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5 Best Olympics Social Media Campaigns (So Far)

I can't lie: I am not a huge sports fan. While I've attempted to force an interest for many years, the enthusiasm to become a fan of virtually any sport just isn't there. I've accepted it.

You may assume this disinterest has caused me to turn a blind eye to the 2016 Olympic Games but, I am very much tuned in-- to social media that is.

I love a good social media campaign. Of course, with any major sporting event, I'm guaranteed to come across a few dozen.

Here are my favorite campaigns from this year's Olympic Games thus far:

1.) "Life is a Sport" - Ford

The US Olympic Committee's extremely strict intellectual property rules -including preventing the use of trademarked hashtags from those who aren't official sponsors- certainly threw a wrench in many brand's social strategies. Ford, however, found a way to piggyback off of the excitement of the Olympics without breaking any rules.

Ford launched the "Life is a sport" campaign for its 2017 Ford Escape SUV via Snapchat, alluding to the "Big Games" without actually mentioning them. This included a slew of Snapchat ads focused on fandom and patriotism. Ford even sponsored a Snapchat lens allowing users to "paint" their faces red, white and blue while adorning their snaps with a confetti effect. I had some fun playing around with the filter on my personal Snapchat account.

Having fun with Ford's sponsored lens filter on Snapchat:

2.) #SmallButPowerful - Tide

Prior to the Olympics, Tide already secured an endorsement deal with Team USA gymnast, Simone Biles. They couldn't have placed their bets on a better Olympian. As of today, Biles has taken home a gold medal in every event she's competed in. Plus, her name has been mentioned over 10,000 times on Twitter alone.

She is undoubtedly the star and favorite of this year's games.

The #SmallButPowerful campaign parallels Biles' dominance and strength on the gymnastic floor regardless of her petite 4'8 frame and Tide's small (but powerful) detergent PODS®.

#SmallButPowerful also serves as a cross-collaborative campaign between Tide and P&G's (owners of Tide) affinity group, My Black is Beautiful. Biles, a black woman, perfectly ties into MBIB's mission to celebrate the collective beauty of black women everywhere.

While the #ownyourskin campaign isn't from the desk of a big time brand, it's backed by a fleet of Olympians. According to Own Your Skin's Twitter bio, "The IOC will make $4 billion. Olympic athletes will get none. Join @NickSymmonds + @hansondodge in the fight for athletes' rights."

The campaign's central message focuses on income disparity between the IOC and athletes who are forced to finance themselves for the opportunity to compete.

#OwnYourSkin used twitter to challenge #Rule40, the IOC's controversial bylaw preventing athletes from acknowledging their sponsors on social media.

4.) #TeamVisa - Visa

Video. Video. And more video. Visa is taking advantage of social's most popular medium by creating dozens of :30 second stories featuring popular Olympians. As an official sponsor, Visa didn't have to work as hard flexing their creative muscle in the way Ford did, but their fun, playful social campaign deserves a hats off from a seemingly "old school" brand.

5.) Influencer Takeover - Previnex

The dietary supplement brand is small player with a conservative social media following. In an effort to peak interest and their audience reach, the brand temporarily turned over their Instagram account to pro volleyball player and Team USA captain, Kristin Hildebrand.

Building a strong social community can take years, and enlisting the help of an influencer (like a gold medalist Olympian) is a great way to skyrocket a brand's reach overnight! The choice to use Kristin's influence on Instagram was smart and strategic considering the olympian's Instagram audience is nearly 4 times larger than her Twitter follower count.

While the Olympics is in its final week, I am curious to see if any brands will launch last minute campaigns while the social media audience is still tuned in.

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