Hilton Olympics marketing collateral focused on the theme of interpersonal connections, illustrated by U.S. Olympians and their families

The US$15 million “Connections” campaign, created by San Francisco-based ad agency Draftfcb, features black-and-white photo snapshots portraying travel moments among different types of companions, including families, teammates, business colleagues and war veterans.

Hilton commissioned photographer Lars Topelmann to shoot the spots, which cast real-life families and friends. In the campaign’s main television spot, titled “Olympics,” Hilton enlisted U.S. Olympians with family connections, including twin gymnasts Paul and Morgan Hamm; tae-kwon-do siblings Steven, Diana and Mark Lopez; and track-and-field hopeful Wallace Spearmon Jr. and his father/coach Wallace Sr.

Set to the tunes of emerging musicians Michael Tolcher and Donavan Frankenreiter, the three 30-second broadcast spots ran in August during live broadcasts of the games in the United States. The TV ads were supported by a print component in national newspapers and banner ads on the Olympics Web page of broadcaster NBC. Additionally, Hilton sponsored a feature on the NBC site called “While You Were Sleeping,” which offered morning video recaps of Olympic events that occurred during U.S. overnight hours.

The ad campaign is only one portion of Hilton’s larger Olympic-themed marketing effort, which centers on incorporating Hilton’s “Be Hospitable” tagline into the concept of the Olympics as a form of global cross-cultural hospitality.

In the months leading up to the Beijing Games, Hilton led an effort to educate athletes on travel etiquette and cultural sensitivity, in an attempt to avoid any faux pas and to promote an environment of international fellowship. The Hilton-sponsored effort featured a day of training and education, the content of which was later posted on a dedicated public Hilton Web site, behospitabletraveler.com.

Also, at the Beijing Games, Hilton set up several satellite guest centers to help confused travelers navigate the city, ostensibly re-creating the kind of concierge services found at its hotels.

Many of the Hilton brands arranged their own partnerships with specific U.S. sport governing bodies. Hampton Inn is the official sponsor of U.S. cycling, while U.S. soccer is sponsored by Doubletree Hotels. Hilton Garden Inn supports the U.S. volleyball teams, and the U.S. swimmers are sponsored by the flagship Hilton brand. In another key component of the partnership, Hilton revamped the U.S. Olympic training center’s outdated lodging facilities—housed in former Air Force barracks in Colorado Springs—in hotel guestroom style, including replacing the metal bunk beds with Hilton Serenity Beds.

Hilton’s U.S. Olympic sponsorship extends through the 2012 London Games. In a recent market study, about 80% of respondents viewed official Olympics sponsors as market leaders.

“It made a lot of sense for us when the Olympics sponsorship became available three years ago—we jumped with both feet and went for it,” says Jeff Diskin, Hilton’s senior vice president for brand management. “It’s a very broad partnership with an extremely strong brand, and we’re able to activate it in a way that is meaningful for the athletes on the U.S. Olympic team but also relate it in a way that is relevant to our core customers.”

Hilton is exploring ways to grow the Olympics co-branding beyond the United States in future years, Diskin says. The Hilton-U.S. Olympics partnership began prior to the Hilton International merger in 2006; up to that point, the company’s portfolio had been nearly entirely domestic.

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