BrandStand » Make the 2010 Winter Olympics Your Own

January 27, 2010 | Melissa Eggert

Make the 2010 Winter Olympics Your Own

Have you logged on to the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 website yet? If not, you probably should. It’s an information overload and the hub for all online initiatives, which has already played a huge part in creating buzz for the games.

I read an article in Brandweek magazine that discussed the advertising strategies for partnering brands, all of which incorporate social media from the get-go. The level of integration and the central focus on social media in each of these plans is no surprise and only reiterates the change to digital in the past year.

With social media connecting fans to the games, it’s also no surprise that people are becoming more involved with the Olympics than ever before – you can now become a Winter Olympics “advocate”, commenting on blogs, winning contests, and getting retweeted by sponsor handles. Here’s a few examples:

Samsung – “Mobile explorers” will record their experiences at the games via blog posts, Youtube videos, and Twitter updates. On the microsite, you can also help Samsung promote its company blog about the games. If you are the “Gold Blogger,” you win a trip to the Olympics to write about athletes and their performances.

Visa – Its “Go World” microsite features big-time athletes such as skier Julia Mancuso with their own videos, photos and widgets that connect you to Facebook and other social networks. The site also has plenty of contests that result in trips to the games.

McDonalds – “How do you McNugget?” Athletes will record themselves showing how they eat McNuggets in creative ways and will share their videos on McDonald’s YouTube channel.

NBC Universal – The main sponsor has collaborated with Twitter and Swarm Collective to produce Olympic Pulse, where visitors can view athlete tweets, NBC Olympics blogs and top trending stories on Digg.

I’ve never been one to hold those all-day-all-night Olympic marathon parties, but with all of these fun games, contests, and ways to get involved, I just might have to. What about you – has the integration of social media heightened your excitement for the Winter Olympics? Do you use these sites and applications to gather information about which games you want to watch? Do you feel more inclined to comment or blog about the games with its huge online presence? I’m curious to know.