4 Clever Olympic Marketing Campaigns [+Top Takeaways]

Olympic adverts do not make as massive a splash as Tremendous Bowl spots, however the video games are nonetheless a dependable show of selling creativity each two years.

Because the Paris Olympics draw to a detailed, I’ve rounded up 4 adverts (plus three honorable mentions) that emerged from the 2024 struggle. I spoke with a couple of entrepreneurs at HubSpot to get their perspective on why these adverts work and how one can apply the identical technique to your personal advertising and marketing campaigns.

And it would not be the Olympics with out some GOATs, so I’ve included a couple of favorites from earlier video games.

2024 Olympic Advertising Marketing campaign

1. LVMH: The Roof

For those who’ve had a fever dream of Inauguration 2024, you may consider masked muggers throughout Paris rooftops and bellhops dancing with outsized Louis Vuitton baggage on the banks of the Seine.

Louis Vuitton trunks appeared via LVMH, the mum or dad firm sponsoring the Paris Olympics. Happily (or not, relying in your stage of absurdity) Louis Vuitton has taken a unique tone for its official Olympic adverts.

Utterly unvoiced and scored solely by a blinding bassline, the deep shadows and wealthy colours evoke “luxurious” from the primary second. The digicam skims over the well-oiled athlete’s physique, drawing focus to construction over operate. Shot totally at night time, shadows create thriller and intrigue.

Do this at residence

• Whether or not you are going for luxurious or a beachy vibe, make a listing or a temper board of every little thing that evokes your required tone: colours, shapes, textures, sounds, fonts, you title it. Each single factor of your advert ought to serve the singular function of expressing your outlined voice.
• You may as well use HubSpot’s Advert Planning Equipment, which incorporates free planning templates and a information.

2. Corona: For each golden second

I notably like this advert as a result of it avoids the self-important tone so different campaigns use. HubSpot Media Senior Director Kyle Denhoff can also be a fan, so I requested if he’d break it down:

• Product focus. The Corona advert efficiently positioned the beer because the protagonist of the story. By refined but efficient visuals, the advert integrates the product into the narrative, and a crew clinks beer bottles with “cheers,” highlighting the product because the advert ends.
• Model Message: The tagline “for each golden second” cleverly aligns Corona with the status of Olympic gold, suggesting that its beer is the only option for all times’s particular moments. It is a message that encourages shoppers to affiliate Corona with holidays, journey and friendship, reinforcing the concept that it is the go-to beer for memorable experiences.
• Cultural Relevance: The advert successfully faucets into the cultural significance of the Olympics. It makes use of seamless visible transitions to attach private golden moments with the triumphs of world-class athletes. It elevates the model by associating it with excellence and achievement — from an occasion everybody watching

Denhoff additionally pointed to a transparent understanding of Corona’s demographic—journey vacationers of their 20s and 30s—and famous how Corona skillfully invited potential prospects to see themselves within the advert.

Do this at residence

• Put your product on the heart of the advert with out overwhelming your potential prospects.
• Improve your model by associating it with excellence.
• Know your demographics.

3. Hyundai: It is OK

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Hyundai faucets into acquainted Olympic tropes like perseverance and onerous work, however from a much less acquainted perspective. At first, it seems to be like an commercial for Olympians coaching a whole bunch of hours beginning as very younger kids.

After which a collection of fogeys inform their respective youngsters, all pissed off with sports activities follow, that perhaps it is time to take a break. “Like a pause pause.”

As an alternative of shifting on, every aspiring Olympian adjustments sports activities, with the tagline, “By no means give as much as discover what you’re keen on.”

Do this at residence

• Subvert Tropes: This may require a transparent narrative, so do not skimp on storytelling.
• Do one thing good: Simone Biles’ return to the 2024 Olympics places psychological well being again within the highlight. After drawing criticism from some corners of the web in 2021, when she pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics to deal with her psychological well being, Biles despatched a transparent message to haters this 12 months that she made the fitting name. Hyundai subtly faucets into the significance of psychological well being with out being too on the nostril.

4. Parmigiano Reggiano Sponsorship

That is technically a 2021 advert, however we’re counting it all the way down to the 2024 Olympic Video games because it went viral.

Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa was sponsored by Parmigiano Reggiano in the course of the 2021 Tokyo Video games, the place she withdrew from the competitors on account of damage. And though the sponsorship resulted in 2022, I wish to suppose that the Italian crew’s group silver medal this 12 months was pushed by a barrel-sized wheel of piquant cheese.

