Hasta La Creative!

As the Winter Olympians train for the Sochi games in February, many hope their performance will result in endorsement gold. Through the decades, Winter Olympians such as Dorothy Hamill, Picabo Street, Dan Jansen, Apolo Ohno and Shaun White have capitalized on their gold-medal wins by lining up strategic marketing partners. Even in the absence of Olympic gold, figure skater Michelle Kwan became one of the most popular female athletes of all time and enjoyed tremendous endorsement success.

But the Sochi athletes face hurdles that weren’t in London last year and won’t be in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Fewer viewers. The U.S. viewing audience for the winter competition has always been smaller than that of the summer games. Fewer countries compete, meaning smaller global audiences and perhaps less appeal to major multinational marketers. As a result, some Winter Olympics athletes look for ways to increase their visibility beyond the ice rink or ski slopes. After figure skater Evan Lysacek won gold in Vancouver in 2010, he chose to compete in ABC’s popular reality show “Dancing with the Stars.” By making it to the finals and spending months in front of a national TV audience, Lysacek enhanced his marketing opportunities by gaining exposure to a broader base.

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