Athletes ‘carpool’ their way to Rio in Visa’s new global Olympic Games campaign via BBDO NY

Visa, the exclusive payment provider at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, has launched its most ambitious integrated global Olympic Games campaign in the company’s history via BBDO, New York.

Marking a bold new direction in Visa’s marketing and communications, the new “Carpool” campaign will run globally across all media channels from digital to broadcast as an integral part of Visa’s overall Olympic sponsorship which includes onsite activations, new payment innovations and our diverse group of Team Visa athletes.

VIEW THE SPOT

Says Lynne Biggar, executive vice president, chief marketing and communications officer, Visa Inc: “Visa is a leading global payment technology brand that has always stood for acceptance. Our commitment to acceptance ensures you can use your Visa card whether you click, dip, tap or swipe to pay. But it goes far beyond product acceptance. Our Olympic ‘Carpool’ campaign reflects the broader aspects of acceptance — demonstrating Visa’s support and celebration of athletes across cultures, geographies and sports.”

The campaign’s centrepiece film melds a diverse roster of more than 20 members of Team Visa — a group of Visa sponsored world-class Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls that share Visa’s values of acceptance, partnership and innovation. The campaign features more athletes, more ways to pay, more geographies and more marketing channels than any other Olympic Games campaign in Visa’s 30-year sponsorship of the Olympic Movement.  The film follows these athletes as they join a fun and light-hearted carpool to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, leveraging payment innovations to make purchases on route, using technologies such as Visa Checkout, Samsung Pay and chip cards, among others.

Visa extended the creative theme of “Carpool” in the North American market, by working with three major merchant partners — Best Buy, Costco and United Airlines – developing custom “Carpool” spots for each brand.  In the Best Buy spot, Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen-Eaton show off their speed and competitiveness in pre-Olympic Games by shopping on the Best Buy website using Visa Checkout.  Debuting on television on Thursday, June 23, Costco’s spot shows Kerri Walsh-Jennings and English Gardner using their Visa card to stock up on the latest summer finds in a Costco warehouse.  Finally, the United Airlines spot shows a humorous look at pre-game preparations featuring Ashton Eaton, Ibtihaj Muhammad and Carli Lloyd, culminating in a last minute flight purchase from Missy Franklin using Visa Checkout on United.com.

In addition to television, Visa will leverage its innovative digital, social and technology partnerships to amplify the campaign during critical times throughout The Olympics. Visa will also host fun, experiential activations onsite to drive local product and merchant preference.

The Carpool film (1.20″ in length) features the following Team Visa Rio 2016 athletes: Missy Franklin (USA – Swimming), Ibtihaj Muhammad (USA – Fencing), Carli Lloyd (USA – Soccer), Kerri Walsh Jennings (USA – Beach Volleyball), Valerie Adams (New Zealand – Shot Put), Ashton Eaton (USA – Decathlon), Terezinha Guilhermina  (Brazil – Paralympic Athletics), Jennifer Abel (Canada – Diving), Pamela Ware (Canada – Diving), Alison Cerutti (Brazil – Beach Volleyball), Wayde van Niekerk (South Africa – Athletics), Daiya Seto (Japan – Swimming), Kanako Watanabe (Japan – Swimming) and Maria Espinoza (Mexico – Taekwondo).

Set to the music of Edwin Starr’s “25 Miles”, and shot by the young up-and-coming filmmaker AG Rojas, the long-form film encompasses one global story that will be shown in over a dozen different  cuts across the world.  The film was shot in the United States, Brazil and Japan and includes input from markets such as Africa, Australia, Canada, Central Europe, Latin America, Mexico, Middle East and New Zealand. It will run globally with each market featuring a different carpool sequence that highlights local Olympic athletes using a variety of payment technologies, making it Visa’s most global campaign to-date.

Agency: BBDO New York 

Talent Management: IMG