Marketing an Olympian

Tom Pappas, of Azalea OR and Glendale High (about 25 miles north of here, just into Douglas County), was the top decathlete in the world last year. The Grants Pass Daily Courier (as always, dead tree-only) is doing a series of stories on him and the build-up to the Summer Olympics. This article below, titled "The Selling of Tom Pappas," is from Friday's D-C.

You know you've really made it when you walk onto a set to shoot a TV commercial and there are four guys who were hired just because they look like you.

That's what happened to Tom Pappas last week when he traveled to Los Angeles to shoot a commercial to promote the Olympics for NBC.

"They had hired four actors as doubles," Pappas said. "They all had goatees like me and NBC bought them all wigs so that their hair would look like mine. We had fun hanging out. It was funny to see us all together."

But what's probably a better indicator of Pappas' rapidly increasing marketability and climb to the upper echelon of Olympic athletes is that NBC picked him for the commercial.

Pappas was told he will be the only American track athlete with an NBC commercial, meaning that Pappas' spot is a key element of the network's Olympics promotion.

And this is a high-stakes game. NBC paid $3.55 billion to air the Olympics from 2000 to 2010.

With all the controversy surrounding track-and-field events (muchless baseball) regards the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing products, NBC is looking for a clean image. That's what they've got with Pappas...and it doesn't hurt that they think he has a good shot of winning a high-profile event.

Pappas' 60-second commercial is scheduled to begin running nationally in June. It'll feature the former Glendale High standout competing in all 10 of the events in the decathlon. After he's done with one event, a little special effects wizardry will allow him to watch himself in the next until there are 10 Toms at the end.

The multiple-Tom scenes made the body doubles necessary and also made for some long hours for Pappas, who shot the commercial last Thursday and Friday at East Los Angeles College.

"We went from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the first day, and 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on the second," he said. "One of the hardest parts of doing it was getting the timing right so that one scene could overlap with another and one Tom would look like he was talking to the others."

Pappas, who wears different shoes for each event, said his feet got sore from changing his shoes 20 times a day for various scenes.

"Each different shoot probably took about an hour to set up," he said. "It was a lot of fun, but it sure wears you out."

Sounds like it will be fun to watch. There aren't many full minute commercials any more, but promos--we're deluged with short ones, long ones, bad ones, etc. Watching the NBA playoffs has taken some serious endurance with the incredible amount of commercials and promos, most of them weak and repeated until I never want to use those products, watch those shows, etc.

NBC paid for all of his expenses, but Pappas wasn't paid for the commercial. However, he and his agent, Josh Schwartz of SFX Sports, know that this commercial could make Pappas a household name.

"The idea is to get my name out there, so that people know to watch for me," Pappas said.

While he was in Los Angeles, the 27-year-old Azalea native also made time for a Vanity Fair photo shoot. He was told sprinter Marion Jones and women's pole vaulter Stacy Dragila will also be featured in the national magazine's layout.

Additionally, an NBC film crew shot some footage of Pappas for a Today Show segment that is scheduled to air within the next month.

Schwartz, senior director of talent marketing at New York-based SFX, said this kind of build up helps ensure a bigger payday after the Olympics--that is, if Pappas wins the gold medal.

"The NBC commercial is the kind of high-profile public relations that you do," said Schwartz, whose company also represents football star Jerry Rice, Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, the Orlando Magic's Tracy McGrady and track veteran Gail Devers.

"Then, you go talk to companies, and put things into position before the Olympics. And if he wins gold, then you go right back to them. That way, Tom can capitalize off them and they can capitalize off Tom."

Interesting investments on all sides. And, something simple like a strained hamstring (like he has now) can make what looks like a great gamble go bust. Pappas has to physically and mentally peak on an enormous world stage to make many folks' best-laid plans become a reality. Win, and he becomes like Bruce Jenner--and icon, even with his weird home gym commercials. Lose and he's more like Dan O'Brien in '92 who was the heir-apparent decathlete gold medalist and appearing in all sorts of commercials, then failed to qualify in our Olympic Trials. Of course, he came back with a vengeance and won gold in the '96 Olympics.

By the by, Dan O'Brien is also from Southern Oregon, a Klamath Falls native.

Knowing that a gold medal could mean a big enough financial windfall to leave him set for the rest of his life, you would think Pappas would be feeling some presure. But he said he's not.

"I don't think of it like that," Pappas said. "Regardless of what happens or how much I make off it, I'll be OK. I don't want to do this for free, but the financial aspect isn't what this is all about for me."

However, as with most reigning world champions, the money comes with the territory.

Pappas is sponsored by Nike, the Bank of Cyprus and recently signed a deal to be a part of the Wheaties program, meaning that he could be on the Wheaties box if he wins a gold medal in Athens.

As usual, Nike officials are being tight-lipped about any possible promotions involving Pappas. Tom said he hasn't heard anything from the Beaverton-based athletic shoe and apparel company.

