A different kind of advertising

Ski season ends with a premiere in Saalbach

Virtual advertising in the Ski World Cup(Bild: Screenshot ORF)

Advertising with a difference! The World Cup final in Saalbach-Hinterglemm saw the successful premiere of virtual advertising. Among other things, it was about protecting the athletes. 

The ski season ended with an innovation: after a two-year planning phase, the Austrian Ski Association and the sports marketing agency Weirather Wenzel & Partner (WWP Group), in collaboration with ORF and the service provider Supponor, presented the successful implementation of virtual advertising for the first time. Graphic advertising elements were implemented in the national live signal produced by ORF under the direction of Michael Kögler along the route instead of physical advertising media.

With this successful premiere, the four stakeholders are taking on a pioneering role in winter sports in terms of the professionalization of partner presentation. Virtual advertising in alpine skiing was designed with the aim of making the sport safer for athletes and more sustainable.

Scherer: "Sensible and necessary"
Christian Scherer, Secretary General of the Austrian Ski Association, is enthusiastic: "It seemed sensible and necessary for us to invest in this new technology in order to continue to enable top-level sporting events for television viewers. I am delighted to be working with our partners to drive this development forward in order to make sport even safer and more environmentally friendly."