Blue lightning and sleek, black costumes: the new BMW Canada television spots that appear in Friday’s Sochi opening ceremony broadcast on CBC will see some Canadian Olympians in their sleekest performance yet.
The integrated “Powering Performance” campaign for BMW (the official vehicle of Canada’s Olympians) was created by agency of record Cundari and includes a 60-second halo spot and three 15-second spots emphasizing the performance of BMW cars and three of Team BMW’s sponsored athletes – Kaillie Humphries (Bobsleigh), Charles Hamelin (Short Track Speed Skating) and first-time Olympian Roz Groenewoud (Freestyle Skiing – Halfpipe).
The 60-second ad premieres today, while the 15-second spots will begin airing Sunday on TV (although all can be seen on YouTube now).
In the spots, Olympians trail lines of BMW-blue energy in a rotoscoping effect handled by post-production house Topix. Directed by director-photographer Shin Sugino, the spots also feature anthemic music written by Canadian composer Grayson Matthews.
The tie-in between BMW and the speed of the winter events was a natural, says Kevin Marcotte, director of marketing for BMW Group Canada. “We talk about power and control through the corners. In Kaillie’s case in the bobsleigh, it’s fast starts and exceptional driving… The brand fit between the high-performance of the Olympics and the Olympians, and in our case the highly successful Canadian Olympic Team, and the high-performance promise of the BMW brand is tremendous”
This is the first time the luxury car brand — the number-one premium auto brand by volume sales in Canada — has partnered with the Canadian Olympic Team. BMW Canada signed a four-year deal last year that will last through the 2016 Summer Games in Rio.
Look closely at the 60-second spot and you’ll catch an appearance from one of the models in BMW’s new electric “i” sub-brand. The TV spot marks the Canadian debut of the concept BMW i8 hybrid vehicle. (The “Hello Future” campaign for the whole i series will roll out in the U.S. during the Opening Ceremonies broadcast on NBC.)
The Olympics also has BMW Canada investing heavily in digital strategy. Its display ads will feature near-immediate dynamic creative throughout the games, updating within an hour of event results to congratulate successful Canadian athletes.
BMW will also be using Twitter’s new TV advertising throughout the Games, directing followers to the ads to make use of the multi-screen viewership trend that has appeared with high-viewership television events, where Twitter users will watch and tweet simultaneously.
