VISA at top of Vancouver 2010 sponsor podium with advertising volume, tagline and content

On day 10 of Vancouver 2010, VISA should be acknowledged not only as one of the Olympic movement's top-10 sponsors in terms of financial investment, the San Francisco-based global corporation deserves kudos for the advertising campaign it has activated around the 21st Olympic Winter Games.

VISA is at the top of the podium of Olympic sponsors these Games on the strength of its Go World television campaign voiced by Oscar winner Morgan Freeman.

Freeman's personal brand -- both likable and respected -- is an ideal combination to bring to VISA's global brand-building efforts. His narrative is one of the major reasons the Go World campaign is a winner. It also doesn't hurt that his profile is heightened during these Games on the backs of Invictus -- the rugby movie in which he plays South African president Nelson Mandela -- and his most recent Oscar nomination for best actor in advance of the Academy Awards March 7th.

Go World is smart because of the simple tagline, easily adaptable to Go VISA and domestic applications such as Go Canada.

The television ads are well-written, well-produced and well-themed (the Norwegian connection to Canadian cross-country skier Sara Renner at Turin 2006 as one of the best examples).

Go World has been so effective because it was among the first out of the gates months before Vancouver 2010 and has sustained VISA's place in the minds of consumers on the volume of a heavy media buy -- in Canada, the U.S. and in many other winter sports countries.

Yet VISA is winning mostly because it has accomplished what is often difficult for Worldwide Olympic partners to do; and that is connect with the domestic audience of the host country. VISA did that by being the first Olympic sponsor -- domestic or otherwise -- to run a congratulatory television spot on the occasion of Canada's first-ever home Olympic gold (22 minutes after Alex Bilodeau won the men's moguls on the first Sunday of the Games). It is doing that by running congratulatory ads on every subsequent Canadian gold medal.

Only fellow IOC Worldwide Partners Coca-Cola (with its hockey-themed 30-second television spot) and McDonald's (with its tribute to Canada's gold medalists using Jamie Campbell's call on Bilodeau's freestyle ski win on CTV) are in the same league on their television execution around Vancouver 2010.

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Bilodeau's marketing upside fueled by history, media-friendlies and compelling story-telling

Smiling before more than 24,000 fans at the official victory ceremonies tonight at BC Place -- aptly dubbed "Quebec Night" -- new Canadian winter sports hero Alexandre Bilodeau of Rosemere, Que. basked in the immediate afterglow of his historic Vancouver 2010 gold medal win in the men's moguls freestyle ski final Sunday at Cypress Mountain.

These past 24 hours have been life-changing for the first Canadian to win Olympic gold on home soil.

Live North American TV coverage of his clutch winning run Sunday night -- in both languages on CTV and RDS in Canada and NBC in the U.S. -- and global television exposure in Europe and Asia, not to mention Australia, where sports fans watched as Bilodeau dethroned their reigning Olympic champion, transplanted Canadian Dale Begg-Smith...front-page newspaper headlines from coast-to-coast and top story billing on television and radio...and many more millions of media impressions throughout the day on the web, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

It's only the beginning of the transformation of Bilodeau's career, lifestyle and economic clout.

Gold medal success carries financial rewards for most modern Olympians and Bilodeau will become one of Canada's have athletes on the strength of "des plus brilliants exploits" he recorded at Vancouver 2010.

Yet Bilodeau's commercial upside will be larger than usual. The lift he'll see through endorsements -- and new sponsorship opportunities for both himself and his sport -- will be buoyed in large part because of the sheer history of his moment. Firsts sell because firsts are remembered. Think Charles Lindbergh as the first to cross the Atlantic and ask yourself who was second. Think Neil Armstrong, the first to walk on the moon and admit that, 41 years later, #2 Buzz Aldrin has nowhere near the same name recognition.

The moniker of "first Canadian to win Olympic gold at home" will be with him -- and his sport -- forever. That is irresistable for companies looking for positive association with athletes. So is the youthful demographic of freestyle skiing, which made its debut on the shoulders of Lillehammer 1994 men's mogul gold medalist Jean-Luc Brassard and has been taken to the next level by Turin 2006 women's champion Jennifer Heil and now Bilodeau.

