The 2012 Olympic Games are coming to London next summer, and the International Olympic Committee wants to attract younger viewers. How will they do that, you ask? Well, how about a website that allows youngsters to upload video clips of themselves performing some athletic feat…then create a mashup with their footage and footage of real Olympic athletes that can be posted to their Facebook page. Oh, and there’s a chance to win prizes and a trip to the London Games in the process. Sounds like a perfect scheme to take advantage of the inflated egos of the “participation generation”…those who grew up getting ribbons and trophies just for showing up. As the campaign says, “everyone’s best is worth celebrating.”
You can watch an introductory video clip here: https://showyourbest.olympic.org/en#!/intro
According to a write-up in the New York Times,
Mike Doherty, the president of Cole & Weber, said the campaign’s theme would resonate with a younger audience since many are used to interacting with others around the world through platforms like social media and video games. Most important, he added, “they certainly all think they are the best at something.”
I personally like interactive media campaigns and by incorporating face book into the mix this is a good way to appeal to the younger generations who do spend a lot of time on the site. This is an interesting campaign because instead of trying to glorify the athletes as usual, the ad downplays their efforts and makes it seem as if anyone could be an Olympic athlete. Because of the explosion of social networks and advancing technologies I think a lot of companies will be changing their advertising styles to reach a younger and more computer-savvy population.
I find this to be very interesting. I think it is pretty neat that the International Olympic Committee not only wants to attract younger viewers, but to involve them as well. Because this generation is so involved with social media, giving them the opportunity to be recognized via the world wide web with the chance of winning prizes and a trip to the London Games, it’s something not many would want to pass up! I think this is a great way for the Olympic Committee to get the attention they desire from a younger generation.
This is an awesome marketing tool for the International Olympic Committee but it’s really sad that they had to go through Facebook to get it out there. That just proves how lazy our generation is and why this needs to be so competitive yet fun, to get kids moving. It’s a fantastic idea and the rewards will be great. However if they want to call this the “participation generation” then they need to go with that and do something for everyone that submitted something, like a fee Olympic shirt just for being awesome and sending them a video of being active along with knowing they were probably on a computer for hours mashing up film and making a video that takes longer to create then to shoot. It’s a great idea but I think it can be improved upon in some way or another.
No one want to watch the Olympics and just witness history anymore? There has to be an incentive to watch athletes do things we can’t? Sure social media is a great new platform to get more peole interested in the games but what gets me is that they want the “participation generation” to participate for their benefit to increase the audience for the Olympics… Isn’t that just giving them what they want? That would be pretty interesting to see how many active young people there are out there to get the world more involved but when combining that with a mash up video with other athletes that just doesn’t seem right. Who is going to post a video of themselves trying to dog-paddle in a kiddy pool mixed with Michael Phelps winning countless gold medals. Its just giving more people an expectation to be recognized for doing little to nothing.
If there is any way we can get younger generations to do more physical things, we should try. I think the inernship is a great idea, but the whole facebook aspect doesnt seem that positive. I dont think that young children should have facebooks and part of this is making a video and putting it on facebook. This is just another way that media tends to affect us in a negatice way. We are letting our children believe that its ok to have these facebook pages so young. Im not saying that facebook is a terrible thing, but it is definitely something that comes with a later age, not a young age.
However, I do think that it is great to get a younger audience because watching the games can affect them positively. It can bring them a feeling of pride in the country, and can help show them that there are so many ways that we can give back to America, even if it is just playing a soccer game to do so. I think that the olympics is a great thing for everyone in our country to watch and support.
“The Participation Generation” one of the best quotes I have head describing our generation. Coming from someone that has played sports all my life and is still playing here at school this couldn’t be more true. Anymore our society is so lazy that they have to give awards just for getting out and participating in a sport or event, it really is sad. The Olympics have been around since the beginning of time and is one of the greatest events ever and its a shame the things they need to do to get the younger audiences to watch. Hopefully this works and gets the youth interested and wanting to participate.
What a great marketing idea. It may be a way to boost some egos but, why not? This is a fantastic way to get the younger generation involved. Today the younger generation is consumed with TV and video games. This idea gets kids going it, like stated above, is an active campaign. Not only do I think this will get the younger generation to participate with the 2012 Olympics but, it gives them an opportunity to potentially go to the 2012 Olympics. Why not give it a try. This was a great move by the Olympic Committee and I feel that it will be very successful. The Olympics bring a set of amazing athletics to one area to demonstrate what they have been working so hard on since they could probably walk. Sports aren’t just a pass time they teach you about yourself, they open several opportunities and they provide exquisite role models for kids. Opening up the possibility for the younger generation to watch such dedicated athletes may inspire them to work hard in other aspects of their lives.
