Coke places Olympic bet on up-and-comers

For the record, Ruggiero is a three-time Olympic medalist in ice hockey, and Lysacek is the reigning world champion figure skater. Whether people on the street know that is an open question.

Coca-Cola has inked some big names in winter sports, but their sports are less well-known than summer mainstays such as basketball and swimming.

“Overall, I don’t think there’s a tremendous roster of marketable stars coming out of these Games,” said Bob Dorfman, executive creative director at Baker Street Advertising in San Francisco. No marquee female figure skater has captured the U.S. imagination, like Michelle Kwan and Dorothy Hamill did in their primes, he said.

Coca-Cola’s marketing plan has already encountered an unexpected hitch. Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker, two-time U.S. figure skating champions, were widely pegged to make the U.S. Olympic team. But the pair, which had already teamed with Coca-Cola, missed the cut because of a disappointing performance last month. They will still be used in Coke advertising, but they’ll be missing from the competition.

Some desirable athletes, such as snowboarder Shaun White, are out of Coca-Cola’s reach. The “Flying Tomato,” one of the biggest stars in winter sports, endorses Red Bull. Before switching to the energy drink, White endorsed PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew.

Name recognition be darned, says Coca-Cola. The Atlanta-based giant is betting that its in-store marketing and TV commercials featuring the athletes will be effective anyway. That’s partly because the in-store materials show the athletes in active, casual activities that have more to do with joy than with intense competition. Coca-Cola says it is aiming for a mix of seasoned veterans and up-and-comers to bolster its Olympics presence.

And then, there’s always the possibility that athletes could turn into household names, or something like it, based on their performance. It happened for gymnast and Coca-Cola representative Shawn Johnson in 2008 after her gold medal performance in Beijing.

“Many times, the stars may not emerge until the Games are played,” said Don Roy, associate professor of marketing at Middle Tennessee State University.

In some sports, it’s clear who the stars are. During the Summer Olympics of 2008, Coke traded on the worldwide celebrity of basketball star LeBron James, who was pictured in promotional materials hanging out, holding a Coca-Cola. This year, there’s a subtle change. Coca-Cola’s Olympic marketing materials will take a different tack, instead depicting athletes drinking Coke in situations that look spontaneously fun, like making snow angels or engaging in snowball fights.

The success of Coke’s marketing plan won’t depend on how well-known the featured athletes are, said Katie Bayne, chief marketing officer for Coca-Cola North America.

Coke picked the most bankable stars from a somewhat limited roster this year, advertising experts said. One of Coca-Cola’s athletes, short-track speed skater Apolo Ohno, is a big name with crossover appeal from his turn on “Dancing With the Stars.”

Likewise, snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler has cultural cachet, given that she did well in the Winter X Games and posed nude for an ESPN publication.

“The athletes that they are partnering with, they don’t have the high level of name recognition that top professional athletes have in the U.S.,” Roy said. “But they are tops in their sports and will likely do well.”