Client:

VISA Canada

The Challenge:

The sponsorship strategy deployed by VISA Canada for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games was not deemed a success against the 5 major brand pillars employed by the company to measure consumer perception of the VISA brand. The challenge for the 1996 Torino and 2008 Beijing Games was to positively impact consumer attitudes towards the brand by developing a long-term strategy that could build towards the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and carry through to London 2012.

The Solution:

Step 3 went back to square one for a complete strategic overhaul of VISA's Olympic sponsorship positioning. The resulting strategy under the "Team VISA" banner committed the company to an athlete-support platform that was differentiated by way of:

• a commitment to long-term support
• a nomination process that selected athletes based on their achievements as positive role models
• mentorship to VISA-supported athletes by former Olympians who were both legendary athletes & celebrated role models for their givebacks to both sport & society
• television vignettes which told the stories of the athletes against the backdrop of the VISA sponsorship
• full integration across traditional television ads, vignettes, consumer sweepstakes, vendor programs and customer statements

Step 3 was retained to implement key recommendations of the strategy. Post-Torino research from CBC, SRC, Charlton Marketing (Olympic-specific research) and proprietary studies all showed positive results.

For the Beijing Games, preliminary research showed that VISA finished 3rd in unaided recall among a group of more than 35 sponsors. Step 3 is now implementing the Team Visa program for Vancouver 2010.

The sponsorship role of Step 3 has now expanded to include VISA’s sponsorship of the national bobsled and skeleton teams as well as FIFA World Cup Soccer.