The hush-hush protocol is normal for Nike. Pappas' contract with the company won't even allow him to disclose how much he makes.

"I've worked with the Nike guys before," Schwartz said. "They're kind of a front-runner company, so I'm sure they'll have something good planned for Tom."

After the 2000 Olympics, Pappas left Adidas, partly because the company did so little to promote him before the Sydney Games, where he finished fifth.

It's good to see Nike supporting an Oregon athlete...finally. Of course, how the Ducks let Pappas get away to the University of Tennessee... Tom's older and younger brothers were both decathletes at Eugene. However, while Tom was very active in high school sports, didn't try the decathlon until in junior college in Southern California. That's where the Tennessee coach spotted and recruited him. Pappas still lives in Knoxville. He trains at a gym here in Grants Pass when he's visiting home.

Pappas' Bank of Cyprus deal may be the most interesting of his endorsements, especially considering that he has never been to Cyprus or Greece, the company's two biggest markets.

But because of his Greek heritage, Pappas is well-known in Greece, probably more so than the United States. Since Pappas will return to Athens, a city his great-grandfather left about a century ago, the theme of the advertising campaign is "Coming home."

The Bank of Cyprus already ran a TV comercial in Greece announcing the campaign. Pappas has done a little work for the bank in the past month, and will do a little more when he arrives in Greece.

"They pay me bonuses based on my performance (at meets)," he said. "And they pay me per appearance."

"It's a little weird that I have (an endorsement) in a country I've never been to and don't know the language. But they're paying me, so I won't ask too many questions."

Pappas doesn't look very Greek either, being a blonde and fair-skinned. But, it's seems like a pretty savvy ad campaign type for Europe, where so many their kin have gone off to a far-away land and done good.

And after the Olympics, Pappas may get more deals from financial institutions. His agent said that's because of his reserved personality.

"We look to make deals that the athlete is comfortable with and that fit the company," Schwartz said. "Because Tom is kind of a quiet, well-spoken, hard-working and determined individual, we might approach a more conservative client, like a financial institution."

"It's not a situation where we'd try to make him more boisterous or change him. He probably won't be out there promoting something like Slim Jims or any other company with an in-your-face campaign."

Schwartz said Pappas is an easy sell to the right companies.

"He's a great guy. When people meet him, they like him," he said. "He and his family have a great story. Plus, if your company has anything to do with athletics, it probably doesn't hurt to have the world's greatest athlete as your endorser."

It's also important that Pappas' promotions don't interfere with his training.

"We leave it up to the athlete and their coach as to how many endorsements they can handle," Schwartz said. "You have to defer to the training, because a lot of this work that we're doing won't mean much if he can't win the gold."

The references to Pappas' family are regards their interesting sporting history. One of Pappas' grandfathers was a professional wrestler, and Pappis' dad and partner set an auto land speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats in the '90s.

Pappas is currently ranked second in the world in the decathlon, as he missed the World Indoor Championships in March due to minor shoulder surgery. The man who won that competition, Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic, will likely be his top rival at the Olympics. He will compete against Sebrle in about five weeks in a competition in Gotzis, Austria. That will be followed by the Olympic Trials, and hopefully a successful trip to the Olympics.

He's had a year plagued with minor injuries, but says he's the healthiest he's been and is happy with his training. Let's hope he goes to Athens healthy with the chance to prove his skills to the world.

Comments

[Dimtri]

I cannot beleive the stupidity of the person who wrote this article regarding Mr Pappas and his blond hair.Being of Greek ancestry I can attest that plenty of Greeks have blondish hair including some of my reltives.By the way Arrianna Huffington (despite the fact I disagree with her Liberal politicS)has reddish hair and she is 100% Greek and has very Classical Greek looking features .Who ever wrote this article obviously knows nothing about Greek people and their history.

[RoguePundit]

Greece has been an intersection of various peoples and civilizations for millenia, so of course there is considerable variation in the looks of Greek citizens and their descendents. But is it actually your contention that most Greeks don't have darker hair and features?!?

[Dimitri]

Lets take a look at Greek history.The Greeks were indo european peoples not native to Greece but from an area north of the Greek pennensula probaly from the Balkan mountains.They invaded and subjected an earlier mediteranean non indo european population and of course mixed with them over time.A certain degree of Blondism was present in the earliest Greek tribes.Achilles for example was described as XANTHOS light hair -blondish or light brown.Thus blondism is native to Greece.Tom Pappas though not the majority in terms of hair color but he is not that unusual.Jennifer Anniston is Greek with light hair and her features are very ancient Greek.Greeks from the Agean Islands ( where most tourist go)tend to be darker while northern Greeks tend to be lighter so there is some regional variation.

To claim Pappas does not look Greek because he has blond hair is missleading.Blond or light hair though never the majority has been native to Greece since the bronze age.