Over the years, experts in branding and Marketing have pointed out the strength and huge marketing opportunities that exist around important sporting events like the Olympics.
Delivering a paper some years ago at a conference held at Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos Biodun Shobanjo, Chairman of Troika Holdings, Nigeria’s largest marketing communication services group, revealed that “Few forces in contemporary society influence massive numbers of people across the world more immediately than sport.
In sport and everything it stands for, we find ourselves usually impassioned, in joy, sadness, or exhilaration depending on the side we are rooting for. From football fans to golf enthusiasts, sports continue to manifest themselves as instruments for social cohesion, development, leisure and nowadays, used as a strategic tool for advancement in emerging economies”.
The truth is that Corporations spend billions of dollars worldwide each year on sports marketing, leveraging the emotional connection/bond between sports talents and their fans to connect with millions of consumers. The Olympics being the biggest sporting event, usually attracts the highest level of patronage from multinationals.
The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, are set to take place in Paris, France. This marks Paris’s third time hosting the Summer Olympics, with previous editions held in 1900 and 1924. Scheduled from July 26 to August 11, 2024, the event will showcase iconic Parisian landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Champs-Élysées as venues for a diverse array of sports.
Creative marketing communication experts have also increasingly become adept at using this emotional bond as a platform to build patronage and loyalty for brands when they can convince producers of products or services to commit funds in support of sporting activities and personalities. The practice of sports marketing also offers a platform for independent agencies specializing in sponsorship to work with these megabrands to provide actionable insight for key decision-making on how to market their products and brands to targets.
‘Marketing through sports’ is a concept that that has been used since the 1980s, but that also has increased in importance in the last two decades, due to the growth in relevance and expansion that the different types of sports have enjoyed since then. Sponsorship has even become a thing of a status symbol among competing brands.
According to a report by PYMNTS, sponsors have demonstrated an 18% increase in their investment for the upcoming Olympics compared to the 2021 Summer Olympics.
The 2024 Paris Olympics has a diverse line-up of brand sponsors categorized into different levels of partnership: Worldwide Olympic Partners, Premium Partners, Official Partners, and Official Suppliers.
The IOC holds the worldwide media rights for the Olympic Games, covering television, radio, and digital platforms. It negotiates agreements with media companies globally to allocate these rights.
Worldwide Olympic Partners include Airbnb, Alibaba Group, Allianz, Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola-Mengniu Dairy, Deloitte, Intel, Omega SA, Panasonic, Procter & Gamble (P&G), Samsung Electronics, Toyota, and Visa. Premium Partners consist of Accor, Carrefour, EDF France (Enedis), Groupe BPCE, Le Coq Sportif, LVMH, Orange S.A., and Sanofi.
OMEGA, the longstanding Official Timekeeper of the Olympic and Paralympic Games since 1932, has unveiled its latest global advertising campaign for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics. This campaign, which extends across television and digital platforms, introduces a unique portrayal of Paris as a dynamic athletic arena.
This year’s game will feature traditional Olympic sports as well as newer additions like skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing, and breaking (breakdancing). There will be a total of 329 events across 32 sports. Over 10,000 athletes from more than 200 countries are expected to compete.
Antecedent has shown that host cities and by extension, the host country are always the biggest gainers among brands partnering with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Although the event will last only for two or three weeks, the preparations for the Games begin almost as soon as the host city is announced. Construction in preparation for the Games involves considerable re-development, particularly themed towards sustainability.
Records of the IOC reveal that in the years of the Games in Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004), for example, the direct contribution of travel and tourism to gross domestic product (GDP) in Australia and Greece rose by 18.3% and 12%, respectively. 2008 saw the contribution of travel and tourism in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) after the Beijing Games increase by 6.4%.
The opening ceremony provides the biggest selling opportunity for the host city and country in the area of destination branding. With about 3 billion people glued to their television, no host city can ask for more. The last Olympics displayed London and the UK on the world stage in an unprecedented manner and the organizers did not disappoint. In about three hours, Great Britain displayed to a global audience the country’s rich history and heritage.
The opening ceremony directed by Danny Boyle, an Oscar-winning director of the film, Slumdog Millionaire, cost 27 million pounds ($42.3 million) to produce, and it appealed to both the British audience and about two billion or more viewers across the world.
This great ceremony that will, for ages, remain a reference point for all students of destination branding, culminated in a stunt performance of Queen Elizabeth’s look-alike landing at the venue in a parachute just in time to officially flag off the event. With premium tickets for the opening ceremony going for 2,012 pounds ($3,157) and a mind-boggling fee for the Television rights that increases with every game, each aspect of the Olympic Games will always remain a money spinner. The world cannot wait to see what Paris will pull out in the next few days.
Interestingly, the benefits will not be limited to the host city or country. As the world eagerly anticipates the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, a new study conducted by mediaReach OMD in collaboration with GeoPoll, has unveiled fascinating insights into how African audiences plan to engage with the global sporting event.
The research which offers a comprehensive look at viewer preferences, media consumption patterns, and potential opportunities for brands across four key African nations: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania is a part of the OMD Consumer Intelligence (OCI) initiative. This comes at a crucial time as brands and stakeholders seek to capitalize on the immense popularity of the Olympics in Africa. With the games set to begin, the findings provide a roadmap for targeted marketing strategies and underscore the cultural significance of the event across the continent. These are vital tools for brand-builders.
One of the most striking revelations from the study is the extraordinary level of interest in the Olympics among African audiences. In Nigeria, a staggering 7 out of 10 respondents expressed high interest in following the games, with an almost unanimous 97% indicating their intention to watch the event. This enthusiasm is mirrored across the other surveyed countries.
While football emerges as the most anticipated event, particularly in Ghana (57%) and Nigeria (56%), the study also reveals interest in other sporting activities. Basketball and athletics follow closely behind in Nigeria.
The research paints a picture of a tech-savvy audience ready to engage with Olympic content across multiple platforms. Television remains a dominant medium, with 74% of respondents planning to watch via this traditional format. However, the rise of mobile viewing is unmistakable, with 72% intending to use their mobile devices to follow the games. This dual-screen approach, according to the study, opens up innovative possibilities for interactive content and targeted advertising.
The study also reveals that viewership is expected to peak during the evening hours, with 55% of respondents most likely to tune in between 6 PM and 11 PM. This information is crucial for broadcasters planning their schedules and for advertisers aiming to maximize their reach.
Interestingly, 68% of viewers express a preference for watching entire events rather than just the finals, which indicates a deep engagement with the Olympic narrative beyond just the medal moments.
For brands, the Olympics represent a golden opportunity to connect with consumers. The research identifies several key areas where viewers anticipate changes in their behaviour during the games. These include upgrading data plans to ensure seamless streaming, increased socialization with friends, engagement in sports betting, and alcohol consumption. Such insights provide valuable direction for targeted marketing campaigns across various sectors.