Product Personalisation, Tech-Wear, Social, CSR & TV Lead Ralph Lauren's Team USA Rio Activity

Team USA sponsor and official outfitter Ralph Lauren has launched its first ever TV spot activating its Olympic related rights

The 30-second anthemic and patriotic commercial is fronted by six Team USA athlete ambassadors: including swimmer Ryan Lochte, beach volleyball player April Ross and freestyle wrestler Jordan Burroughs.

Ttitled ‘My Time to Be Remembered’ and focusing in training and preparation, the spot has thus far notched up 122,880 views since it was posted on 29 July on the official brand YouTube channel.

Up until now, its Olympic related activation has avoided traditional broadcast TV commercials – indeed, other than fragrance products, it has avoided television advertising altogether for the past eight years.

But for Rio 2016 the fashion brand’s strategy is changing.

‘TV has become a priority for us in a big way,’ says David Lauren exec VP-advertising, marketing and communications for the annual $4.7bn revenue retailer.

‘TV has become a priority for us in a big way because we want to really explore and push that reach.’

The flagship commercial, which was produced in-house and will air on US TV from 6 August through 16 August, is actually an edited version of multiple individual athlete clips from the sponsor’s ongoing ‘Meet our Team’ web film series that populates the designer’s digital and social platforms.

These sports star specific supporting spots include ‘Jordan Boroughs’ (4,983 views),

Connor Fields (4,783 views),

April Ross (2,459 views),

Haley Anderson (3,696 views),

and ‘Ryan Lochte’ (6,293 views),

plus web videos for para athlete endorsers like Melissa Stockwell (2,224 views).

Other elements of the campaign include creative pieces focusing on the team product range itself and the associated launch event.

Morning cheer: @CarsonDaly, @SheinelleJones, @CliffMeidl unveil #TeamUSA Opening Ceremony uniforms for Rio pic.twitter.com/pEDUiclMvN

— Ralph Lauren (@RalphLauren) July 29, 2016

Polo RL weaves a hint of Rio flavor into red, white and blue #TeamUSA Opening Ceremony uniform, says @usatodaylife: https://t.co/2gG7NtYK3N

— Ralph Lauren (@RalphLauren) July 29, 2016

These include creative content for the ‘Lighting The Way’ campaign silo – based around the Team USA flag bearer illuminated jacket –

#LiketoLight #TeamUSA #RoadtoRio @TeamUSA https://t.co/mj35zZXecH pic.twitter.com/20crMzxTG3

— Ralph Lauren (@RalphLauren) July 31, 2016

which spearheads the brand’s #LikeToLight initiative.

This CSR phase runs from 29 July to 8 August and encourages fans to like or share a post with the hashtag ‪#‎LiketoLighton Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook & the company’s PRL Foundation will donate $1 (up to $100K total) to Team for Tomorrow, the USOC’s community outreach program (see Rlauren.co/ProgramRules),

‘Year after year, we always walk away feeling this incredible response from the games – whether it’s customers shopping products or talking about our brands,’ comments Ralph Lauren himself.

‘It’s an invaluable partnership.’

Indeed, the company founder notes that the business typically sees a significant sales boost during the Olympics.

This year’s programme also includes a personalisation elements: the brand offers a customisation program that enables shoppers of Team USA clothing to have their own names added to the back of official team shirts.

‘We’re looking for new ways to connect us to spirited Americans,’ adds Lauren.

The US team’s clothing partner is also creating exclusive content via social media and will have a marketing team on the ground in Rio to post interviews with athletes, provide team relevant information and create other, action-relevant content for the brand’s social channels.

Comment

Since 2008, the clothing retailer has been a partner since 2008 and for Rio 2016 is the official outfitter of Team USA for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics and Paralympics.

The brand, which spends $65.4m on measured media in the US alone according to Kantar, will hope that its Olympic campaign old/new school combination of a return to traditional TV, plus individual consumer customisation and real-time social content will help reverse its recent department store sales slump (something many apparel brands have experienced in recent years).

Ralph Lauren’s Team USA partnership is part of an apparel partnership and sponsorship portfolio that has ranged from Wimbledon and The Open, to polo and Sundance.

Links

Ralph Lauren Twitter:

https://twitter.com/ralphlauren

Ralph LaurenFacebook:

https://www.facebook.com/RalphLauren

Ralph Lauren Google+:

https://plus.google.com/u/1/+RalphLauren/posts

Ralph Lauren Pinterest:

https://uk.pinterest.com/ralphlauren/

Ralph Lauren Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/ralphlauren/

Team USA Web: