Athletes go hard core to get Canadians back in a medal-winning mood
With less than 80 days left until the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) has launched a 15-week national multimedia advertising campaign that aims to better connect Canada to its athletes.
The effort from Toronto agency Proximity kicked off during Monday night’s broadcast of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada with a 60-second commercial titled “Relentless” that features Olympians such as Adam Van Koeverden, Ryan Cochrane and the Senior National Synchro team training for the upcoming games.
In addition to the television commercials, the campaign includes short documentaries on individual athletes, as well as print, radio and out-of-home ads in English and French – all using the “Give Your Everything” (“Tout Donner”) tagline.
The COC’s Derek Kent and Christopher Overholt and the aforementioned athletes previewed the campaign during a media event in Toronto on Monday.
Kent, the COC’s chief marketing officer, said the goal for the campaign is simple: “We want to inspire Canadians and tell the athlete’s story, tell their journey every single day in every single platform.”
The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games helped forge a connection between the Canadian Olympic team and its fans, said Overholt, CEO and secretary general of the COC. “In the aftermath of Vancouver, we’re seeing a heightened sense of pride and what Canada can do on the world stage… and London 2012 is the next stop.”
Despite the continued support for the athletes, Canadians still have a hard time recognizing them. “These athletes are heroes… but the reality is, nobody knows their names,” said Kent. “One of the key objectives of this campaign is to help them become household names.”
During his time with the COC, Overholt said he has learned that athletes want more support from the COC. “We need to be a conduit between our athletes and the wider Canadian public,” he said. “We need to foster a very personal conversation between our athletes and our Canadian populace.
“It’s our and responsibility to heighten the conversation around athletes and sports in this country,” he said.
The “Give Your Everything” campaign is the result of several conversations involving the committee and its athletes. “We got the straight goods on what needs to be undertaken on their behalf… this campaign is authored for them, it’s about them and in large part it’s built by them,” said Overholt.
Part of the campaign launch includes the rebranded and revamped Olympic.ca website, which better highlights the athletes and also includes event information and team-related news.
OMD Canada handled media planning and buying for the campaign.
