The Olympics have always ignited passion and a sense of camaraderie among sports fans around the globe, but the 2024 Paris Games, taking place July 26 to Aug. 11, may inspire even more fanfare than usual. The last time the world witnessed the Summer Olympics, it wasn’t at stadiums in Tokyo where the event was held, or at related sponsor activations, but from the solitude of their homes.
During the 2020 Summer Games (held in 2021 as a result of COVID), nearly all spectators were banned, while longstanding international sponsors such as Visa and P&G scaled back or eliminated on-the-ground activations. Even on U.S. soil, brands created virtual programs or small gatherings that didn’t quite speak to the magnitude of the Olympics and what they represent.
Flash-forward to 2024, and not only has the world returned to its pre-pandemic state, this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games will be the biggest event ever organized in France, taking place across 35 venues and drawing 15 million spectators and 10,500 athletes. And for the first time in Olympics history, the Opening Ceremony will not be held in a stadium. Rather, a parade of athletes will sail down the Seine as spectators observe from the riverbanks.
Equally important, consumer interest in this year’s event is high. According to a Forrester poll of adults within its online market research community, 41 percent plan to follow the 2024 Paris Games very or fairly closely. And for sponsors, there’s nothing quite like a captive audience. So as the Olympics approach, check out a preview of the experiential activity taking place across the event with our rolling coverage.
ATHLETA
Gap-owned Athleta is focusing its Summer Olympics campaign on female athletes with a series of activations in Paris that include panel conversations in partnership with other women-led brands, like The Female Quotient and Goop, in addition to movement-centric classes.
Over in the U.S., the brand will host workouts during the games at stores in nine markets, and run an initiative tied to its “Power of She” platform that involves making postcards available in its stores for consumers to write notes about women they admire. For each postcard that’s filled out, the company will donate a dollar to The Power of She Fund, which provides grants to women and girls in partnership with the Women’s Sports Foundation.
BUMBLE
Dating app Bumble collaborated with GoodNews on Café Bumble, a branded coffee shop and meetup spot at Good News Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The shop featured specialty coffees, baked goods, and an interior drenched in the brand’s signature yellow color. Check out footage from the brand on Instagram.
CANADA HOUSE
National hospitality houses at the Olympics were once landing points for athletes, support staff and families. But over the years, they’ve evolved into ecosystems for partnerships and engagement. At the Summer Games, national houses are expected to make a grand post-pandemic return—among them, Canada Olympic House.
“La Maison Olympique du Canada” will feature more than a dozen partner activations and collaborations, including a Lululemon pop-up shop (the brand is outfitting the nation’s athletes this year); a Canadian Tire Celebration Arena for special events; a Petro-Canada Living Leaf installation that will “connect fans in Paris to fans back home”; a Toyota “Start Your Impossible” postcard station and photo op; an Air Canada Flight Deck patio; and a Mondelēz “Create Your Athlete Card” experience. Read more about the program here. (Agency: Mosaic)
COCA-COLA
Coca-Cola has been an Olympics sponsor for nearly 100 years, and for this year, the company has plans to infiltrate more than 70 markets with programs centered around the 2024 Paris Games. The brand will focus heavily on engaging consumers through experiences like in-store trials.
In Paris, Coke will spotlight Powerade and the brand’s “Pause is Power” platform. The effort is part of a global campaign launching in 30 markets that spans social, TV, activations and limited-edition products. On the ground, Powerade will provide athletes with a place to mentally and physically prepare for competition in the Olympic Village. Developed in collaboration with the IOC, the activation will serve as a respite offering virtual visualization practices and “safe spaces for conversations around mental health.” Powerade will also introduce Powerade Gold, a flavor specially designed for the Paris Games.
DECATHLON
For its first-ever partnership with the Olympic Games, Decathlon not only equipped volunteers, torchbearers and athletes with its uniform designs, the brand activated the Decathlon Playground in the Parc de la Villette in Paris, which offered a festival atmosphere and attracted some 200,000 attendees over the course of the Games. Activities included competitions, entertainment and athlete appearances.
DELTA AIR LINES
As the official airline of Team USA on the road to the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Delta is leveraging its partnerships with 15 Team USA athlete ambassadors to deliver content to fans, and to reward employees with in-person celebrations. Among experiential efforts is the brand’s Team USA Mobile Tour for employees, which kicked off in Los Angeles in May and will make its way to nine cities, each of which is a Delta station or hub that has direct flights to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, in addition to a stop at Minot International Airport in North Dakota.
