Visa Europe has "turned around a 10-second ad featuring Usain Bolt's 100m Olympic win" as part of the company's "Flow Faster"
campaign, according to Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith of BRAND REPUBLIC.
The Saatchi & Saatchi-created ad, which launched on Facebook and
European TV Sunday, shows Bolt "running around a track and pulling
his signature 'lightning bolt' gesture." A voiceover says,
"Congratulations Usain on flowing faster." The ad is scheduled to air in
the U.K. and Turkey, as well as on websites in Europe (BRANDREPUBLIC.com, 8/7).
REUTERS' Keith Weir noted Bolt is the "face of German sportswear
company Puma," but since the company is not an Olympic sponsor, it "can
only start a fresh marketing campaign built around Bolt next week once
the Games are over." Bolt "looks certain to improve on annual earnings
of $20M after retaining his 100m Olympic title and the
world record on Sunday night." Bolt is "an advertising man's dream," as
his name is "made for his profession and he has won fans on the biggest
global stage with a unique cocktail of cheek and cool." Bolt has a
"series of lucrative sponsorship deals" in addition to Puma and
Visa, including Gatorade, Swiss watchmaker Hublot, Virgin Media, Soul
Electronics and Nissan. Millward Brown Global BrandZ Dir Peter Walshe
"compared Bolt's marketability with former England soccer captain David
Beckham, one of the most well-known sports celebrities Britain has
produced" (REUTERS, 8/6).