I think this will be a very popular marketing campaign seeing as everyone loves to be noticed by others and organizations with authority behind them. Being able to have an olympic mash up or video for people to put on their facebook was a nice touch as well, and I’m sure more youth will become involved for the prizes if not just for the fun of it.
Once again it’s almost time for the Olympic Games. This year the International Olypic Committee has come up with a new plan to attract younger viewers to watch the olympics. I think a website that allows the younger generation to upload their videos performing an athletic feature is a great way to get them up and active. Maybe it will even help with the childhood obesity rate. Especially since there is a prize involved i think that will encourage more young people to care about this.
The Olympic committee has come up with a very good idea in how to get our younger generation involved, because it is something that will work. It will work because as they so likely have named it the younger generations are “participating” in everything. It is no longer a passive world, it has become active, and demands a certain participation level in order to be “a part of” something. The sad thing about this is that it is teaching you adults to brag about their success and is leaving them without the poise of a champion. By interacting with this new campaign the “participating generation” will indeed become more involved with the Olympics, but in my opinion for more of the wrong reasons than the right ones. The Olympics has always been the showcase of the top athletes and idea that the Olympic Committee has is no longer drawing in people to support these athletes, it is now about getting the younger generation to show themselves off and then to connect it back to them to add into the video clips of a famous athlete with the same sport interest.
This seems like a perfect idea to get the younger generation more involved with the Olympic Games. While the Games are already a highly publicized event, there still is a gap among viewers. Allowing fellow athletes all over the world, or as the article stated as the “participation generation”, to take part in a way that allows them to show off what they are good at creates a more positive buildup to the Olympics. This could also generate younger viewers who are not too involved with athletics to go out and try something new and then hopefully want to watch it at the Games. It makes them think that they are a part of something that is huge internationally. Using not only social media, but also prizes to motivate the participation in being active for the Olympics seems like a very smart plan. Social media is taking over the way everyone communicates and it is the best way to market almost anything all over the world.
I typically enjoy poking fun at the fake erudition of full grown folks over the type of self-importance encouraged of “the participation generation”, yet the two are one in the same. The youth are simply taking ques from the leaders of today; this example of an Olympic marketing scheme to promote attachment to national identity and individual contribution is merely a reflection of elder egos onto youth. If I had kids, I’d probably struggle to walk the line of over sheltering and over exposing them too. So in the spirit of how this topic was framed, here’s what a like-minded old goat would say about the Olympics campaign:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALf2HZsGtGQ&feature=related
The Olympics are so polarizing for so many people around the globe. They’re supposed to represent all of these virtuous things about competition and athletic achievement, but they certainly aren’t “pure” in my mind by any stretch.
Whether it’s the rampant abuse of performance enhancing drugs, the inclusion of countries that have heinous human rights abuses on their hands (*cough* China *cough*), corporate sponsorship bullying, outright grotesque tax-payer price tags to fund these gaudy events and the all too shaky integrity of the IOC, there’s a myriad of reasons why the “Occupy” generations won’t really be digging the games.
Of course the slick heads in the advertising department dreamed up the idea of using technology to reel in the youngins… smart, yes, but be careful.. remember that catch twenty two adage that comes with all technological uses and advances. Things like that tend to backfire, most times.
Even if their little promo tool does go well though, the endless amounts of loot that it’s going to take to fund the mega event that will be the 2012 games is enough to turn me away.. I’ll tune in to see Usain Bolt smash some records, but other than that, I doubt being able to make some high-tech collage will be enough to snag my attention.
Oh, and lemme just add, London, get ready for some serious problems for your residents who are trying to get to work ina timely manner, as well as to be the main ones footing a pretty big bill for all of this aggrandized hoopla…and let’s not forget how it’s becoming more and more routine to force low-income folks from their homes when the Olympics come to town as well… yeah, let’s not forget that…
LOL, there you have it, your feel bad post of the holiday season… Merry Schlitz-mas… peace!
I think the concept is to get the common people who aren’t the greatest athletes involved with the Olympics by having them film themselves and then combine those video with videos of real athletes. Its mainly a promotion tool to help increase the ratings for and profits from the Olympics, and we’ll have to see where this promotion leads in the end.
Personally, I think it’s pretty weak that they have to go out of the way to try and attract younger people to watch the Olympics. Granted, when I was younger, I didn’t care overly much about the games, but now (still at a relatively young age), I find the Olympic a pretty entertaining event. As a competitive swimmer, the aquatic racing events always draw my interest, but the fact that the world’s best are gathered to compete head-to-head in just about every sport imaginable is a draw in of itself. The marketing campaign is pretty clever and flows well with the ubiquitous Web 2.0 ideals, and will hopefully help achieve their goals. It’s always interesting to see how the games are presented each time around, and it appears that London will be focusing a lot on spreading news and promotion through the internet.
