U.S. skier Heidi Kloser's crash in a practice run the day before the Opening Ceremony is the latest example of "instant advertisements," as a spot airing on NBC tonight turns the situation "into an unlikely sales pitch for Liberty Mutual Insurance," according to Bruce Horovitz of USA TODAY. Kloser's "much-publicized fall" left her "with a fractured leg and torn ligaments." She was shown the next night walking in the Opening Ceremony parade "on crutches -- with a wheelchair in tow." Crispin Porter + Bogusky Founder Alex Bogusky "sent a direct tweet to Liberty Mutual, whose Olympic ad theme has focused on past Olympics athletes." The tweet "advised Liberty Mutual to go real-time and quickly feature Kloser in one of its rise-from-the-ashes Olympic commercials." Liberty Mutual execs "sensed that Kloser's misfortune could result in PR gold for themselves." That is when "their own Olympic-like race began." The company first had to "get Kloser's approval," then "instantly get the blessing of the USOC and NBC." All "quickly agreed, including Kloser, who returned to the U.S. last week." The ad was "filmed at her parents' home in Vail" (
USA TODAY, 2/19).
IMMEDIATE CONGRATULATIONS: Visa caught everyone's attention in '08 when it aired a congratulatory ad for Michael Phelps the moment after he won his eighth Gold Medal at the Beijing Games. The immediacy of it generated talk among viewers and fellow sponsors. In Sochi, Visa has taken the concept of congratulating Olympians and digitized it. The company has a team spread across offices in Sochi, N.Y. and S.F. working to create congratulatory graphics and videos that it is posting on Twitter, Facebook and Vine. It has done 20 celebratory posts for 12 athletes since the Games began. The posts collectively have garnered 14 million worldwide interactions -- Facebook Likes, retweets and other engagements. A graphic featuring South Korean long-track speedskater Lee Sang-hwa received 45,000 likes on Facebook; a signed image of ski jumper Sara Takanashi was one of the top-tweeted images in the country, with 4,425 retweets and 3,257 favorites; and a ski-jumping Vine video that the Visa team made was viewed more than 500,000 times. It is the first time Visa has had a digital team devoted to developing content during the Games. For London, it developed most of its digital content before the Games began. Visa Senior VP/Global Sponsorship Marketing Ricardo Fort said that Visa did not consider social media a valuable brand-building tool at past Olympics. For Sochi, though, that is where it concentrated its efforts and energy. He said it allows the brand to reach consumers and add to their enjoyment of the Games, which bolsters their appreciation of Visa (Tripp Mickle, Staff Writer).
