• by Aaron Baar , December 14, 2009

The Olympics don't have to be only about the challenges among the athletes. Samsung is offering 10 blogging teams a chance to head to the Winter Games this February in a contest that will have them competing in challenges as they cover the games.

The first phase of Samsung's Mobile Explorer program launched earlier this month with the company encouraging people to post a video application showing their excitement about the Olympics, experience and interest in blogs and social networking, as well as their ability to seek out and generate buzz. Once the 10 teams are selected (via a third party), they will be tasked with challenges, like visiting sites around Vancouver, collecting fan stories or covering events, to record on a Samsung Mythic mobile phone.

"We're always trying to identify new ways to connect our mobile products and the Olympics," company representative Jose Cardona tells Marketing Daily. "We think this is a good way to showcase them."

Each of the 10 team videos will be posted on a dedicated microsite, www.samsung.com/mobileexplorers, for public consumption. The blogging team with the highest number of votes will win a cash and prize package from Samsung and will be a featured blogger on the company's home Web site.

The Mobile Explorers contest is running globally, with 10 teams each coming from Canada, Russia, South Korea and China. Each market, however, will select its own challenges and winners.

To promote the initiative, Samsung will employ online marketing through its Twitter feed and Facebook page. In addition, the company has recruited Women's Snowboarding Gold Medalist Hannah Teter to promote the program. The company was attracted to Teter primarily through her charitable initiative, Hannah's Gold, which sells Vermont maple syrup with the proceeds funding a clean-water program for a Kenyan village.

"Samsung in general connects with athletes and celebrities that are philanthropic, and Hannah is heavily involved in helping this village," Cardona says, adding that one of the challenges for the Mobile Explorers could involve selling bottles of the syrup at the Olympics. Samsung has agreed to make a matching donation for sales of Hannah's Gold this year, Cardona says.