It’s the perfect way to take advantage of inflated egos. I know so many people that are participating in that only so people see how “great” they are. The egos of young adults and teenagers who grew up in sports getting ribbons for participation are enlarged just because that makes them feel like they are the best. It also makes them feel like they are apart of the Olympics for 2012. It is a very good scheme to get younger viewers to watch for those who usually just wouldn’t care about them in the first place.
The 2012 Olympics are going to be a hit. Especially since the big thing for this generation is being involved and active, and expressing yourself. For the Olympics, the audience they have is normally not so many young people. But now that this program was introduced they will have a the addition of younger viewers.
This truly is an amazing idea! The Olympic Committee appealing to younger viewers can most likely increase their ratings. Using social networks is a great way to reach adolescence as well as provide news and footage of anything that you might have missed. Hardly anybody is watching the Olympics at all hours of the day, so it is nice being able to catch what you missed by seeing what others post. The videos of people posting their athletic footage is a good way to feed their egos, as well as make the Olympics more enjoyable for teenagers making them internet famous. I would like to see a blooper reel of the attempts at showing athletic ability though. Not to criticize but for comic relief. I’m not that very athletic so if I make a video, and send it in, I’d like to see it on tv.
I wouldn’t put a whole lot of faith into the whole “you could win a chance to go to the Olpymic games” thing. Nobody ever wins. There’s close to 7 billion people in the world and this was most likely pitched to them too. same contest one prize. The odds of winning are very very low.
Wow, this is a brilliant idea by the International Olympic Committee! This could help gain more viewers who would not normally watch the olympics, as well as be beneficial for children as they would have a reason to go outside and exercise, rather than stay inside and be unproductive. I also think it would be a good idea if they put a link to every individual video that makes it onto this footage. Who knows, you could just find the next viral video, or young athletic phenom! It could really make someones dreams come true! i really like this!
Well look on the bright side, at least someone somewhere is trying to get kids out of the TV room and onto the athletic fields. There are worse things out there than an initiative to get kids to film themselves doing something athletic. At least they aren’t asking them to film themselves watching sports or something! I do agree with the idea that it’s pathetic to have to offer prizes and trips to get people off their butts though. As a marketing tool, the Olympic brand needed something like this to get people into the mindset to actually pay attention to the games. They’ve been doing so much too keep the games going like getting coke to sponsor it, that its almost as commercialized as most American sports.
also i just wanted to bring to light what Frederick Leighman said:
Pretty soon the games won’t need to be sponsored by Coke; we’ll instead see particular segments brought to you by Water (trademarked)
I find this comment pretty hilarious.
Do I get a ribbon for commenting on this blog? As for the idea of younger viewers sending in videos for the Olympics, more power to the olympics. Growing up I didn’t really care for the Olympics, and I still don’t. They have never looked interesting or fun to me. It’s a good idea to reach out to the younger viewers since they didn’t do that with my generation. Instead of watching the sport on T.V I preferred to be outside playing when I was young. Great idea olympics.
The Olympics came up with a great idea to involve and to attract young viewers. I think that they will get a lot of positive feedback with viewers having fun posting videos of them selves doing Olympic activities. Not only, it is showing that they look up to all of the Olympians and they would be proud to watch young viewers wanting to be just like them, but it is always helping America and the big problem with obesity and will help to encourage young kids to be more active in a creative way.
This is a great idea. This seems to be a really cool thing that I’m sure many people will participate in. Think about how many people post videos on youtube or try out for american idol. This seems kind of like that. If someone is good enough who knows maybe they’ll get picked up for the olympic games, and who doesn’t like winning a prize. Everyone loves these kind of things now days.
this is such a cool idea! there are many talented people out there and they never get the chance to shine so this would be a perfect opportunity for them! the olympics are for the best of the best and if someones good it shouldn’t matter how they got their spot in the olympics! everything else in today’s society is being based off videos and technology so i dont think this is that big of a deal. if justin beiber can get famous off youtube then why cant an athlete get credit for their skill on a video as well?
This is a great idea and i think it will get great participation from the younger generation. This is a great way to get the youth involved and give them a chance to feel like they are going to be recognized for their skills. This could get a little dangerous though. Im just sayin, some kids are going to take this a bit too serious and get a little carried away with it.
