When American Nancy Johnson leaned forward to accept the first gold medal of the Sydney Olympics, thousands of Home Depot employees may have cheered just a little louder.
That's because Johnson, winner in the 10-meter air rifle event, works at the Home Depot store in Columbus, Ga. She got her job through the U.S. Olympic Committee's Olympic Job
Opportunity Program. In exchange for a flexible work schedule and a full-time paycheck for a part-time job, Johnson and 49 other athletes provide living testimonials to Home
Depot's Olympic sponsorship. "We market [OJOP] internally as much as externally," says Mandy Holton, PR executive with Home Depot. "It's much more powerful than a commercial or an
ad, [to] see these athletes with really tough regimens."
Johnson is one of roughly 200 aspiring Olympians who, by nature of their employment, are deflecting a little PR gold onto more than 50 participating companies. In return for
underwriting the athletes, the companies get to deploy their staffers as motivational speakers, community representatives and all-around goodwill ambassadors.
The USOC, based in Colorado Springs, set up OJOP in 1977, looking to match world-class athletes with companies willing to give them time off for training and competition. Home
Depot started its OJOP sponsorship after it signed on as an Olympics sponsor in 1992. Today the company employs more athletes than any other U.S. company, and the employee medal
haul (53 leading up to Sydney) would be the envy of many countries. The company also has expanded its work program to Canada, Puerto Rico, Chile and Argentina. "We sponsor the job
opportunities program in all the countries because we want to support the athletes directly," says Carol Schumacher, VP of PR. It's also a great community relations tool when Home
Depot enters a new culture, she says. Athletes are high-visibility residents in their communities; their employment with the company gives it immediate credibility and corporate
underwriting of their training fosters a sense of shared identity.
Bob Swan, senior project manager of J.C. Penney Stores HR and customer service, says his company has been one of the OJOP sponsors since the program got started. Over that
time, J.C. Penney has employed 134 athletes, 27 of them in this current cycle. Three landed berths on the U.S. team in Sydney.
"We allow stores [to] schedule athletes to participate in in-store events," Swan says. The retailer also publicizes their achievements in its electronic and hard-copy
newsletter. "It's kind of a morale-builder for the athletes. The associates get behind the athletes. We try to do a really good job of letting people know."
Another Path to Gold
Shipping giant UPS also supports athletes in training for the Olympics, but it runs its own program, separate from the USOC effort. The Athletes' Training Assistance Program
differs from OJOP in key ways. It is for employees already on the payroll who demonstrate they are in the top 40 in their sport, not for ringers. "If they've got the skills and
qualifications, they can get a job. After 90 days, they can apply for ATAP," says Jackie Tyson, the Olympic PR coordinator for UPS. "Most athletes won't do that - they want
instant gratification."
ATAP provides not only full-time pay for half-time or flexible work, it covers other expenses. "They gave me time off to train, gave me my full salary," says Ray Dunmeyer, a
database administrator for UPS in Mahwah, N.J. who's heading to Sydney for the Paralympics next month to compete in judo. "[Plus] any special equipment or training or trips or
anything I need to enhance my performance, they provide. More important than all of that is the support of my coworkers...There's no bitterness, no jealousy, they're behind me
100%."
UPS would like to forge closer ties to the USOC in its jobs program, but wants to remain employee- rather than athlete-focused. "The USOC would like us to hire from an athlete
pool it identifies," writes Susan Rosenberg, the company's PR manager, in an email from Sydney. "We receive broad USOC support, it is just not as explicit as we would like."
The international shipping company has developed an integrated PR campaign centered on the Olympics and its employee-athletes. "More than 65 million express envelopes with
images of UPS ATAP athletes have been in circulation globally since February 2000," Rosenberg writes. "We have used the images from that packaging as part of our promotional and
branding programs around Sydney. That includes Olympic pins that actually look like mini versions of those envelopes, wrapped city buses and signage."
Athletes also are adding luster to corporate events in Sydney. UPS' Olympic team members participated in a welcome dinner for senior execs and customers from around the world.
They gave a 15-minute "chalk talk," about their training, how they got involved in their sport, and their impressions of Sydney, finishing with a Q&A and photo/autograph
session. The company also brought in two other employee-athletes (one from Germany) who didn't make their Olympic teams, to help with the hospitality and promotional programs
during the Games.
The cost of running an athletes' job program, whether through the USOC or standalone, is separate from any sponsorship fees companies pay to the IOC, national body or host
organizing committee. "Suffice to say that both the rights fees and the amount that UPS invests is sizeable to leverage the sponsorship against marketing, promotional, business
development and employee relations goals," Rosenberg writes. "But the incremental investment is not entirely 'net new dollars.' By this, I mean that we already were going to have
a certain number of marketing, direct, sales promotion, customer hospitality and employee programs in a business plan. We just 'Olympicize' with themes, incentives and the like
for some of these programs that would already have been budgeted."
(Bryant, 719/632-5551; Schumacher, 770/384-2935; Swan, 972/431-4655; Tyson/Rosenberg, 404/828-
6324)
Going for the Gold
Here are the names, events and dates of competition at the Summer Olympics for remaining employee-athletes (for rooting purposes). The athletes represent the U.S. unless
otherwise noted.
UPS:
Monique Hennagan, 400m-1st round 9/22, finals 9/25
Karlene Haughton (Canada), 400m hurdles-1st round 9/24, finals 9/27
J.C. Penney:
Chryste Gaines, 100m-1st round, 9/22; 4x100m relay-1st round 9/29
Kellie Suttle, pole vault-1st round 9/23, finals 9/25
Home Depot:
Scot Hollonbeck, wheelchair 1500m 9/28
Jason Pyrah, 1500m-1st round 9/25
Jorgue Richardson (Puerto Rico), 4x100m relay-1st round 9/29
Caroline Brunet (Canada), women's 500m kayak-1st round 9/27
Tamara Jenkins, women's 500m kayak single and pairs-1st round 9/27
Stein Jorgenson, 4-man 1000m kayak-1st round 9/26
Angel Perez, 4-man 1000m kayak-1st round, 9/26; 500m kayak pairs-1st round 9/27
Heather Pease-Olson, synchronized swimming-technical routine 9/28
Felipe Soto (Chile), under 80kg taekwondo 9/27
Quincey Clark, Greco-Roman 85kg wrestling-pool elimination 9/25
Melvin Douglas, freestyle 97kg wrestling-pool elimination 9/28