Olympians from the Chicago area are "all over the Wintrust Financial ads that will be popping up around the city in the weeks ahead," but "nowhere in the campaign will you see the Olympic rings," according to Danny Ecker of CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS. Wintrust is "hoping consumers will make the connection anyway," as they are "one of the first local companies to take advantage of a major tweak to the rules that govern how brands can use Olympic athletes to advertise during the games." Wintrust's new campaign is all about "Chicago's Team" -- a group of Olympians and Paralympians from the area. Billboards "will feature photos of 10 athletes the bank signed to endorsement deals." The campaign "launched in March with online profiles" introducing each athlete, and then those athletes "started dropping like flies." Only four of the 10 athletes are currently set to participate in Rio -- U.S. swimmers Conor Dwyer and Kevin Cordes and Paralympians Joe Berenyi and Melissa Stockwell. The campaign will still feature U.S. swimmer Matt Grevers and WNBA L.A. Sparks C Candace Parker, but both of them are not set to compete next month in Rio. Wintrust "can still include its other six athletes almost any way they choose, as they won't be subject to Rule 40 guidelines." The company "plans to have some of them at Olympic viewing parties" (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 7/14).
