With 75 days to go to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) is receiving more financial support. This time, it’s through a text-and-donate campaign with Press Play jukebox and International Olympic Committee (IOC) worldwide partner, VISA.
The TTOC will also launch a Rio Games commemorative magazine soon that will be advertisement-based and is expected to add to their coffers as they strive to host a $1.2 million dollar budgeted pre-Rio Olympic Games camp.
In two separate campaigns, TTOC partner Press Play Jukebox Limited will commence a new marketing drive with a text-and-donate promotion across all mobile networks, starting today, while the VISA promotion entitled “Support Our Sporting heroes with VISA” is being issued by Republic Bank and was launched in newspaper advertising last Thursday.
The VISA promotion guarantees that when customers use their VISA card for purchases of $500 (US or TT) or more, $10 will be directed to the #10golds24 Athlete Welfare and preparation Fund” to help “our heroes succeed both on and off the field”, a newspaper advertisement stated.
The promotion also allows users to win authentic VISA Olympic Games-themed promotional items and the opportunity to meet “one of the athletes you will be supporting”.
The Press Play Jukebox’s text and donate campaign is the latest marketing tool the TTOC will be employing since the organisation officially announced its partnership with Jukebox on February 25 that is part of the overall marketing strategy to assist the local Olympic body to become a self-sufficient organisation.
Some of the fund-raising will be directed towards the pre-Olympic Games camp, which the TTOC sees as crucial for creating the environment for athletic achievement at the August 5-21 Rio Games.
Asked about the VISA and text-and-donate promotions, Lewis said: “We are really trying to leave no stone unturned to replicate the absolute best environment for the athletes like the successful pre-Games camp we had before London, which was absolutely fantastic according to the feedback from all of the surveys we did with the athletes, officials and other team personnel. And coming out of that, we are of the firm view that is something we need to do.
Lewis added that the TTOC is in the process of reviewing recommendations from the 2016 Rio Games Chef de Mission Dr Ian Hypolite, TTOC secretary general Annette Knot and the rest of the TTOC Rio Games management committee, to make a final determination on the possible pre-Games camp locations—Recife, Sao Paulo among them—in the next few days.
Lewis said the TTOC’s fund-raising momentum dipped a bit following the recent gymnastics fiasco but the body expects to get its revenue-generation drive back on track with campaigns like the VISA promotion and the text and donate campaign. In fact, the TTOC recently received a $50,000 cheque from the National Lotteries Control Board, the proceeds coming from the Going For Golf Scratch Game.