USOC sponsor MilkPEP will bring back Gold Medal-winning figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi to join its roster of sponsored athletes anchoring its ‘18 PyeongChang Olympics campaign. Along with Yamaguchi, MilkPEP has signed freestyle skiers Maddie Bowman and Joss Christensen, snowboarder Jamie Anderson and Paralympic sled hockey player Rico Roman. The five will handle the national marketing for MilkPEP, the dairy consortium behind the Got Milk? and Milk Life campaigns. MilkPEP also has facilitated deals for at least 19 other athletes with member dairy brands to do local promotions. For example, luger Erin Hamlin is paired with Wisconsin milk brand Organic Valley, while bobsledder Jamie Greubel is with the American Dairy Association North East. MilkPEP VP/Marketing Victor Zaborsky said the consortium is aiming for broad relevance in its second Olympics campaign (it signed a five-year deal with the USOC before the '16 Rio Games). “By also fleshing this out with local market athletes, we’re pairing with individual milk brands and dairy councils, we have this opportunity to talk about the idea that milk is part of every Olympians’ journey,” Zaborsky said. Bowman is shooting two national TV spots as part of the deal, said her agent, Tom Yaps of Evolution Management & Marketing. Zaborsky said that the organization is still finalizing TV plans. The campaign will include online and social media video content, in-store promotions and appearances and other activations. “We were really pleased with the start of this effort in 2016 and we’ve got our legs under us now,” Zaborsky said of the USOC sponsorship. “As we head into 2018 we hope we can tell the story more powerfully, more concisely and hopefully with bigger impact.” The Olympians will appear in both the adult-targeted Milk Life campaign and the newer, kids-focused Milk It! campaign. Reflecting those plans, the athletes range in age from Bowman (23) to Yamaguchi (46), who first appeared in a milk mustache ad in '96.
GETTING THE DEAL DONE: The Marketing Arm advises MilkPEP on its overall Olympics strategy and helped vet the athletes. Weber Shandwick and Campbell Ewald are also working on this campaign. Yamaguchi is represented by IMG; Anderson is represented by Stanton & Co.; Roman is repped by Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners; and Christensen is repped by Wasserman. Terms of the athlete deals were not disclosed.