His marketing potential -- and career opportunities in broadcast and the media, which should resemble Brassard's -- are enhanced by his camera-friendly smile, personality and team player personna. Bilingualism is another feather in his cap.

Arguably the key to Bilodeau's terrific opportunity to market his gold medal, however, is the compelling story-telling around his career; including the inspiration he received as an eight-year-old watching Brassard win moguls gold in Lillehammer 16 years ago, his switch from hockey to freestyle skiing and his role as the "good guy" in the slaying of "the villain" Begg-Smith.

Even moreso, it is the story-telling around his personal life that makes Bilodeau such an attractive proposition as more than just a gold medal-winning Olympian. The story of his personal commitment and deeply-layered relationship with his brother Frederic, who lives with Cerebral Palsy, gives Bilodeau an authentic platform as a cause marketing champion.

Whether we're talking corporations and media companies drawn to the opportunity to raise the public awareness of Cerebral Palsy or those such as RBC, Subway and TSN looking to enhance their investment in the Special Olympics, Alex Bilodeau gives them all of that. And the best part is it's real.

That's why Bilodeau's marketing potential is greater than most.

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The Delicious Irony of Canada's First Home Olympic Gold Medal Victory

Canada's first Olympic gold medal won at home was fashioned tonight on the strength of a clutch men's moguls performance by freestyle skier Alex Bilodeau of Rosemere, Que. at 6:18 p.m. PT.

It ended a 33-year gold medal draught that began at Montreal 1976 and continued through Calgary 1988; ending the ignominy of Canada's status as the only country never to win gold as an Olympic host nation.

It underlined the impact that Canadian Jean-Luc Brassard's moguls gold at Lillehammer 1994 had on the sport in Canada, especially in Quebec where his success inspired and spawned the skiers who now dominate the national moguls team: Vancouver 2010 fourth-place finisher Vincent Marquis of Quebec City, No. 5 Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau of Drummondville, Que. and No. 11 Maxime Gingras of St-Hippolyte, Que.

It became instant hall-of-fame Canadian broadcast material for CTV consortium commentators Jamie Campbell (of Rogers Sportsnet) and Veronica Brenner and Michel Fervac-Larose and Brassard himself, who called the French-language coverage for RDS.

It also gave Olympic worldwide partner VISA the cue to run the first congratulatory ad on the occasion of the historic gold, 23 minutes later on CTV in the second commercial break after Bilodeau's victory.

Yet more than anything, Canada's first home gold smacked with the sheer irony (some would say poetic justice) that it came at the expense of reigning Olympic men's moguls champion -- Canadian-born Dale Begg-Smith of Australia.

Bilodeau knocked the Turin 2006 gold medalist from his pedestal nine years after the now Internet spamware millionaire left the Canadian freestyle ski team to pursue his Olympic future in Aussie colours. The irony is deepened by the fact that the 25-year-old Begg-Smith grew up two kilometres from the Cypress Mountain venue where he had to settle for silver and where Bilodeau made history for Canada.

Begg-Smith broke ranks with the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association over the flexibility he wanted as an entrepreneurial teenager. Begg-Smith found that latitude with Australia and rewarded his adopted country with its first Winter Games gold less than three years after becoming an Australian citizen in 2004.

Yet the real irony is that Bilodeau may not have had the capacity or team infrastructure to win gold at Vancouver 2010 without the changes Begg-Smith's defection in 2001 caused in the national freestyle ski program. It led to a new, more flexible approach behind Freestyle Ski Canada, both in terms of training and coaching protocols for the national team.

By extension, it created a stronger, better, deeper freestyle roster for Turin 2006 -- where Begg-Smith's own gold for Australia was matched by Jennifer Heil's women's gold -- and especially for Vancouver 2010.

The irony is driven home not only by Bilodeau's golden moment but by the top-five performances of Marquis and Rousseau. Even without Begg-Smith, three Canadians in the top five should only generate even more attention for moguls in particular and freestyle skiing in general for Sochi 2014 and the Winter Games to follow.

