ASSOCIATED PRESS: Who's the face of the Rio Games? It may not be who you think (Burroughs feature)
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by Associated Press
Photo of Jordan Burroughs from the 2015 World Championships by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors.
This year more than ever, the so-called "face" of the Olympics could be a wrestler, or a fencer, or an athlete who most of the world has never heard of before.
Armed with data that measures popularity in much deeper ways than in years past, and in hopes of picking the perfect storytellers to share their own stories, many top sponsors for the Summer Games are digging deeper into the roster of athletes for their marketing campaigns.
For every Kerri Walsh-Jennings making an Olympic pitch to consumers, there are two Jordan Burroughs. For every Missy Franklin, there's another Ibtihaj Muhammad.
"The distinctiveness and depth of the marketing is much more pronounced this Games than it has been previously," said Lisa Baird, the chief marketing officer of the U.S. Olympic Committee. "Its partners are going to the less-known athletes, and realizing the faces of the Games could be someone very different."
Inside of two months before the start of the Rio Games, Burroughs is leading the way among this generation of "new" faces. Though the thoughtful, family-man wrestler is a defending Olympic gold medalist, he certainly doesn't have the same name recognition as Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps. That didn't stop Hershey, Chobani and Ralph Lauren — three major players on the USOC's sponsorship roster — from using him prominently as part of their campaigns.
CLICK HERE FOR ENTIRE AP ARTICLE FEATURING JORDAN BURROUGHS
This year more than ever, the so-called "face" of the Olympics could be a wrestler, or a fencer, or an athlete who most of the world has never heard of before.
Armed with data that measures popularity in much deeper ways than in years past, and in hopes of picking the perfect storytellers to share their own stories, many top sponsors for the Summer Games are digging deeper into the roster of athletes for their marketing campaigns.
For every Kerri Walsh-Jennings making an Olympic pitch to consumers, there are two Jordan Burroughs. For every Missy Franklin, there's another Ibtihaj Muhammad.
"The distinctiveness and depth of the marketing is much more pronounced this Games than it has been previously," said Lisa Baird, the chief marketing officer of the U.S. Olympic Committee. "Its partners are going to the less-known athletes, and realizing the faces of the Games could be someone very different."
Inside of two months before the start of the Rio Games, Burroughs is leading the way among this generation of "new" faces. Though the thoughtful, family-man wrestler is a defending Olympic gold medalist, he certainly doesn't have the same name recognition as Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps. That didn't stop Hershey, Chobani and Ralph Lauren — three major players on the USOC's sponsorship roster — from using him prominently as part of their campaigns.
CLICK HERE FOR ENTIRE AP ARTICLE FEATURING JORDAN BURROUGHS