So in a time where we focus on and emphasize the ability of athletes, the Olympics commitee introduces a marketing tactic that belittles their talent and attention. By proclaiming and plugging the message of “everyone’s best is worth celebrating” they’re practically saying that anyone could be among the athletes that we watch at the Olympics. In addition, this campaign will likely encourage people to do really stupid things just to get in a video on the Olympics. After seeing all the stuff on “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and the like, we do some pretty stupid stuff to begin with. Just imagine what people will do and attempt when there’s a reward.
i think this is an amazing marketing idea for the olympic games in london! i feel that since the olympics are trying to incorporate the youth into the festivities and competition that this olympic game will be viewed by more people then ever before! i also think this is going to make the olympics become viewed as a family event more then a personal, one on one show! i feel this will undoubtedly be a success because of this!
I think this is a great idea to grab younger viewers attention to the 2011 Olympic games. It shows them that everyone can do sports and just by them uploading videos of themselves actually being active and showing an interest shows how well of idea this is. It also connects to the younger viewers by telling them hey u may not be able to compete in the Olymoics yet but u can be just by showing us your sport videos and to keep going at it. I would do it if I played any type of sport but i do not so i am not lucky with this one.
i really think this is a neat idea the Olympic committee is doing. not only will it bring in a lot of young kids to the olympic games but it will get them active. if i was 10 years old and they had given this oppurtunity i would have done it in a heart beat. everyone little one wants a little fame to make them feel important or famous. this reminds me of the surevy we learned about in class about little kids want to be an assitant for a celebrity. even though they wont be the “celebrity” if being there assitant is the closest thing will get to fame they will take it.
The Olympic Committee has come up with a clever idea to get the younger generation involved, however it could be a bad idea. Everyone loves posting videos of them selves doing “awesome” stunts, because they all want their 15 seconds of fame. It could be a bad idea because you could have those filming what they want to post and could possibly injury themselves. This idea isn’t costing them much to have other people post videos on there add
Everyones Best is something is i have never seen done before. People are looking at this as something that is silly and won’t go anywhere. But i look at it as a great opportunity even more so a door that opened for the world to show off what gifts and talents they have. There is so many unknown talents out in the world that now they have an opportunity to show it to the world. Also looking at it through the eyes of an Mass Com student it is a great way to market the 2012 Olympic Games this is going to London next summer. This will attract more viewers to the games as well as the younger generation because the way the marketing world works is they want to target the generation that will it every time it’s on. Well they are not going to target the people who have to work 40 hours a week as much as the people who are young and their only priority in life is to go to school. But also it brings something new to the table that has never been done before and something that could potently go somewhere. Also they use a very good way to market this ad because they say “everyones best” not “you have to be athletic and fit to participate in this. Its is reaching out to a vast number of people with different size shape and back grounds. Another really good aspect about this is once your done with making your video you can upload it to Facebook or any other networking cites and let the world see. That is a good way to use your networking cites because is mass media is moving from the new’s in the morning to theses networking cites. I believe that the Olympic committee did a great job in coming up with this idea, now what other idea can they come up with to get younger viewers excited about being active. I think that its a great thing that people are coming up with new and cool ideas for our younger generation the 2012 Olympic games is going to have a different out look this year with this ad.
This tactic is a genious one. Anytime there is a campaign to get younger vewiers involved with talents, they jump right on it. Look at American Idol. Most of the teens early in that show THINK they are great and don’t care what others say, or even just go when they know they are bad just to get on TV. As we learned in class as well every younger generation would jump at a shot at fame…or at least the feeling of fame. Look at when CSU-Pueblo hosted a home game that will be aired on national TV…the result, higher attendance than at any other home game…. People just want to see their face on a television screen, or just in the media. Not to mention the prize portion of it, its like the lotto for teens.
I am not exactly sure if celebrating everyones best is a good thing. The “participation generation” is a spot on analogy for the youth in our country in my opinion. As someone who has coached at the high school level recently, it is apparent to me that the kids I coach are more interested in themselves, rather than team. They all want to be superstars and feel like they are all capable of these abilities, when in reality they are not. Which is also fine, i think it is important to have people who recognize they are not the best but, they still can be very valuable. This media tactic of getting kids involved will undoubtedly work, but at what cost? Rewarding mediocrity im my opinion is a slippery slope, and we have seen the consequences already. I think the olympic committee should do more in non olympic times to get kids more active. Dont use this as a ploy to get their viewer ratings up.
The International Olympic Committee has come up with a tactic that should work very well for them. People love to put videos of themselves on the internet, for example YouTube. The slogan is also appealing to the younger audience. In a society were people want to be praised for every average everyday normals thing that they do, younger people will be into being celebrated. What you said about the participation generation is on point and it drives me crazy.
