Gymnast Gabby Douglas has two Olympic gold medals. American Ninja Warrior star Kacy Catanzaro has 412,000 followers on social media. When they ran into each other at Newark International Airport earlier this month, it was hard to say who was more pumped.
“Someone came up to me and said, ‘Oh my God, are you Kacy Catanzaro? Can I get a picture with you?’ I turned around and it was Gabby Douglas,” Catanzaro said. “I said, ‘Oh my God, you’re Gabby Douglas! Can I get a picture with you?’”
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Gabby Douglas (left) and American Ninja Warrior star Kacy Catanzaro had some fun at the Team USA Media Summit.
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That kind of organic connection between fans and athletes is the ultimate goal of the U.S. Olympic Committee’s expanded push into social media as Rio approaches. A roster of “influencers” like Catanzaro, along with major social platforms such as Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook, have joined forces with the USOC to promote Team USA in the coming months.
“Basically fans are going to see our athletes in a different way, and it’s a little bit silly. It’s fun. But it goes beyond just your regular interview or photo shoot,” said USOC social media strategist Joey Maestas, who joined in 2014 after holding a similar role at Sports Illustrated.
Social media at the Olympics is not new. Corporate sponsors and their athlete spokespeople have relied on Twitter, Instagram and the like to reach potential customers for several Games cycles now.
But since Sochi 2014, the USOC itself has embraced the concept to brand Team USA. Its marketing division created a dedicated social media team last year. Following the lead of pro leagues such as the NFL and NBA, it’s pursuing formal partnerships with the social platforms.
For now, they’re experimenting together without a contract. But the USOC, Twitter, and Olympic rights holder NBC have a close relationship and continue to discuss plans for Rio, said Josh Ober, Twitter’s sports partnership manager.
The Olympics offer a dynamic different from that of the major leagues, Ober said, because the athletes are often new to the world stage and have a blank slate on which to develop their own identity in the eyes of fans. “It’s about how you can help them create their own brand story, but also show them the benefit of the platform as well,” Ober said.
The social sites had a big presence at the Team USA Media Summit in early March and an opportunity to create content and experiment with more than 100 athletes. Some, like Catanzaro and the YouTube stars The Cheernastics2, were on hand to post content from their own accounts in coordination with the Team USA branded accounts.
One day, Snapchat ran a live story featuring a series of athlete-created videos. Meanwhile, Twitter brought along stars from its video subsidiary, Vine, to create short clips with athletes.
Much of the material hasn’t been shared yet. The platforms agreed to create content solely for the USOC in addition to live posts. “It was just stored for us on a hard drive, so it’s content for us to use exclusively,” Maestas said.
The relationships are nonfinancial, he said.
“We’re in partnership talks with them. We’re looking forward to some exciting things down the road. … There’s no money involved. It’s completely about just creating some great things together,” Maestas said.
The USOC also is not paying the individual influencers, who generally are compensated by corporate brands. Catanzaro said she was inspired to help out of a mutual interest of sharing her fans with the Olympics’ fans, and vice versa. “I love sports and I respect all the athletes so much, and I know how helpful it is to cross-pollinate and get their fans to look elsewhere,” Catanzaro said.
