• NY Sports Journalism, Wednesday, February 10, 2010 10:25 AM

Barry Janoff chats with Antonio Lucio, global CMO for Visa, which recently extended its contract with the International Olympic Committee to become one of three worldwide partners, along with Omega and Coca-Cola, whose current deals run through 2020. Visa is also an official partner of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Janoff and Lucio spoke in a subway station below Grand Central Terminal where Visa had set up a viewing area with an 8' x 14' flat-screen TV showing its Olympic ads in 3-D, 3-D wall posters, stair risers, wall wraps and speed-skating great Dan Jansen in person.

Although Visa has been an Olympic sponsor since 1986, this is the first time that it will use a global campaign. "Go World" is the next generation of a campaign created for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing that focused on the U.S. market; it incorporates elements from Visa's first global brand campaign, "More People Go With Visa," which launched in March 2009.

In addition to focusing more on digital and social media than in the past, Visa is spending about 50% of its messaging against consumer promotions, Lucio reveals. In light of the economy, he says, "consumers are expecting higher levels of value. And there is a higher degree of focus on the rational benefits of our products, particularly in the case of debit."

For more sports marketing insights, don't miss Karl's Greenberg's report about a panel discussion yesterday at the Advertising Club of New York, "Return On Objective Key In Sports Partnerships," in this morning's Marketing Daily. 

Read the whole story at NY Sports Journalism »