in various promos for the brand, including in-store activation, behind-the-scenes videos and a consumer sweepstakes (Zico).