Team USA

Associate Creative Director, Copywriter

360 campaign. Eighteen athletes. Eighteen spots. Daily editing. Four weeks to get the gold. Millions watching. Go Team USA.

The Setup

The January before the Summer Olympics, my partner and I were given an ambitious brief: BP wants to celebrate its sponsored athletes. Develop a cohesive brand narrative that names the energy giant as an invisible yet essential force behind Team USA's performance.

We needed to create a 360° campaign spanning broadcast television, print, mobile platforms, and digital experiences, all while keeping the focus on the athletes themselves.

The Stakes

A campaign built around global live events become Lego sets, without the instructions. Every piece necessary, built around complexity and constraint.

The real-time narrative: First off, the Olympics aren't scripted. Athletes advance, fall short, or come out of nowhere to win an unexpected gold. Our campaign needed to evolve in real-time without losing clarity. We had to produce and distribute new content on a daily basis, with broadcast and digital spots updated to reflect each athlete's standing.

The balancing act: There was also a meaningful environmental challenge going on around this time, and partially might have been maybe could have been the energy giant's responsibility. So not only was there a massive need to keep BP visible and credible without overshadowing the athletes, we also had to balance the more global brand message focusing on environmental safety and cleanup at the same time.

Scale and speed: We went to the mattresses with our concept, and we sold it through. But that means producing 18 broadcast-quality spots, coordinating media placements, managing athlete approvals, and maintaining creative consistency across platforms—all while editing daily and responding to Olympic results—required military-level coordination and rapid creative problem-solving.

This was ridiculously fun.

The Story

We delivered eighteen documentarian-style spots. One set focused on the athletes themselves—their discipline, mindset, and personal stakes. The other highlighted the unseen network of support behind them, including trainers, friends, and mentors.

As the Games unfolded, the spots were strategically released and updated for broadcast, allowing the narrative to evolve in real time alongside each athlete’s performance. The result was a cohesive campaign that balanced intimacy and scale. We extended the campaign to print media and OLA including Time Magazine and a mobile device app, positioning BP as a steady presence behind Team USA’s road to the gold.

The Impact

Built for real-time. Designed for scale.

We essentially built a content system managing four weeks of an unscripted event, requiring constant brand coherence under daily production pressure.

Built brand credibility under fire.

We navigated Deepwater Horizon's reputational risk by BP visible without centering the brand. Instead, we centered the athletes.

Answered the brief with story design.

We developed a dual narrative structure between athletes and their support networks to tell a full story, while keeping BP the backbone.

Editorial judgement. Live event speed.

We kept the content fresh by making daily story decisions, matching the narrative to the outcomes — live.

The Proof

Team USA Banner (2012)

Jonathan Horton

Tatyana McFadden

Jerome's Team

Lolo Jones

NEXT —

Verizon→

TV Campaign

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