Charlie Kautz

In 2012, to help celebrate the announcement that golf would be returning to the Olympic Games, I helped the adidas Golf brand activate a marketing stunt in the UK with professional golfers and adidas-sponsored athletes, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia, five days before the start of the Olympics in London, England. Partnering with our global marketing agency for EMEA, M&C SAATCHI ( https://sportandentertainment.mcsaatchi.com/project/taylormade-london-2012-floating-golf-stunt/), adidas Golf created a PR stunt in which Johnson and Garcia would hit balls in the shadow of the iconic tower bridge to a floating green underneath the backdrop of the Olympic rings.

As part of the event activation, I managed all global social and digital marketing including the concept for an event hashtag (#REDFORE16), which played on traditional golf language and emphasized our celebration of golf’s return to the Olympics in 2016. Further, the highlight of the red color — you can see in the images the athletes are wearing red golf shoes — was important as every adidas athlete who competed in the London Olympics was given a pair of red shoes as part of adidas' global brand activation for the event.

The event garnered global coverage on CNN and BBC World News and our digital + social activation allowed golfers to follow the stunt live and in realtime in anticipation of buildup for the 2012 Olympic Games.