This is a creative, effective marketing scheme in order to get more viewers to watch the olympics. Typically adults are the ones whom watch the olympics, but by attracting the younger generations the olympic games will gain publicity. However my only concern in this campaign is the fact that they are feeding kids attention that makes them feel like a champion. Though its good to reward people for working hard, if they are over praised for things they arent really good at it develops a sense of sugar coating where they lack. This can be a hard to deal with situation for when the child gets older and realizes that they truly arent the best at what they do, and society praised them for showing up. I feel the olympics should take a different approach that will get the same effect. Instead of praising each and every person that enters a video they should give 1 tip of advice for the child to perform better, and take in consideration of every video and reward the people whom performed the best by showing their picture on international television as the world wide contest winner. This would make the kids whom are struggling at a particular stunt be rewarded by effective criticism and attention, but yet create a sense of competition. I feel that its vital to teach kids at a young age where the lack and give them the confidence and work ethic to perform better so they can be the best. Thats if people can do so without being too hard on their kids.
“Everyones best is worth celebrating” is a great slogan and will most definatley get younger people involved. Young people love youtube and this seems like another way to get videos out there. However kids enjoy doing dangerous stunts to get noticed. Hopefully it will have a positive impact and help to get everyone active for a healthier lifestyle!
The Olympics are always going to be a big hit no matter who watches them. I think having the younger generation making videos is somewhat a smart idea. Although I would be curious how many will hear about this video making and actually send it in. I think it would be cool to attend the olympics just because people sent in videos. It will help kids use their creative side to get them active. Winning this contest will make the winner feel like a star because they would get to go to the Olympics and actually see how everything works and how athletes prepare themselves for events. The more I think about it the more this is a good idea. It will get the younger generation more interested in the games and possibly stop them from playing video games for a week or so.
I honestly believe that if they try to get a younger viewing crowd that someone might get hurt trying to “pro-athletic” stunts. With younger crowd they can’t do a lot of the things that athletes can do. In my opinion they should try and promote harder than they have been in the past. For example they could make video games for boys and for girls they could add more to magazines and tv. If they have a website for stunts it’ll just be mainly boys than girls. In my opinion the idea wont work well. maybe a 5 or 10 % increase of younger viewers.
I believe this is a great marketing tool for the Olympics. It will help the younger generation become part of this huge event. The Olympics are always such a successful event to begin with but giving the opportunity to younger people to see themselves in the Olympics setting will let them learn a little bit more about the games. I also agree that it will make more kids try something active. Not everyone is a great athlete but most people’s goal as a child is to be in the Olympics. The quote “everyone’s best is worth celebrating” is very inspirational. The message the Olympics are putting out there will help younger people to strive to do their best.
I personally think that this tactic will work and that a lot of young people will try and post themselves or their friends doing something athletic just to try and get in that video mashup. I think it is a pretty good idea from the Olympics and it will help young kids get out and try to do something active, for at least a little while.
Sam wrote:
“Sounds like a perfect scheme to take advantage of the inflated egos of the “participation generation”…those who grew up getting ribbons and trophies just for showing up. As the campaign says, “everyone’s best is worth celebrating.”
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Sounds a little George Carlin-esque there, Doc. It’s about time we see a little cynicism outta you! Great stuff. It smacks of Obama’s Special Olympics quip on Leno years back.
Alas, I think the Olympic games will be vastly overshadowed, especially in Europe, by civil unrest which continues to fester.
Will people be interested in feigning their ethnocentric and economic dominance against other countries via superficial sports symbolism in 2012? Or will they be worried that their governments, to cope with insolvency, continue to sell off the people’s natural resources to private conglomerates under the guise of “austerity” measures, otherwise known as civil enslavement.
Pretty soon the games won’t need to be sponsored by Coke; we’ll instead see particular segments brought to you by Water (trademarked).
Gird your loins.
I think it is interesting that the new generation needs Facebook and prizes as a motive to go get out and do something active. But it is also a really smart way to get younger viewers to watch the olympics. I never really watch the olympics and growing up my parents and uncles and older family would gather around the T.V and watch them, but I had no interest. So I think this is a great idea to get a new audience.
The 2012 Olympics will undoubtly be a success and it will also get the participation generation a chance to get outside and be active. This will hopefully spark a big decline in child obesedy in america since there will be a way for kids to get active and get prizes out of this for just participation. This is still a geat way to increase young people in watching the olympic games.
“participation generation”…those who grew up getting ribbons and trophies just for showing up. “I LOVE THIS QUOTE! On another note, Kudos 2012 Olympics! This tactic will with out a doubrt work perfectly. What a genious idea!