GMR Marketing making memorable moments at Olympics
Hershey is going for gold at the Olympics with its first new candy bar in two decades.
The candy company is launching the new sweet and savory bar with a frenzy of marketing activity surrounding the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.
As Hershey and other brands capitalize on the excitement of the Olympic Games, a Milwaukee-area marketing firm is helping those companies connect with consumers both in Korea and at home. The Hershey Gold bar — a caramelized creme base with pretzels and peanuts — hit store shelves late last year.
GMR Marketing, based in New Berlin, bills itself as an experiential marketing agency that creates memorable moments for consumers and brands.
The 2018 Games in Pyeongchang is GMR’s 15th time at the Olympics. A staff of 160 is on site in South Korea, and about 20 of them are from the corporate office in New Berlin. The company has been working with Olympic partners for more than 25 years.
For Hershey, GMR is part of a marketing campaign both in South Korea and in the United States. Hershey is a partner with the U.S. Olympic Committee.
In South Korea, GMR is handing out hundreds of thousands of Hershey Kisses at a U.S. military base in Seoul. The Gold Bar is being touted with the help of previous gold medal winners such as speed skater Apolo Ohno. At home,
GMR is distributing coupons for free candy bars with every gold medal won by American athletes.
In all, GMR has eight clients for which it’s facilitating 15 different activations in Pyeongchang. GMR is managing 10,000 Olympic tickets and 7,500 people. Some companies support the games as official partners, others just draft off the excitement. GMR works with worldwide sponsors including Visa and Procter & Gamble.
Tyson Webber, president of GMR Marketing, said consumer receptivity is higher for experiential marketing, and its use at events is “becoming more prolific.”
The increased use of experiences is driven by consumers’ skepticism. Just less than 20% of event-goers surveyed said they believe what marketers tell them about products. Instead, 72% said interacting with a product themselves is important.
Activations are marketing efforts outside of direct advertising. The idea is to create buzz, especially through social media.
Webber said technology, in particular, is affecting how consumers allow brands to interact with them. Experiential marketing now extends beyond the event itself with social amplification.
“When you attend your favorite event and post on social media,” Webber said, “effectively, you have become an influencer.”
That’s effective for marketers. In the GMR survey, 40% of respondents said they rely on experiences of friends and acquaintances. The key to a memorable activation, Webber said, is authenticity and enhancing the consumer experience.
It’s been a busy time for GMR. The company recently finished helping 10 clients with activations at the Super Bowl in Minneapolis.
Work for the events begins 36 to 48 months in advance. The first team members landed in South Korea nearly three years ago. GMR already has an office established in Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Games.
Later this year, staff members will head to Russia for the FIFA World Cup.