Since receiving the medal, his 2021 sponsorship advert has gone viral. Villa’s photograph options sharp gentle and deep shadows of Caravaggio, as he gleefully holds a wheel of cheese bigger than his torso. He has been quoted as saying that he has liked cheese since childhood and the smile on his face dares you to problem him.

Do this at residence

• Faucet into your viewers’s cultural heritage. Paying homage to Italian Renaissance painters, these pictures show a deep appreciation for Italian identification and heritage.
• Do not be afraid of some uncommon juxtaposition whether it is primarily based on reality.

Honorable Point out: Personable and Influential

I’m creating an honorable point out class as a result of these usually are not conventional adverts and usually are not simply replicable in your personal advertising and marketing. However I might be remiss to not embrace among the personalities and influencers who’ve turn into strolling commercials for the 2024 Paris Olympics:

Snoop Dogg

The sudden gold medalist of our hearts, Snoop joined NBC as an official Olympic correspondent in Paris. In a really unscientific survey by a few of my fellow Hubspotters, 100% agree that he is one of the best advert for the Olympics, palms down.

Drea Hudson, HubSpot’s head of viewers growth, distribution, mentioned, “There is not any one — and I imply nobody — that I belief to hold the torch greater than him.”

He additionally summed up his authenticity and enchantment: “The benefit with which he crosses Paris in the course of the Video games is what Uncle Snoop himself says: ‘It is me, being me’.”

Snoop’s curiosity is palpable (although he wants bestie Martha Stewart’s emotional assist for the equestrian occasion, as she’s barely afraid of horses). His pleasure is actual. (Like his paycheck – a reported $500K daily.)

Colin Jost

Most of us do not have entry to skilled comedians, however Olympic surfers are most likely grateful that NBC does. Their sport acquired an enormous enhance in visibility when SNL Weekend Replace anchor Colin Jost took over as NBC’s browsing correspondent.

Jost took one for the crew and went to Tahiti, the place his studies poked enjoyable at his personal ineptitude. After a minor mishap involving shallow water, coral reefs and ants, he claims to have visited extra medical tents than any athlete (I am going to chorus from additional description for the faint-hearted amongst you).

However as a surfer himself, Jost would not simply joke round — he has a deep understanding and appreciation for the game, and he is making Olympic browsing appointments to observe.

Greyhound Olympics

Instagram and TikTok are an infinite, and endlessly entertaining supply of unofficial Olympic adverts and commentary, however I am going to point out only one that represents the fashion and humor of those homespun Olympic tie-ins.

A greyhound’s ears flop in unison whereas strolling, and the video reads, “My canine ​​might have competed within the Olympics however they canceled the synchronized ear occasion.” It hits all the fitting beats: scream synchronized athletic occasions, cute ears, and naturally compares Olympic greatness to a really positive canine.

Attempt these at residence:

• It is a cliché, however it’s true: Be like Snoop and simply be your self
• Comedy might be an efficient advertising and marketing instrument — however it’s much more efficient if in case you have information and understanding of the product you are focusing on.
• Apply Olympic tropes to on a regular basis life.
• Embrace the absurdity. The synchronized Cannes occasion will undoubtedly draw an enormous fandom.
• If all else fails, put your canine in an advert. (Simply kidding. Principally.)

The most effective Olympic marketing campaign ever

After I requested buddies and HubSpotters which adverts they favored from the 2024 Paris Video games, there was a transparent consensus: They’re not so good as they was. (In line with Vox, there is a cause for this, and it rhymes with Smartificial SchmintIntelligence.)

So only for enjoyable, listed here are two gold medalists from the previous decade:

Canadian Institute of Range and Inclusion: The Unfastened (2014)

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The Canadian Institute of Range and Inclusion ran this advert in assist of homosexual athletes on the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. It is a good reminder that critical matters can nonetheless be approached with humor.

Visa: Carpool to Rio (2016)

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Visa’s 2016 Carpool to Rio advert is filled with intelligent particulars, like synchronized divers nodding in unison. This advert stands slightly greater on the stage due to its cheery tone — many (most?) flashy company Olympic adverts take a critical have a look at the athletes’ onerous work and the obstacles they overcome.

Advertising Takeaways

Even when you do not have entry to a celeb spokesperson or a company funds, there’s nonetheless loads to study from these adverts. Essentially the most profitable Olympic adverts faucet into the cultural significance of the Video games and discover genuine methods to hyperlink their merchandise to the world’s greatest athletes with out overdoing their product placement.