Early December saw USA Paralympics partner The Hartford launch its PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics campaign called ‘The Will To Prevail’.
The Hartford, which is a founding partner of US Paralympics, has been the Official Disability Insurance Sponsor of US Paralympics for two decades and its activation is fronted by a five strong team of US Paralympian athlete ambassadors.
The campaign is hubbed around a digital platform at www.thehartford.com/willtoprevail and opened with national digital and print ads all featuring its Paralympic endorsers: each of whom have partnered with the brand to ‘personify the energy, confidence and optimism that drive achievement, and remind us that ability and the will to prevail lives within each of us’.
The digital and social content, which carries the campaign’s #WillToPrevail hashtag, is led by the athlete endorsers.
The Hartford is proud to be a Founding Partner and the Official Disability Insurance Sponsor of @USParalympics. #TeamHartford will be showing the world how they #prevail in just 100 days at the Paralympic Winter Games. https://t.co/rzyOTJjIEt pic.twitter.com/Z9UGaq6SSf
— The Hartford (@TheHartford) November 29, 2017
Meet the athletes who will be representing #TeamHartford! Discover what has fueled our support of U.S. Paralympians for over 20 years. #WillToPrevail pic.twitter.com/y9XVSHuOc2
— The Hartford (@TheHartford) November 15, 2017
The financial services company’s campaign revolves around the idea of the ‘will to prevail’ and aims to form a powerful message that everyone can connect to and the campaign aims to demonstrate and reflect the brand’s belief in the transformative power of the human spirit to overcome unexpected adversity.
Through its Winter Olympic activation, The Hartford will urge people across the USA to celebrate the idea that it’s possible to see challenges as opportunities to succeed.
“The will to prevail drives us all,” said Kathy Bromage, chief marketing and communications officer for The Hartford.
“It is what drives us to be ready to help our more than 20 million customers overcome challenges every day. We are honored to have five athletes join Team Hartford to help highlight the importance of pushing forward in the face of adversity and help to encourage everyone to find their own will to prevail.”
The Team Hartford US Paralympic athletes will be front and centre of an evolving set of campaign content carrying a number of inspiring messages and telling the stories of their own personal journeys.
The Team Hartford roster for PyeongChang 2018 includes:
Andrew Kurka:
Kurka was injured at age 13 after an ATV accident severely damaged three vertebrae in the middle of his spinal cord. Two years after his accident, he first tried the mono-ski on the encouragement of his physical therapist. He went on to make the U.S. Paralympics Alpine Skiing National Team in 2010 and made his international debut. Kurka was unable to compete in the Paralympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 due to injuries and will make his Paralympic Games debut in PyeongChang 2018.
Meet Team Hartford: @Andrew_Kurka was at the Paralympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, but suffered from a broken back. He is currently pursuing his first gold medal in alpine skiing for Team USA in the upcoming Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. https://t.co/cS9a27VpIF pic.twitter.com/5y81OM5zGh
— The Hartford (@TheHartford) December 4, 2017
Oksana Masters:
Masters was born in Ukraine with birth defects as a direct result of the nuclear accident at Chernobyl and was adopted at the age of 7 1/2. Over the course of seven years, due to the defects to her legs, she had to have both amputated. At age 13, she began rowing, and in 2012 brought home a bronze medal from the Paralympic Games London 2012. Shortly after, Masters began skiing and trained for 14 months leading up to the Paralympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, where she won a silver and bronze medal. Masters secured four Nordic skiing world titles at the end of the 2016-2017 season.
Meet Team Hartford: Challenges present opportunities to succeed. If anyone knows what this means, it’s @OksanaMasters. Born with birth defects resulting from the Chernobyl nuclear accident, she had both of her legs amputated above the knee. https://t.co/8k5fNd1JMR pic.twitter.com/weRnEXKXyt
— The Hartford (@TheHartford) November 22, 2017
Mike Shea:
Shea grew up passionate about snowboarding but in September of 2002, he was involved in a boating accident. While wakeboarding with friends, the ski rope wrapped around his ankle and resulted in the instant amputation of his left leg. After a call from a Paralympic coach, Shea trained to compete in Para snowboarding and has since become one of the top Para snowboarders in the world. In 2014, Shea competed in his first Paralympic Games for Team USA, bringing home a silver medal.
Meet Team Hartford: At the age of 19, @Adaptiveathlete's life changed forever after losing his leg in a boating accident. After his accident, Mike spent time as a woodworker before moving to Colorado to train to become a U.S. Paralympic athlete. https://t.co/IKa3bzDV7w pic.twitter.com/TTIgEoABOF
— The Hartford (@TheHartford) November 28, 2017
Evan Strong:
Strong grew up in Hawaii and found a love for the cement waves of the skate park at a young age. Just 10 days before his 18th birthday, Strong was riding a motorcycle when he was struck by a drunk driver in a head-on collision which led to the partial amputation of his left leg. He moved to Lake Tahoe in October 2007 and learned how to snowboard. Strong became the first male to win a gold medal in snowboarding at the Paralympic Games Sochi 2014 and has continued to succeed for Team USA.
Keith Gabel:
In June 2005, Gabel was involved in a workplace industrial accident that crushed his left foot. A longtime recreational snowboarder, he discovered competitive Para snowboarding during the 2010-11 season and began training with the National Ability Center in Park City, Utah. He earned a spot on the 2014 U.S. Paralympic Team heading to Sochi, where he won a bronze medal in the sport’s Paralympic debut. In 2015, he was an X Games Snowboarder X Adaptive gold medalist.
“The Hartford’s support for athletes like myself and the company’s longstanding support of U.S. Paralympics helps positively change perceptions about disabilities by showing what is possible when you focus on ability and overcome life’s challenges,” said Keith Gabel, Paralympic snowboarder and bronze medalist who is training for the Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.
“I am honored to join Team Hartford along with other world-class athletes and I am thankful for the opportunity to share my own will to prevail.”
Plus, for the last 24 years The Hartford has also been a title sponsor of The Hartford Ski Spectacular: which this year is held in Breckenridge (Colorado) in the ffirst and second week of December.
Organized by >Disabled Sports USA, it is one of the USA’s largest winter sports festivals for people with disabilities and has more than 800 registered participants annually.
Team Hartford’s Gabel, Shea and Kurka will all attend this year’s Hartford Ski Spectacular to share their passion and teach their sport to participants.
Comment:
As a founding partner, The Hartford has supported US Paralympic athletes for more than 20 years through its sponsorship of USA Paralympics, a division of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), and its dedication to recruiting and training elite athletes with physical and visual disabilities.
The synergies between the athletes, the rights-holder and the sponsor are genuine and straightforward as Hartford has long been the USA’s leading provider of group disability insurance.
The Hartford is a leader in property and casualty insurance, group benefits and mutual funds.
Indeed, in its 20 years in partnership with US Paralympics, The Hartford has held more than 2,500 events connecting millions of Americans with U.S. Paralympic athletes and sports.
Links:
The Hartford
https://www.thehartford.com/willtoprevail
https://www.youtube.com/user/thehartford
https://twitter.com/thehartford
https://www.facebook.com/TheHartford/
Team USA
https://www.teamusa.org/us-paralympics
