The New AT&T Launches Campaign to Deliver Fan Support to the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team

January 23, 2006; 08:17 AM

SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 23, 2006 — The new AT&T will celebrate the excitement of the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team – and that of an entire nation – through a Web-based program that lets fans share their well wishes with athletes at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games beginning in Torino, Italy, next month.  As part of its Olympic sponsorship, AT&T will also unveil a new phase of its major advertising campaign as well.
 
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a proud sponsor of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams for the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Torino, and the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. 

AT&T is introducing a Web-based program that will allow fans to connect to the U.S. Olympic Team while the athletes are in Torino.  “Your support. Delivered.” enables fans to deliver messages of support to U.S. athletes competing in the Olympic Winter Games by visiting www.att.com/TeamUSA or text messaging to “2USA” from their Cingular Wireless service.

AT&T will deliver messages to the athletes in Torino. AT&T will set up individual message boxes so athletes can access their messages from any computer terminal while they are at the Olympic Winter Games. The message boxes will include both e-mail and text messages sent directly to any particular athlete or to Team USA.
 
The New AT&T Connects Fans to U.S. Olympic Team – add one

“This program is a great way for fans to connect with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams” said Karen Jennings, AT&T senior executive vice president-communications and human relations.  “As a global leader in communications, this ‘Your support. Delivered.’ program is a natural fit for AT&T. It extends our partnership with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams and allows us to use AT&T broadband technologies to deliver messages of support to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes from their fans.” 

AT&T will also unveil a new advertising campaign created for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. The campaign will feature three U.S. Olympic Team-themed television spots, print advertising, outdoor ads and online placements.  The campaign is tied together through the theme  “Connecting You to the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team.”

This campaign complements AT&T’s multifaceted “Your world. Delivered, SM” brand campaign. The AT&T/U.S. Olympic Team television campaign celebrates unity, a trait common to both the AT&T brand and U.S. Olympians, while highlighting the AT&T communications and entertainment solutions that can connect athletes and their fans worldwide.   
  
“We see this campaign as one more way to bring Americans closer to the excitement and passion that surround the Olympic Winter Games, “ said Jennings.  “We are very proud to be partners with the U. S. Olympic Committee and to support the U.S. Olympic Team in Torino.”

The television campaign kicks off Monday with the debut of “Ski Lift,” which will employ imagery that lifts U.S. Olympians to the top of a mountain in Torino while, in the process, lifting the viewer – and all Americans – to similar heights in spirit.  “Ski Lift” will run during the Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Olympic Games on NBC’s primetime coverage, Friday, Feb. 10.

The second spot of the campaign, “Ski Jump,” will air during the Games and is similar in theme and drama.  A lone U.S. ski jumper, at the top of the run, finds himself suddenly accompanied by hundreds of fellow Americans – also on skis.  The ski jumper and his countrymen and women soar down the hill as one; once the U.S. Olympian is airborne, he is once again alone, supported by the message that “There are times one person can connect us all.”

“Medal Ceremony,” colorfully celebrates the emotion and universal bonding experience of the medal presentation through the connectivity of the new AT&T — via computers, television, wireless and much more. And in the spirit of that connectivity, the spot is supported by the message that “SBC and AT&T are now united as one and proud to salute the U.S. Olympic athletes who, for 17 days, unite us all.”
 
The New AT&T Connects Fans to U.S. Olympic Team – add two

The AT&T/U.S. Olympic Team-themed campaign will extend to other media as well:
• Magazine Print – “Olympic Hopeful: Taylor,” featuring an aspiring youth hockey player who stays connected to the U.S. Olympic Team via AT&T broadband, will run in a host of national publications.
• Outdoor – The message “U.S. Olympic Team. Delivered.” will loom dozens of stories high on a Times Square billboard through the end of February.
• Online – The “U.S. Olympic Team.  Delivered.” message will come to life in flash animations on major portals and other leading sites starting in early February.
• AT&T will also air consumer-focused television advertising, highlighting the company’s products, packages and services, on NBC during the competition.

About the New AT&T
AT&T Inc. is one of the world's largest telecommunications holding companies and is the largest in the United States. Operating globally under the AT&T brand, AT&T companies are recognized as the leading worldwide providers of IP- based communications services to business and as leading U.S. providers of high- speed DSL Internet, local and long distance voice, and directory publishing and advertising services. AT&T Inc. holds a 60 percent ownership interest in Cingular Wireless, which is the No. 1 U.S. wireless services provider with more than 52 million wireless customers. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and AT&T products and services is available at www.TheNewATT.com.

© 2006 AT&T Knowledge Ventures.  All rights reserved.  Subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. provide products and services under the AT&T brand.