Advertising agencies, sponsors, government bodies and large corporations tend to pull out all the stops at the Olympics. And that’s no surprise: the recent 2012 London Olympics attracted over 429,000 tourists a day to The Big Smoke!

For those interested in the latest technology and marketing tactics, it’s always an interesting spectacle, and a good indication of trends to follow over the next 12 months.

This year, digital signage solutions played centre-‐stage at the Olympics. Here are some great examples:

Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

Making the most of the 2012 London Olympics, behind the glamour of the competition, hundreds of governments and dignitaries put their countries’ many products and services on full display for an international clientele.

Among the governments, Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade opened Canada Olympic House in London’s Trafalgar Square, deploying digital signage displays to help showcase Canada’s leading industries and businesses.

Nike – “Camp Victory”

Nike took a digital signage sprint at this year’s Olympic Team Trials for U.S. Track and Field.

 

Dubbed “Camp Victory”, Nike created an immersive, interactive running experience that included interactive digital out-­of‐home installations for running fans.

 

Camp Victory consisted of three pavilions and a light and sound show that re-­‐created sprint trials on the walls and allowed visitors to test their times on treadmills facing huge digital signage screens.

Procter & Gamble and Gillette

Just as the world finished watching the Opening Ceremony on July 27, Procter & Gamble and Gillette used digital signage projection technologies to promote U.S. Olympians and Gillette’s special Olympics edition of its Fusion ProGlide razor.

 

Gillette projected video images of American athletes Tyson Gay and Ryan Lochte onto buildings around Boston and sprays of water over Boston Harbor.