ADwire » Going for the Gold - Digitally, of course.

Going for the Gold - Digitally, of course.

July 24th, 2008 at 10:44am Cindy Harris

Young people don’t much like the Olympic Games, much to marketers’ chagrin. But 2008 could change that according to this piece in today’s Washington Post. This year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) loosens its rules on social media like Flickr and “Citizen Journalists” by allowing athletes to blog and networks to air live streaming video on websites instead of on TV. But sorry YouTube - the IOC is still clutching on to its video by embedding digital fingerprints and other fancy security software to keep “pirating” at a minimum.

NBC Universal is already on track to produce the most “digitized” Olympic Games ever with 3,600 hours of digital streams - triple what they did for the Athens Games. Which means more opportunities for you to watch those heart-rendering profiles on athletes who’ve overcome unbelievable odds to show up on the world stage…or to watch your favorite obscure sport (Handball, anyone?) online instead of waiting until it airs on tape-delay at 3 am.

Local business owners can tap into the Olympic spirit as well - local NBC affiliate WREX-TV already has its own Olympic Zone on its website - click here - and packages for local advertisers. WREX rep Scott Dimke says there are advertising opportunities still available for local ads to air within the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as daytime, evening and weekend spots. They also provide opportunities for online/digital exposure as well.

Can’t wait? Below are some Olympics-related commercials already on the air around the world. Or visit a previous ADWire post about Visa’s campaign.

Want to see Yao and LeBron duke it out or an absolutely beautiful 5-minute spot from China? Just visit YouTube and search for “2008 Olympics advertising.” I’m quite sure there’s more awe-inspiring advertising to come - stay tuned!