By Alexandra Mathieu – VP Creative Strategy- Open Influence
The Olympics in marketing is a little like the Super Bowl, but it only comes around every four years. A lot of brands are counting on a lot of eyeballs to make marketing budgets count. In the past you could almost hear the marketing shots being made by big advertising execs, and see them fall flat on big billboards and small scrollable screens. Not this year, though. In 2024, Olympic marketing is landing like Simone Biles landing the Yurchenko Double Pike. Brands, teams and creators alike seem to be posting and promoting in ways that feel proportional to the moments, allowing for authentic and socially native feel-good fun, athletic feat fandom, and fawning over favorite moments.
Team USA has tapped into TikTok trends like Pass the Phone, classic dance celebrations, and “everybody wants to know what I would do if I didn’t win.” Brands like Samsung have partnered with celebrities like Sydney Sweeney in ways that integrate product into a Paris Olympics trip carousel that felt authentic vs. overly-promotional. Uber created a ‘On Our Way to the Olympics’ content series with the likes of Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris that gives off under-produced and hyper-delightful vibes, and brands like Nike went bold with the more surprising subversive ‘Winning Isn’t For Everyone’ campaign that brings out the inner ruthlessness in best in class athletes with copy lines like “My dream is to end theirs.”
It’s also paying off for the big players like streamer NBC Universal, that shared record ad sales surpassing $1.2B in advertising sales, with over $500M from first time sponsors trying to engage global audiences.
So, why is the Olympics TikTok handle bio “The Olympics, like never before” proving pretty accurate? Well, it’s been four years since the last Olympics. Four years ago, a pandemic was looming, TikTok hadn’t reached the heights it has today, nor had the omnipresence of creator and content culture. It’s actually also wild to think that we used to exclusively watch the Olympics from the outside. What was professionally recorded was what we saw, and only that. Now, while we get the POV of Big Cameras, we can also tune into the Olympic athletes POV’s and their “day in the life”, an entire team’s lens, as well as friends, celebs and creators attending the Olympics, or the ones not attending but commentating! Everyone can attend the Olympics, as an outside viewer, reviewer and commentator, or insider in the Olympic Village, BTS and beyond! We’re right there, if we want to be. Add to that the fandom that exists over Paris as a destination, the increase in marketers savviness as people tire of big spots with little impact, and our general appetite for joyful content during a complex economic and political year alike, and you’ve got Olympic Omnipresence: TikTok popularity, merged with social trends, the creator economy, the passion for Paris, plus marketing authenticity.
The reality is whether or not you are an Olympics lover, little and big Olympic feats and treats are sprinkled into your daily feeds regardless. From the muffin man Olympic Village stories, Simone Biles reapplying her Fenty makeup, or creators tapping into their inner Olympian from the comfort of their home in gymnast-like bodysuits and on firm mattresses, to the once in a lifetime gravity defying surfing photograph of Gabriel Medina going viral, people nerding out over the extraordinary feats of athletes, celebrations of the diverse and healthy bodies capable of extraordinary feats, or the full floor routines of the extraordinary feat of Simone Biles that just floors everyone, the Olympics feats are in everyone’s feeds.
You can watch or not, but if you’re scrolling, you’re “Olympics’ing.”
