Card ads promote heroes

The starting gun has been fired in the race to cash in on the biggest marketing event in the world this year - the Athens Olympic Games.

First out of the blocks in New Zealand is Games sponsor Visa, which this week began screening a television advertising campaign featuring the country's most successful Olympic athlete, canoeist Ian Ferguson, and his son, Olympic swimmer turned canoeist Steven Ferguson.

Visa's two ads ask viewers to nominate a local sporting hero most deserving of one of three $25,000 trips to the Games the company is giving away.

Visa New Zealand's country manager, Belinda Leonard, said the promotion was to reward the volunteers who personified the Olympic spirit.

Though other global Olympic sponsors ran globally produced ads across all markets, it had chosen to make local ads with tone, content and messages appealing to the local market.