New Zealand committed 237 athletes to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and racked up an impressive 45 medals for the country, 14 of which were Gold.

Life in the Athlete village is mostly guarded from outside media, there are strict mandates around motion and sound recording devices. Digital Communications Manager for New Zealand Olympic committee Alex Spence needed a non intrusive mobile and easy to operate solution for creating branded stories.

Her objective was clear, reach the athletes and her own audiences with key NZOC messaging and position The NZOC as the brand behind the athletes. Interlike was a perfect solution. Alex and her team used our Magic Selfie Machine to capture portraits and candid moments. All photos were themed with a creative overlay of the kilt and official tartan pattern via Interlike App and instantly shared to the official Facebook page.

Local celebs including Hollie Smith and Simon Dallow added support and early public response to the content was overwhelming.

We have recorded over 1 Million post views with over 4.5K active engagements - likes, tags, comments and shares. #InterlikeMagic

The magic of social media is the instant dialogue between brands and their engaged audience. Based on the positive reaction NZOC quickly recognised the potential and made the call to open the page up for fans to submit their own supporters photos for inclusion to the album. Consistent above the line campaign elements and creative treatment were also applied to supporters images. The result? Cute kids flanked by esteemed athletes, local celebs, music stars, TV personalities all joined together supporting the team.

Thanks to the Scottish Shop in Dunedin for supplying the tartan!

Our ECD Clinton Tudor had some fun with the creative in true Kiwi style he's seen here broken leg shooting the official Kilt up a ladder. A clear nod to his favourite Kiwi quote by Sir Edmond Hillary ''we knocked the bastard off''!