Longtime U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding partner Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), a Worldwide Olympic Partner for more than two decades, Thursday released a special edition television commercial celebrating Team Visa athlete Julia Mancuso’s second silver medal during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Mancuso became the first U.S. woman to win three Olympic medals. The spot, entitled “Congratulations Julia,” debuted on NBC. Olympic fans can also visit www.visa.com/goworld to view and share with their friends an exclusive copy of an original childhood drawing created by Mancuso showing her dream of becoming an Olympic medalist.

Mancuso had an opportunity to personally view the debut of the Visa congratulatory commercial while at the U.S. Olympic Committee's USA House in Whistler, where she celebrated her medal with family, friends and coaches.

"We’ve supported Julia throughout her career as she’s evolved from a junior World Champion to a three-time Olympic medalist and we’re excited to showcase her achievements and this memorable moment in our Go World campaign," said Visa Inc. Chief Marketing Officer Antonio Lucio. "Our series of congratulatory commercials, like the ones we have aired previously for our Team Visa athletes immediately following their performances, not only help celebrate their tremendous individual accomplishments with viewers at home, but capture the true spirit of human triumph that is embodied in our campaign."

Celebrating Olympic moments and bringing athlete’s stories to life to create an emotional connection for the viewer are at the core of Visa’s Go World campaign. The latest installment of the Visa Go World campaign, "Congratulations Julia" follows the same creative treatment as previous spots using wintry blue tones combined with shots of the athlete in action.

In addition to "Congratulations Julia," Mancuso has also been featured in a national commercial leading up to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games entitled “Julia Mancuso,” on Visa’s Go World microsite and Facebook page, in-store and out-of-home at the Superstore in Vancouver, and on an Olympic-themed Visa Gift Card.

Visa previously aired special edition congratulatory commercials for Team Visa athletes Seth Wescott (snowboardcross) and Johnny Spillane (nordic combined) immediately following their gold medal performances on NBC.

Team Visa is a unique global program created to provide long-term support to Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls as they prepare for one of the greatest challenges of their lives: competing at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Since 1986, Visa has empowered thousands of these athletes to achieve their dreams by providing them with financial support, financial literacy training and valuable marketing exposure in pursuit of their goals.

Members of Team Visa Vancouver, including Mancuso, are featured in Go World, Visa’s global Olympic-themed marketing campaign for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. In addition to Olympic-themed advertising, Go World also includes usage promotions, host market merchant activation programs and an extensive Web site (US- www.visa.com/goworld), that enables Visa to connect with cardholders and Olympic and Paralympic Games fans to drive preference for and usage of Visa products worldwide.

View Original Post at dylamagazine.com

• Filed Under:  
• Olympics, Sports, SportsPLUS, Media/Marketing, Winter Games, Sponsorship

• Tags:
• winter olympics
• Skiing
• Vancouver 2010
• Canada

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• Olympic Winter Games