When the Twin Cities hosted the International Summer Olympics in 1991, volunteer Fred Haberman escorted athletes and sponsors, served drinks and handed out T-shirts.
"I'm basically a do-it-all guy," says Haberman.
This experience was one of the reasons why he and his wife, Sara, started the marketing agency of the same name to achieve similar goals.
After three decades, Special Olympics USA has chosen the Twin Cities to host the 2026 Games and Minneapolis-based Haberman as the event promotion agency.
"My experience as a volunteer in 1991 had a profound impact on me, and I had to be a part of this important and inspiring event that will take place again in my city," said Haberman. "We want to leave a lasting legacy, and we hope to create more employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities, as well as greater understanding and a deeper level of inclusion."
PRWeek spoke with Haberman about how he and his agency plan to achieve those goals.
What general tactics are essential to a successful campaign for such an event?
There are several things. If you've seen the Super Bowl, you know where the Super Bowl will be in two or three years. They know where the NCAA events will be held, and what many of these programs have in common is that they start identifying sponsors two or three years in advance.
They are also beginning to understand who their potential media partners are, as many companies who would sign on as sponsors are looking for brand awareness, both on-site and through media. So if you're implementing a media and marketing strategy, it can be beneficial to use that strategy and the inventory you identify to drive impressions and experiential marketing opportunities for that brand.
Have you reviewed past Special Olympics marketing efforts to see what worked and what didn't?
Yes, we do it in front of the field. They always look for what is right, what is unique and what can be innovative. One of the teams we looked at was the Berlin game [which ended this week].
We closely watched and impressed some of the athlete-focused marketing efforts, such as the German Vogue cover shoot with the German Special Olympics athletes and the official dance, song and app. All great and inclusive options to draw viewers around. to support his home teams around the world.
Already have content in mind?
We are working on it. It's been three years, but what I like most about this program is that it has a strong local component, and we think: how can we encourage more inclusivity? How can we create a more unified school? In these schools there are people who are pioneers, either in the school or as supervisors or volunteers. And part of that will enable this network.
Is there a way to do something different than previous Special Olympics marketing campaigns?
I would say the Minnesota component of the program is something special. Draga5 created a great logo that has a bold component but also has a true Minnesota twist with lakes and trees. This is a nice logo.
We believe that we will use the logos for various applications and advertisements.
Did you mention the planned content strategy for the game in your proposal?
We have all kinds of ideas. We threw it in the sink. We really want it. We come up with creatives and how we promote them, how we create these moments of inspiration with campaigns with ambassadors from athletes to celebrities. We also share thoughts on interviewing people with intellectual disabilities and preventing them from being stigmatized by the media.
We had an opportunity for Special Olympics to overcome negative attitudes and stereotypes and build on the amazing work that stories focus on and tell the extraordinary abilities of athletes without denial or pity. Ultimately, we want to ensure that Special Olympics athletes are treated with the same respect as other elite athletes.
We have language guidelines and images from Special Olympics that we share with anyone writing or speaking about people with intellectual disabilities to ensure that all people are represented with individuality and dignity.
This article originally appeared on PRWeek US.