The tour includes Olympics-themed photo ops that have Delta employees hoisting faux barbells over their heads and “swinging” on gymnastics rings; a curated selection of merch; games; food trucks; faux gold medals to sport around the footprint; and the opportunity to meet, and take photos, with Olympic and Paralympic athletes. (Agency: BlueprintNYC)
Photo: Courtesy of Delta Air Lines
FIGS
FIGS, the official outfitter for the Team USA Medical Team, marked the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony in style at New York City’s Washington Square Park to highlight its multiyear partnership with The USOPC and the FIGS x Team USA product collection. Consumers were invited to join the brand for a livestream of the ceremony, plus a view of the collection, and to enjoy Parisian-inspired treats, snag giveaways for their “head, shoulders, knees and toes” and catch performances by the Northwell Health Nurse Choir and a local streetside jazz trio. (Agency: CNC Agency)
Photos: Courtesy of CNC Agency
FOOT LOCKER
Foot Locker is going big for the Summer Games with a robust campaign that will be brought to life at a range of locations across France and the U.S. The brand is taking a phygital approach in Paris, with 10 immersive experiences available across nine stores around the city powered by AR. The platform can be unlocked beginning July 26 via QR codes located near Foot Locker retail stores and is billed as a digital adventure that transforms the streets of Paris and invites consumers to participate in challenges and earn interactive XPoints to redeem online and in-store on a range of products.
The brand will also be teaming up with New Balance to recruit creatives who will host a variety of workshops across its Paris stores every weekend throughout the games. Think: a basketball program in Bastille, a stylism workshop in Beaugrenelle, a music program in Rivoli and a wellness event in Le Marais.
LVMH
LVMH is another brand implementing a wide-reaching Summer Olympics campaign themed around its mission, The Art of Crafting Dreams. LVMH brands including Berluti, Chaumet, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Moët Hennessy and Sephora will all be featured.
As Official Partner of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relays, Sephora is playing a major role in LVMH’s approach. The brand launched a series of events at 46 of its retail locations along the Torch Relay route, where its “soufflerie” system offered consumers a chance to win beauty products and tickets to the Summer Games.
Sephora also activated celebration zones in four French cities along the Torch Relay route (Bordeaux, Nice, Lille and Paris) with pop-up experiences designed to celebrate the connection between beauty and sports, and featuring “artistic” co-creation events and makeup services.
Photo: Courtesy of Paris 2024
MICHELOB ULTRA
Michelob Ultra, which bills itself as the beer for active consumers, is pulling out all the stops for the Olympics with the biggest summer program in the brand’s history—the “Summer of Team USA.” In addition to TV spots, athlete partnerships, in-store rebates, social content and OOH, Michelob’s sponsorship includes an on-site footprint within the Team USA house where the brand will connect top athletes with fans IRL and virtually. The 2024 Games will also mark the first time Team USA House will be open to the public, and as the exclusive beer sponsor of the Olympics and Paralympics, Michelob is inviting fans in Paris to enjoy a drink from its fully stocked bar. Meanwhile, back in the States, the brand is hosting watch parties within its Parisian-themed bar patio in New York as part of NBCUniversal’s Rockefeller Center takeover.
Michelob will additionally become the first brand to participate in the Order of Ikkos Ceremony, an Olympic Games tradition that gives medalists an opportunity to recognize the coaches who have supported them along their their Olympic and Paralympic Games journeys.
NBCUNIVERSAL
As the official broadcast partner of the 2024 Paris Games, NBCUniversal’s Olympics campaign is robust, to say the least. The brand is enacting a full takeover of Rockefeller Center beginning July 26, and transforming it into a fan hub that will serve as a mini Paris of sorts through the duration of the competition. Parisian-inspired fare, photo ops, athlete appearances, interactive experiences and watch parties for the Games’ biggest events are all on tap.
Fans will be invited to snap photos with iconic symbols of the Games, including a replica Eiffel Tower, the Olympic medal podium and a giant Olympic Rings installation, among touchpoints. Plus, curated exhibits will give fans a chance to meet select Team USA athletes at Rockefeller Center’s Top of the Rock and The Rink.
NBC’s streaming service, Peacock, will also be front and center. Within Rock Center, a four-wall installation celebrating the brand as “the most comprehensive Olympic streaming destination in U.S. media history” will encompass a digital cube that lets participants view massive LED screens featuring Peacock’s Olympics viewing experience, including “Gold Zone,” “Watch with Alex Cooper” and Peacock Discovery Multiview.
