Coca-Cola and General Motors
2002 Olympic Torch Relay
The 2002 Olympic Torch Relay, a two-month trek in which local heroes and international celebrities were chosen to shuttle the lighted Olympic Torch from Atlanta to Salt Lake City, offered countless media opportunities for sponsors Coca-Cola and General Motors. The key to maximizing news placements, however, was to find a fast, efficient way to make the latest event photos available to reporters and editors on deadline.
Two photographers hired by Coca-Cola and GM approached Wieck to develop a fully mobile media center aboard “Media One,” a bus that would drive just ahead of the runners during the entire event — as well as a temporary digital newsroom that would provide 24/7 image access. Wieck’s solution was to use tracking satellite phones — a leading-edge technology at the time — to quickly upload images directly from the media bus and make them available within minutes after the photos were taken. During the 64-day event, nearly 500 images were uploaded and automatically posted to the Wieck-powered portal direct from the event route. During the same period, authorized media users logged in and downloaded 2,479 ready-to-publish photo files.
Due to the high cost of the new technologies involved, the Wieck solution was not the least expensive option - but both corporate clients agreed that results were worth the investment since the timely availability of media resources helped them maximize their exposure from this high-profile event.
