The official US Olympic Broadcaster NBC reacted to the Tokyo Games being pushed back to 2021 with a social first campaign showing the unusual and creative training methods Olympic athletes have devised while isolating at home during the coronavirus crisis.
Though the Olympics have been postponed, the hopeful Olympians persevere with their training through inventive indoor ways and NBC Universal has continued to promote them and its Olympic association through a series of social media video posts depicting how resourceful, impressive and entertaining they can be while training during isolation at home.
The root of the campaign began organically when athletes began posting their isolation workouts on their own social media channels and depict – from the inventive, the silly and the clearly not very effective – the clips show the various ways the athletes have been trying to keep their muscles in shape.
Then the NBC Universal team worked with its commentators and marketers to build on the momentum and expand the idea into an ongoing video series.
The videos are all tagged with the campaign’s #EverydayAthletes hashtag and amplified across the broadcaster’s own social platforms – primarily Instagram and Twitter.
The athletes featuring in the campaign thus far include triathlete Yasmin Rieger (who practices swimming sans pool by propping herself up on a stool and attaching her arms to resistance bands while someone splashes her with water), Team USA climber Brooke Raboutou (who scales the faces, walls and overhangs of her home), while the campaign even includes NBC Olympic commentators Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines (who are keeping sharp by analyzing the form of swimmer Mary Pruden who practices the medley in her inflatable backyard pool).
Others included in the campaign include track athlete Paul Chelimo who makes a DIY treadmill with dish soap and a bathtub, Novak Djokovic turning kitchen utensils into indoor tennis rackets, gymnast Morgan Hurd embellishing her workout with a popular quarantine necessity and fellow gymnast Shawn Johnson showing she doesn’t need weights to level up her squats.
From canine companions to household items, Olympic hopefuls from around the globe have gotten real creative with their training in order to #StayStrong, #StayHealthy and #StayActive
(p.s. there's more: https://t.co/ZH0K2I4ZE4) pic.twitter.com/IIu73VH0iN
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) April 6, 2020
When the floor is lava but you want a little snack. #EverydayOlympics
Brooke Raboutou/Instagram pic.twitter.com/6SEag6CJXJ
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) April 8, 2020
One thing we learned today: Novak Djokovic discovered a new use for frying pans#EverydayOlympics
@DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/lbaL8qXwYF
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) April 7, 2020
The goodest workout partner there ever was #EverydayOlympics
@ShawnJohnson pic.twitter.com/BgHF0yBc2X
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) April 2, 2020
Major props to Olympic medalist Sandi Morris who is building her own private pole vault pit#EverydayOlympics
@sandicheekspv pic.twitter.com/QDP2ZSBWLI
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) April 7, 2020
Comment:
NBC Universal, the official broadcast partner of the Olympics and Paralympics, is the single biggest financial contributor to the Games. In 2011, NBC paid $4.38bn for the rights to the next four Olympics and then just three years later it bought another six for $7.7bn.
NBC launched its Tokyo campaign in November 2019 with a fast paced spot aired during Sunday Night Football (see case study).
Though the Olympics have been delayed, NBC Sports Group CMO and EVP of Content Strategy Jenny Storms says NBC’s marketing plans will continue to be a 24/7, 365-days-a-year push.
“We will now prep to celebrate ‘One Year Out’ on July 23 as well as other important milestones,” she says before adding that in the meantime the broadcaster will continue to tell the athlete preparation stories.
Last Autumn NBC Universal and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee held a major ‘WeHo’ Olympic production event in which they gathered 100-plus US athletes for what was described as the largest content capture in the history of media to create marketing messaging and content around the upcoming games.
And Storms says that while NBC’s marketing plans had been shot and set at the ‘WeHo’ event, the way the team will now bring this content to life through the next year will now take on a different form.
“It’s quite possible that the Tokyo Olympics will take on an even greater meaning and significance next year as they will be the first global-unifying event following the pandemic crisis,” she said.
Links:
NBC
https://www.youtube.com/nbcsports
https://www.facebook.com/NBCSports
https://www.instagram.com/nbcsports/
https://www.youtube.com/user/2012NBCOlympics
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