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NFL and The Who cross-promote CSI for CBS

Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend wrap their set at

the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show

Sunday at Sun Life Stadium in Miami. (Photo: Bethie Curley)

When the National Football League began considering who should perform at this year's Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, The Who was suggested as a natural fit given the league's recent predisposition towards iconic rock acts for its halftime show.

Most would agree they'd belong in the conversation with Paul McCartney (Super Bowl XXXIX at Jacksonville, Fla. in 2005), the Rolling Stones (Super Bowl XL at Detroit in 2006), Prince (Super Bowl XLI at Miami in 2007), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Super Bowl XLII at Glendale, Arizona in 2008) and The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen (Super Bowl XLIII at Tampa in 2009).

Along with Aerosmith (Super Bowl XXXV at Tampa in 2001) and U2 (in their moving 9/11 tribute during Super Bowl XXXVI at New Orleans in 2002), The Who is among the legendary bands of the 1970s and 1980s still rocking after all these years. That makes raspy lead vocals by Roger Daltrey and windmill guitar work by Pete Townshend resonate as a blast from the past with the boomer generation while still being relevant to the core Generation X NFL demographic and at least intriguing as historic rock'n'roll curiousities to the young adults in Generation Y and the young teens making up Generation Z.

Yet make no mistake: The Who earned the nod mainly because Super Bowl XLIV U.S. television rightsholder CBS loved the idea.

Giving The Who the high-profile gig made CBS Entertainment a happy camper because it would effectively cross-promote three of its most valuable television properties in one flick of the guitar pick: CSI and the Crime Scene Investigation trio. That's because The Who licensed their music to all three shows produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Television and CBS Paramount Television.

The original CSI (created in 2000 by Anthony E. Zuiker and still running strong Thursday nights at 9 p.m. PT on CBS in the U.S. and CTV in Canada) opens with about 40 seconds of Who are You?, the 1978 classic considered among the top-100 (#97) on the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time.

Its first spin-off CSI: Miami (launched in 2002 and running Mondays at 10 p.m. PT on CBS and CTV) begins with Won't Get Fooled Again, The Who's 1971 anthem that ranks #133 on the Rolling Stone Top 500. CSI: New York(which made its debut as the third in the trio of crime dramas and airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. PT on CBS and CTV) features Baba O'Reilly, another 1971 song (#340)by The Who.

We first raised The Who/CSI/CBS connection with Blake Price on The Blake Price Show on Vancouver sports radio TEAM 1040 on November 27th, the day after the NFL Network announced the selection of the 2010 halftime show headliners during a Thursday night showdown between the Oakland Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys.

So when Townshend leaked the Super Bowl set list in an interview with Billboard two weeks before the February 7th game on CBS and CTV, it should have surprised no one that Baba O'Riley, Who Are You? and Won't Get Fooled Again were part of the plans for Miami.

The Who followed Townshend's Billboard promises to a tee. Before a capacity crowd of 74,059 at Sun Life Stadium and a record North American television audience of 114 million on CBS and CTV, they opened the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show with Pinball Wizard and did a short segment from the close of Tommy. Yet it was nothing but CSI theme music the rest of the way.

Baba O'Riley was first up among the CSI themes. Then came Who Are You? and the quick "See Me, Feel Me" from Tommy. The ending was perfectly-scripted. As the theme song for CSI: Miami, The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again was the natural finale as an ode to the host city.

The 12-minute set was solid, arguably strong enough to knock off Diana Ross and comfortably rank among the top-10 Super Bowl halftime shows of all time. Performed on a wildly-impressive stage that starred in its own right and provided a modern light show extravaganza, the set served the event and its television audience well.

More than anything, though, it stoked host broadcaster CBS and its Bruckheimer-produced CSI franchise -- not to mention CTV as the Canadian rightsholder to both the Super Bowl and CSI -- in a brilliant medley of cross-promotion and co-branding.

It's much more likely he'll be owning a National Hockey League franchise in Las Vegas sometime soon, but it almost makes you wonder how long before Pete Townshend's guitar windmill from Sunday's Super Bowl XLIV re-starts the rumour windmill about Bruckheimer getting himself involved in the return of the NFL to Los Angeles later this decade.

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