Paris 2024 Olympics: The greatest sponsorship opportunity on the planet?
The Paris 2024 Olympics get underway tomorrow with 10,500 athletes from over 200 countries competing for the chance to win gold in front of an estimated global audience of 3 billion. With an almost unparalleled reach and a reputation for history and success, we ask: Are the Olympics the greatest sponsorship opportunity on the planet?
Insights from The Sponsor's Audience
To delve deeper into what makes a great sponsorship opportunity, The Sponsor conducted comprehensive research among its audience of brand leaders. The findings provide a clear picture of the key elements that define an ideal sponsorship opportunity. According to the research, the most desirable qualities brands most commonly look for in a sponsorship partner include:
Massive Brand Awareness: Ideally, a partnership would reach a globally diverse and affluent audience, ensuring the brand gets significant visibility and recognition amongst all potential customers.
Positive Attributes: A strong sponsorship promotes desirable brand attributes such as integrity, hard work, success, history, innovation, and cultural relevance.
Support Social Causes: The perfect sponsorship provides an opportunity for brands to give back to the community and support important social causes like inclusion, diversity, and youth development.
Corporate Hospitality: A great sponsorship provides ample opportunity to entertain clients and key stakeholders through fantastic corporate hospitality.
Employee Engagement. The final desirable attribute most often prioritised by sponsors is the opportunity for employees to engage with the sponsorship, fostering teamwork and pride amongst the workforce.
You can read more on the research findings and what makes a perfect sponsorship partner here.
The Olympics: A Unique Sponsorship Platform
Given these criteria, the Olympics seem to fit the bill perfectly. They reach a global audience, promote desirable brand values and are inclusive of all. Abi Russell, Head of Partnerships at Pitch Marketing Group, shared her own insights on what makes the Olympics a standout sponsorship opportunity:
"What's really interesting with the Olympics is their strong values around striving for excellence and demonstrating respect. These values resonate with many brands, making the Olympics a strong sponsorship property. Unlike other events, the Olympics also transcend sports, offering stories of dedication, perseverance, and national pride that appeal to a broad audience."
From the 1988 Jamaican bobsleigh team to Germany’s Matthias Steiner, who fulfilled a promise to his late wife by winning weightlifting gold in Beijing in 2008, the Olympics are filled with some of the greatest stories in sport.
"The Olympic content is not just about sport; it's about the athletes' stories, their dedication, and the national pride they evoke. This makes the Olympics more engaging for a diverse audience."
Social Causes
Sam Hurley, Business Director at M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment pointed to the Olympics reputation for diversity and social causes and the lasting impact this has on sponsors:
“The positive sentiment around the Olympics, in part due to its reputation and efforts for social change - see initiatives like the formation of the Refugee Olympic team and the IOC’s recent “1 in 100 Million” campaign - can cause a similarly positive glow with its audience for these associated brands. A recent study by YouGov found that Visa enjoys a 14% higher positive perception amongst Olympics followers than the general population, and sponsor recall is consistently higher for Olympics partners than other major sporting events”.
Comparing the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup is the only significant competitor in terms of global reach, however, it doesn't promote the same values as the Olympics. Football, though immensely popular, may not engage audiences who are not interested in the sport. In contrast, the Olympics offer 32 disciplines, ensuring there is something for everyone.
Russell noted, "If you're not interested in football, you might not engage with the World Cup. But the Olympics have a diverse range of sports, so you're likely to find something that interests you. Additionally, most countries perform well in at least one discipline, which fosters a sense of national pride."
Challenges and Considerations
Despite its advantages, sponsoring the Olympics comes with challenges. It only occurs every four years, making it a less frequent opportunity. Moreover, unlike events like the World Cup, the Olympics lack media-facing assets, requiring brands to work harder on activation.
"You need to be prepared to work hard to activate and leverage the sponsorship," Russell emphasised. "But if done correctly, the results can be fantastic.
Both Hurley and Russell also noted the huge opportunity for domestic brands to align with their own organising committee such as NatWest and Old El Paso with Team GB.
NatWest and Team GB
NatWest's partnership with Team GB is a testament to the potential of Olympic sponsorships. Despite not having the budget of giants like Coca-Cola or P&G, the bank successfully leveraged the partnership through innovative activations, employee engagement, and community involvement.
During the kitting-out event at the NEC in Birmingham, NatWest, with the help of Pitch Marketing Group, created an immersive experience for athletes, showcasing their commitment to the partnership. This level of engagement extended to their employees, with over 100 volunteers participating in the event, fostering a sense of pride and excitement within the company.
Russell highlighted the impact of this engagement: "NatWest has done an incredible job with their Team GB partnership. They've involved their employees in meaningful ways, such as volunteering at events and creating immersive experiences. This has significantly boosted employee morale and engagement."
https://youtu.be/B_s05z0T0kE?si=V9urWMhSxdGAxfGm
Old El Paso and Team GB
Another successful activation comes from Old El Paso, in collaboration with M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment. Their ‘Make Some Noise for Your Home Team’ campaign features Olympic champions like Tom Dean MBE and Bethany Shriever MBE, celebrating the unique flavours individuals bring to the table and offering fans a chance to win VIP tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. This campaign illustrates how domestic brands can leverage Olympic partnerships to connect with national pride and create engaging consumer experiences.
The Legal Landscape
However, brands must be cautious about their sponsorship rights to avoid legal pitfalls. The recent lawsuit against Logan Paul's PRIME energy drink brand, resulting from their partnership with Kevin Durant, serves as a cautionary tale. The Olympic Committee alleged trademark infringement due to the use of terms like “OLYMPIC” and “TEAM USA” in the product packaging and advertisements.
Conclusion
The Olympics represent a unique and powerful sponsorship opportunity, aligning with values that resonate globally and offering a diverse and engaged audience. Similar events like the FIFA World Cup might match the Olympics in brand awareness but its the global appeal that sets this sponsorship head and shoulders above the rest. While it requires significant investment and effort, the potential rewards make it a compelling choice for brands looking to make a substantial impact. As Russell aptly summarised, "Across all these important brand characteristics, nobody does it better than the Olympics. But be warned, you must be prepared to put in the hard graft to get your message out there."
