In the past, advertising surrounding our Canadian athletes has been, a little more of the “what you would expect” variety. That’s not to say that they haven’t been good, or effective. The production quality has been nothing short of brilliant, but the concepts have been something that you would expect from an olympic campaign. The Advertisements and their supporting visuals have centred on the rawness behind each athlete’s drive to achieve greatness for their country. Going into the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, the messaging is in line with what you would expect, however, the creative production that supports this messaging is another level above.

Each scene in the new 60 second execution is not an epic maneuver or hero shot that conveys some notion of sporting dominance (that these athletes have the will and determination to bring home gold). Rather, each scene has been meticulously planned to tell a story. For anyone who knows these back stories they will be able to make the connection between victory and virtue. Those that do not will be left questioning: are the Olympians in each scene just athletes or something more? (with or without voiceover reinforcement).

The concept behind each scene, planned out by agency Sid Lee, has also created an aesthetic that helps cultivate the intrigue. Wardrobe, props, positioning of talent, the sweat on the doctor’s face, every production detail gives off an air of mysteriousness.

But aside from telling a story and creating intrigue, the creative does one additional, yet necessary, thing. It creates a depth that goes beyond the athlete (in particular Mark McMorris’ scene). It conveys a message that within each athlete there are those that helped get them where they are. That each athlete is not just the sum of their history, but our history as well; an embodiment of the olympic spirit. It tells a story much deeper than that of an athlete preparing to do battle on the world stage. It’s this artful depth that gives this spot it’s effectiveness, rallying the nation to get behind them. A fervent anticipation to see how our story, our epic story, plays out.

The Take Away

Plan every detail, plan every spot of light, and plan a purposeful amount of history into each scene and each production, and you’ll come away with much more than a story told through an image. You’ll come away with depth. And with depth viewers can’t help but go for a swim.