Five first-time Olympic hopefuls woke up bright and early Thursday to show passersby in New York City what it’s like to be on the Road to Rio. Meet Team Kellogg’s: Simone Biles, Tom Shields, Natalie Bieule, Julie Johnston and Ajee’ Wilson. These five athletes are just getting started with their Olympic journeys, and Kellogg’s wants to show fans what motivates them to get up every morning and, after a bowl of cereal, of course, train for Olympic gold.

The #GetsMeStarted campaign launched with a live event in Union Square – a kickoff where all five athletes showcased their skills and got to know some fans. We caught up with the Creative Director for the project, Aaron Noffsinger, Associate Marketing Director for Kellogg’s Brand Andrew Shripka and Olympic hopeful Tom Shields to get a behind-the-scenes take on #GetsMeStarted.

The live event was packed with visual content – backdrops with boxes of Kellogg’s cereal featuring the athletes, a virtual reality experience to see what swimming laps looks like from Tom Shields’ point of view, and a live Periscope broadcast of Ajee’ Wilson running 800m across Central Park.

Hundreds of people watched Wilson’s dash live on Periscope…

And the crowd gathered in Union Square got to see the broadcast on the big screen…

All morning, the Kellogg’s team shared photos and videos on social media to share the live event with the brand’s global following. They also encouraged fans at the event and at home to share what motivates them with the hashtag #GetsMeStarted.

Incredible balance beam routine. Looking forward to watching@Simone_Biles take her skills to Rio! #GetsMeStarted pic.twitter.com/iaF5QlhUpb — Kellogg's (@KelloggsUS) April 28, 2016

This campaign launch gets an A+ for a number of reasons:

It’s highly visual and interactive. It’s cutting edge, incorporating virtual reality and Periscope. It’s inventive and risky, with a lot of moving pieces working together (and I mean that literally – apparently, that Periscope video was shot on a smart phone using a steadicam rig on the back of a rickshaw). It’s on-brand – the visuals and the campaign hashtag fit seamlessly with Kellogg’s mission and the stories of the Olympic hopefuls. It’s personal.

Not only did the people in Union Square get the opportunity to meet the Olympic hopefuls, but you can meet them, too. This morning, in tandem with the live event, Kellogg’s launched five videos introducing Team Kellogg’s. These fantastic examples of visual storytelling give viewers a window into the lives of the athletes. They even use footage shot by the athletes and their families. The result is a unique, personal perspective audiences are sure to love.

As major sporting and cultural events become richer because of digital, these moments are becoming more personal. Marketers can make the most of these moments by embracing the culture around the games, finding fans even when they’re not tuning into sports-related content, and building a feedback loop so you can learn and optimize your campaigns in real-time.

With the #GetsMeStarted campaign launch, Kellogg’s showed it is on the right track on its own journey to Rio, and offered a fantastic example of how brands can use visual content and cutting edge technology to launch a campaign.