That's Team USA gymnast (and five-time Olympic medalist) Nastia Liukin, above, doing the splits with the special London 2012 Summer Olympics edition Dora the Explorer doll. Mattel's Fisher-Price will sell the interactive Fantastic Gymnastics Dora doll starting in August for $50. What makes the latest doll from the Nickelodeon hit series interactive? Consumers can download the free, Fantastic Gymnastics Dora augmented reality app on retail shelves or download from Apple's App Store.Continue reading...

Social media mavens can't help themselves, as details leaked virally this week following Monday's technical dress rehearsal (that's the crowd above) for Friday's opening ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The ceremony's artistic director, filmmaker Danny Boyle, begged those in attendance to "save the surprise" and even projected a Twitter hashtag (#savethesurprise) on the stadium's giant screens, but spectators tweeted pictures of the event and chatted up that the theme (spoiler alert!)...Continue reading...

Always a bonanza for marketers (as the New York Times' Stuart Elliott notes), campaigns pegged to the Olympics are often overly serious and attempt to be tearjerkers, as P&G knows all too well. Still, its Old Spice brand is retickling its Old Spice Guy funny bone by partnering again with W+K on an Olympics commercial. "I Will Live Forever," above, stars a skinny hero who listens to a self-help tape and somehow manages to win a slew of medals and a ton of hearts while smelling good all along the way.Continue reading...

Just as McDonald's is gearing up its controversial sponsorship of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London that begins this week, the world's biggest fast-food brand is introducing a new US Olympics tie-in marketing program designed to continue to reposition the brand as at least a reasonable alternative for healthful fare in the eyes of American consumers.

"Favorites Under 400 Calories" is a new menu "platform" featuring existing popular food and beverage choices at McDonald's, in an attempt to remind customers that they have plenty of healthful and even diet-friendly choices under the golden arches. Team USA gold medal contenders hurdler Lolo Jones (above) and boxer Marlen Esparza are featured in a new series of commercials supporting the Olympics contest.Continue reading...

As the Olympic torch arrives in London today, a little confusion and more clarity also arrives around the issue of whether visitors to the London 2012 Summer Games will be turned back at the entrance if wearing non-sponsors' logos. In a word, no — despite some confusion from Lord Coe.

That would be Sebastian Coe, the Olympic gold medalist and chairman of the London Olympics Organizing Committee, raised a few eyebrows beyond his advice to competitors to curb tweeting. The 2012 Summer Olympics chairman's interview with the BBC's Radio 4 sent his LOCOG colleagues "scrambling" Friday after he stated that Pepsi t-shirts on attendees wouldn't be welcome in deference to sponsor Coca-Cola, while Nike sneakers would be acceptable even though Adidas is the official shoe sponsor.Continue reading...

There's no question that the London 2012 Summer Olympics will be the most social Olympic Games in history. Just how social is starting to come into focus. The attention (and money) being spent on the social aspects of the Olympics continues to escalate as billions of dollars change hands for marketing rights, and sponsors scramble for proof positive that those dollars are converting into online video views and shares.

Unruly Media, producers of the video buzz tracking Viral Video Chart, has released a dynamic interactive ranking of the social clout of every Olympic-themed commercial across the web for 25 Olympic sponsors. The breakaway winner?Continue reading...

The Olympics in London will kick off on July 27 with an Opening Ceremony that’s already been cut back a bit so that those attending will be able to get home on the trains. Of course, that’s if there are trains running at all. The AP is reporting that about 400 employees of the train system are threatening to strike. If that weren’t enough, border guards at Europe’s largest airport, Heathrow, are also saying they’ll walk off the job the night before the Games get started. Enjoy London, everybody who shelled out big bucks to get there. At least visitors can hop on one of the hard-to-miss sponsor-wrapped buses that CBS Outdoor UK is creating for the likes of Visa and other brands. More below on the latest from London.Continue reading...

Brands spend millions to become official partners of the Olympics, and Ace Metrix says those sponsorships are worth it. Ace Metrix is the only company scoring every nationally airing US Olympic ad leading up to and during the games, and today announced their Olympic ad effectiveness program.

“We are thrilled to provide a 360 degree view of ad effectiveness for brands who have invested in Olympic sponsorships and Olympic themed ads,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix, about its ranking of London 2012 marketing campaigns to date.

“The Olympics are a significant investment for any sponsor, and understanding the effectiveness of that sponsorship is critical in the era of marketing accountability," he added. "We are particularly interested in the data regarding the vital emotional elements associated with the Olympics. Understanding how the emotion of such a global event relates to the rational consumer processing that accompanies the vast majority of advertising will be fascinating."Continue reading...