Images: Courtesy of NBCUniversal
OAKLEY
Oakley activated the Expoplanetary Bunker experience in Paris designed to immerse consumers (and athletes and their guests) in the brand’s “rebellious history.” The striking facade looked otherworldly and, inside, attendees could explore a timeline of Oakley products, get behind-the-scenes looks at the latest innovations, visit a Lens Cut Bar for the perfect fit, participate in guided meditation and—our favorite—enter a top-secret, “no phones allowed” room where the brand showed off what’s coming next. Topping it all off was an athlete-only hospitality zone for Games viewing.
PROCTER & GAMBLE
Procter & Gamble is essentially the OG Olympics sponsor and its agenda for the 2024 Games makes that very clear: More than 30 of its household and personal care brands—including Pampers, Gillette, Always, Fairy, Mielle and Oral-B—are providing complimentary products and services to 22,000-plus Olympic and Paralympic athletes, and their staff, in the Olympic Village.
The VIPs will be treated to a Beauty & Grooming Salon, laundry rooms, a dental clinic and athlete welcome kits that come in reusable, Paris-themed bags and are chock-full of P&G health and hygiene products. P&G brands are also activating in-store and online programs with more than 150 retailers across the world.
The biggest headline this year? The debut of the Pampers Nursery. The concept is the brainchild of Allyson Felix, the retired track and field legend who holds 11 Olympic medals and serves on the IOC Athletes Commission. Felix teamed up with the brand to create a comfortable and convenient space for athlete moms to nurse and privately bond with their babies, which, she says, should remove one of the external pressures of competing. Naturally, the nursery will be equipped with ample Pampers diapers and baby wipes.
PUMA
Puma activated an invite-only destination for its influencers, athletes and partners at MOB House located near Stade de France. The transformed space featured a basketball court, football pitch, a swimming pool (you read that right), and the NITRO LAB, “an interactive space where visitors can explore PUMA’s latest innovations and technological advancements.”
SAMSUNG
Samsung got started early on its Paris Games programming with the May 3 opening of Olympic Rendezvous @ Samsung, located on the city’s historic avenue and shopping mecca, Champs-Élysées. The space was designed in partnership with architect Jean Nouvel and inspired by Parisian salons.
Visitors are invited to take an AI-powered journey that highlights the brand’s AI-equipped Galaxy smartphone. Attendees can participate in activities like an interactive Paris-themed photo zone where they can shoot and edit photos using Photo Assist to remove objects and reflections, and test out the Live Translate feature, which can be used to navigate around the city.
There’s also a mobile skateboarding game, a breakdancing experience with FlexCam, a chance to create custom phone straps made from discarded fishing nets and a display showcasing how Samsung technology has evolved from one Olympics event to the next. Influencers have also stopped by Olympic Rendezvous to share content creation tips, and Galaxy AI workshops are also part of the mix.
UBER
Uber has literally jumped into uncharted waters with the debut of its water transportation services, rolling out in several European cities this summer. The initiative strategically kicked off in Paris with the unveiling of Uber Cruise. From July 12 to Aug. 3, consumers can enjoy a free one-hour cruise along the Seine that allows them to take in the city’s iconic sites without battling the throngs of people in town for the games. The all-electric boat tour offers views of landmarks such as Notre Dame, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, and includes a complimentary glass of wine.
Photo: Courtesy of Uber
WINGSTOP
Chicken lovers around Paris can get their hands on free wings, hand-sauced and -tossed in five of Wingstop’s most iconic flavors, at the restaurant chain’s House of Flavor activation, taking place July 27 to Aug. 10 at La Caserne. The activation includes a range of activities, including three-on-three basketball games, dance battles, breakdancing performances, tattoos provided by Parisian graffiti artists and glow-ups, like fresh cuts from a barber and trendy nail-art manicures. Also on tap: a nightclub featuring a lineup of Parisian dj collectives on select days, and on Aug. 8, a mega-concert that will bring together big names from the hip-hop scene. Wingstop is slated to open its first restaurants in Paris later this year.
Images: Courtesy of Wingstop
From the Olympic Games Archives:
- No Spectators: How Four Brands Altered Their Game Plans for the Tokyo Olympics
- Winter Olympics 2018: Brand Experiences from PyeongChang and Beyond
- Three Tips on Fan Engagement from the U.S. Olympic Committee
- Inside Seven Top Activations From the Summer Olympics
