You don’t have to be as heroic as Syrian Christian refugee Yusra Mardini to consider yourself a member of #TeamVisa.
In “The Swim,” the company tells the story of how Mardini proved her athletic capabilities long before competing at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio, by diving into the water to help pull a boat—which bore 17 other refugees from Syria – to the island of Lesbos.
According to Stefan Harvalias, Visa Canada’s director of sponsorship and digital strategy, Mardini is an ideal representative of the kind of Olympian it wants to support, because her success in overcoming odds aligns well with its message of acceptance – the same message that permeates everything the company is doing around the Games in Rio.
“Sponsoring the refugee athletes, while it’s a part of a marketing strategy, it is a point of pride for people who work at Visa,” he said in an interview with Marketing. “A lot of things going on at the Olympics carry in terms of spirit is about acceptance – in our case it’s acceptance of cards at POS, or of new ways to pay through your watch, your car, the Internet of Things – but it’s also about an acceptance of everyone and everywhere.”
Like many brands, Visa sees the Olympics as a milestone opportunity to drive prefernce and affinity with consumers, and may offer lessons in how to make the most of the interest surrounding the Games. Visa is the only card accepted at the Games, for example, and the company has also outfitted athletes with rings that use near-field communication (NFC) technology to make purchases.
“We’re trying to show that we’re a network, not just a form factor or a plastic card,” Harvalias said. “We’re as much a part of your everyday life as we can be.”
Given the fact the Games are broadcast nationally on CBC, Visa collaborated with the broadcaster so every time a highlight or replay is pushed out to a viewer with its target parameters they will be served the appropriate preroll. On Twitter, Visa took advantage of the social company’s First View offering to make itself seen at the top of users’ feeds, and has been live streaming special moments with athletes on Facebook. On top of all that, Visa is also working with the CBC to create 360 video clips and has developed a custom emoji on Twitter that appears every time someone uses the #TeamVisa hashtag.
“We look at the Games as more about culturally targeting the people who are open to new experiences, which includes new payment experiences,” said Harvalias. “Not everyone will have a Samsung Gear VR headset in their house, but if we can find ways to introduce people to that technology, we can tie it back and learn what those new ways to enjoy the Games are.” This in turn could teach the brand about what kind of payment experiences will resonate.
The “hero” piece of content for the campaign is the “Carpool to Rio” video featuring many Team Visa athletes including the Canadian Synchronized diving team, Pamela Ware and Jennifer Abel. This was developed in partnership with BBDO. Visa has subsequently partnered with ACQA, Starcom and Social Code, among others.
As Visa’s marketing around the Olympics and other opportunities becomes more sophisticated, Harvalias said the company looked beyond standard engagement metrics.
“If I’m being honest, we’ve started to steer away from those a bit,” he said. “When we’re tying this back to KPIs, we do studies for brand preference, of course, but when we focus on things like usage and enrolment, we have to be very savvy about making sure we have the right tracking and attribution model in place.”
