SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 4, 2002 — The Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 (SLOC), MSN, NBC and MSNBC today announced that six new companies have signed on as advertisers on the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 official Web site, http://www.olympics.com/ . The new sponsors are GE, Kimberly-Clark Corp. (makers of KLEENEX facial tissue), McDonald’s Corp., Office Depot Inc., Universal Pictures and Xerox Corp. With help from the latest advertising technology developed by Microsoft Corp., these sponsors can increase online awareness of their brands and extend their reach to a broad audience through one of the largest event Web sites in sports history.
“The innovative advertising technologies of MSN® deliver a gold-medal performance on the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 site,”
said Joanne Bradford, vice president and chief media revenue officer of MSN.
“Proud sponsors are using our technology to extend the Olympic stage and deliver their messages into the living rooms of Olympic fans.”
With these six additional companies, MSN has secured 10 leading brands to advertise on the Olympic Winter Games’ official site. These companies are working with MSN to integrate their online branding efforts with Olympic content and reach their audience in new and exciting ways.
“Sponsoring the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 Web site through interactive ads and individual sponsorship opportunities on MSN helps Xerox expand its brand reach online and broaden awareness of its products and services,”
said Terry Dillman, manager of Olympic marketing for Xerox, which is a TOP Partner.
“This initiative is a smart complement to the new Xerox print and broadcast ads also running during the Games.”
Together, MSN, NBC, MSNBC and the SLOC will work with leading advertisers to create the most interactive Olympic Games Web site in history. By signing on, these new sponsors have an opportunity to take advantage of the latest advertising technologies from MSN and connect with Olympic fans. The six new advertising innovations programs are as follows:
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GE will be promoting its newest lighting products to brighten people’s home or office.
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KLEENEX will provide Emotional Moments of The Day, a daily slide show of the most emotional moments from each day’s events.
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McDonald’s will promote its new tastes menu via new advertising technology on MSN as well as a special contents section, Visions of Gold, developed jointly by McDonald’s lead digital agency and MSN.
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Office Depot is providing the opportunity for Americans to win $1 million by accurately selecting the countries that will
“bring home the gold”
in 25 Olympic Winter Games events as part of the Office Depot Million Dollar Olympic Challenge. More information can be found at http://www.2002challenge.officedepot.com/ . The contest is open to U.S. residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 years or older. -
Universal Pictures will be promoting the movies
“Dragonfly”
and
“E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, The 20th Anniversary.” -
Xerox , a presenting sponsor for the site, will also provide television schedules that can be found on http://www.nbcolympics.com/ .
By advertising on the Olympic Winter Games’ official Web site, these companies have a unique opportunity to benefit from cutting-edge technology that will not be widely available until later in 2002. The combination of innovative technology and a broad audience will help these top companies increase brand awareness, extend their reach and connect with a large audience.
About NBCOlympics.com
NBCOlympics.com is part of
“The Complete Olympics,”
presented in concert with NBC’s broadcast and cable programming on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC. NBC, America’s Olympic Network, owns the U.S. broadcast rights to the Olympic Games through 2008, including the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece, the 2006 Games in Torino, Italy, and the 2008 Games in Beijing.
About MSNBC.com
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About MSN
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About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
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