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The Olympics is expected to be one of the biggest broadcast events of the summer. But for many younger viewers, they might spend more time watching the competition and the content that surrounds it on social platforms like TikTok than on the TV screen.<\/p>\n
That means that the organizing committee itself, as well as the advertisers looking to target audiences interested in the games, are preparing for an Olympic-sized presence on social media to accompany the competition on NBC. In other words, expect Olympics-related ads, content, and shoulder programming to descend on just about every screen ahead of the Opening Ceremony.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no longer enough to make a beautiful TV ad and put an official logo at the end of it,\u201d Rahul Titus, global head of influence at Ogilvy, told Marketing Brew. \u201cYou need to make sure you\u2019re looking at it as a connected ecosystem, where you\u2019re activating your athletes on the ground, on social media, pre the event, post-event, and that\u2019s a much more complicated and complex system. Obviously, there\u2019s beauty in it and it\u2019s a very high-reward system if you get it right, but it\u2019s tougher.\u201d<\/p>\n
The TikTokification of the Olympics isn\u2019t limited to advertisers. The organizing committee for Paris 2024, for example, is using social channels like TikTok to amplify its messaging around the games, according to Augustin P\u00e9nicaud, VP of Havas Play, Havas\u2019s sports and entertainment division that has been working with the organizing committee and several official brand partners. While TV remains central to the Olympic experience, \u201cyou cannot be solely and only on TV,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
National teams also realize the power of branching beyond broadcast. Team Great Britain inked an official partnership with TikTok, Team Canada and brand partner Lululemon dropped their Paris 2024 kits on the platform, and Team USA first released a promotional film across social. Even Olympics broadcaster NBCUniversal is giving TikTok, Snap, YouTube, Meta, and Overtime front-and-center access to the competition and is promoting the games through its own socials.<\/p>\n
Social media isn\u2019t exactly a new ballgame for brands, but compared to past Olympics, they\u2019re leaning further in, according to Titus.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m calling it the first TikTok Olympics,\u201d he said, later adding that \u201cit\u2019s quite refreshing to see that whole ecosystem being fully utilized for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n
While official sponsorships and broadcast ads are still valuable, even major brands with access to those assets are increasingly embracing social. Coca-Cola, an official Olympic partner that\u2019s running a 360-campaign including TV ads, is more focused on social than during prior Olympics, in part because of the platform\u2019s reach among Gen Z audiences, according to Robin Triplett, VP of North America integrated marketing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have several brands showing up\u2026and each brand has its own social voice and audience that we can engage with during this special event,\u201d Triplett said in an email. \u201cSocial media also provides more opportunity to quickly act upon the events taking place, cheer on our incredible athlete partners, and engage directly with the consumer in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Athleta, which is running its first-ever linear TV ad during the Olympics and is activating on the ground in Paris, is also using social in a \u201csignificant way,\u201d CMO Ilona Aman said. Team USA sponsors like Reese\u2019s and Core Power are also stretching their campaigns across platforms including linear, digital, social, and audio.<\/p>\n
Beyond TikTok, brands are turning to emerging media platforms such as newsletter and podcast companies that create sports content to help expand the reach of their Olympic efforts, and several of those companies\u2019 executives told Marketing Brew that they\u2019ve experienced a boost in revenue thanks to the interest.<\/p>\n
Podcast company Acast has fielded some recent advertiser interest in sports-related podcasts like The Mid-Point with Gabby Loga<\/em>n, according to Tom Roach, Acast\u2019s commercial strategy director for the UK. And New York Times-owned The Athletic, which is covering the Olympics for the first time, began having conversations with brands about sponsorships a couple of years ago, with renewed brand interest a few months out from the games, according to Chief Commercial Officer Seb Tomich; Nike and MassMutual are sponsoring some of the publication\u2019s Olympics content, and there are several other brands with campaigns that have yet to go live, he said.<\/p>\n Despite the interest, competition for pitching brands about Olympic campaigns has been stiff among media companies, Tomich said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just us versus ESPN on every pitch,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Gist, a sports media brand started in 2017, is working on Olympic campaigns with brands like Nike and Canadian Tire, and is partnering with Adidas to create content on the ground in Paris, according to co-founder Jacie deHoop. Just Women\u2019s Sports, a women\u2019s sports-focused media company, is covering the games beyond its site and newsletter to position itself as an \u201ceasily accessible second-screen experience\u201d on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, X, and its podcast network, Jackie Caldwell, its head of content, said in an email.<\/p>\n For much of the company\u2019s audience, \u201cwe\u2019re the only sports content that they consume,\u201d deHoop said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to be scrolling through their feeds during the day, they might listen to the podcast, and that\u2019s going to be the Olympic content that they consume. They\u2019re not necessarily going to watch a broadcast, which is just wild, but we definitely factor that in.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s working with sports media companies or creating social content, the options offer advertisers creative ways to get involved with the Olympics with or without official ties to the rings, Joe Caporoso, president of sports and entertainment media company Team Whistle, which has been working with Snapchat and Meta to cover the games, and selling sponsorships since late last year, said.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone\u2019s going to be talking about the Olympics in the back half of the summer,\u201d he said. \u201cIt only comes every four years\u2026so you don\u2019t want to sit that out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n