5 Marketing Trends Shaping the Paris 2024 Olympics

The Olympics are here, and brands are looking to compete in new ways.

NBCUniversal has made it clear that the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, which take place July 26 through Aug. 11, won’t be business as usual for the broadcaster. The company is bringing in teams of celebrities, including Jimmy Fallon, Snoop Dogg, Call Her Daddy’s Alex Cooper and even AI-generated broadcasters, to entice fans to tune in. In addition, the company is rolling out more than 7,000 hours of coverage across every one of the media giant’s linear, digital and streaming platforms.

Of that total, 5,000 hours will show up on Peacock, where the company is bringing advertisers new opportunities as it continues its record-setting ad sales pace.

“We like to raise the bar,” Comcast Corporation president Mike Cavanagh said during a preview of NBCU’s Olympics strategy in June.

Marketers are looking to do the same in 2024, and here are some of the trends shaping the new Olympics landscape:

1. New ways of measurement

How do you measure an Olympics—in daylights, in sunsets, in medal ceremonies or in AI-generated Al Michaels updates?

When it comes to measuring Olympics ratings anyway, NBC Sports is trying something new with the Paris Summer Games, combining two three-hour blocks across linear and streaming to yield one magic primetime viewership number. In this case, “primetime” will be defined as 2-5 p.m. ET, when NBC and Peacock carry evening Olympics events live from Paris, and 8-11 p.m. ET, when Primetime in Paris provides a narrative-driven recap of the day’s big stories.

Speaking with ADWEEK, Jorge De La Rosa, senior vice president of research for NBC Sports, called the revised approach a “benefit to advertisers,” who have already pledged $1.2 billion in commitments to the Paris Olympics. Expect the combined ratings trend to continue at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan thanks to a similarly favorable time zone.

De La Rosa notes that a combined number provides brands with the totality of the Olympics audience they’ll be reaching—those who prefer to watch live and those who wait for the highlights. “We’re representing the way the landscape has changed,” he adds. “People are really excited [for Paris], and we want to capture that energy and not be beholden to old media ways.” — Ethan Alter

2. Bigger conversations around mental health

Mental health and wellness will be a bigger conversation at Paris 2024. After gymnast Simone Biles brought global attention to the issue when she withdrew from the 2020 Tokyo Games, citing stress and burnout, more athletes are opening up about their mental health.

Olympic organizers are responding to this trend. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has launched a mindfulness program giving athletes licenses to the Calm meditation app; a mental fitness helpline; a “mentally fit zone” for athletes to decompress; and support to any competing athlete in more than 70 languages for four years following the games. Organizers said they will use an AI tool to weed out abuse online.

Brands are also finding ways to support athletes’ mental health. Asics launched an initiative to help protect its sponsored athletes against online harassment during competitions.

And Powerade, an Olympics sponsor, showcased Biles’ story in one of its ads for the games. In the Olympic Village, the beverage brand will host an experience for athletes that will provide an environment for recovery, virtual reality visualization practices and safe spaces for conversations about mental health. 

“[Powerade’s] Simone Biles ad reflects society and what people care about now,” said Toan Ravenscroft, managing director of M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment Amsterdam. — Brittaney Kiefer

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3. Smaller find their place in the games

No offense to the athletes, but small brands have already won the Olympics.

In March, NBCUniversal announced it would allow advertisers to buy ads programmatically for the first time for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, allowing more small and mid-market advertisers to showcase campaigns.

“Historically, the minimum spend required to appear in major live sports was very high, which made it untenable for anyone but huge brands,” Ross Benes, senior analyst of TV and streaming at Emarketer, told ADWEEK. “But dicing up the inventory programmatically will allow a greater number of brands, particularly smaller brands, to get in on the action.”

For advertisers who were previously on the outside looking in, the programmatic inventory allows them to showcase ads alongside the Olympics without paying the gold-standard pricing. ADWEEK previously reported on what NBCU is charging for programmatic Olympic advertising, and agencies indicated the lower cost creates more opportunities for clients, especially those without robust TV budgets.

“Because we’re buying it programmatically, we can layer on targeting,” Dom Johnson, associate director, brand media at Collective Measures, told ADWEEK. “It gets that benefit of the highest possible quality inventory and being alongside the Olympics, which sounds cool to everyone.” — Bill Bradley

4. Advertisers are happy to be in the background

Instead of selling soft drinks, financial services, supplements or flights, several Olympic campaigns have promoted the athletes themselves.

Among the highlights, Coca-Cola pushed bottles of its product to the background of its ad, letting Olympic viewers watch South African swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker, her teammate Kaylene Corbett and U.S. competitors Annie Lazor and Lilly King recreate the hug they shared after Schoenmaker’s gold-medal win in 2021.

Plus, Visa’s logo serves only as a diegetic background to the origin stories of Pharrell Williams, Visa-backed tennis star Iga Swiatek, Visa-sponsored Olympic skateboard gold medalist Sky Brown, Visa Cash App RB Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo, chef and entrepreneur Roy Choi and artist and designer Gemma O’Brien. Herbalife, which sponsors more than 50 Olympic athletes, placed only athletes in its “Fueling the Best” social media campaign.

Delta Air Lines, meanwhile, released a series of five ads with Wieden+Kennedy that turned its planes and their interiors into the background for athletes’ journeys to Paris, with one spot reminding them emphatically that, through their hard work, “You Get You There.”

“It’s really the athletes that are the heroes here, and Delta is just a small part of that journey to help them get to the Paris Games and everything in between,” said Delta CMO Alicia Tillman. — Jason Notte

5. The Olympics, but make it fashion

It would be remiss of the city that brought Haute Couture, Coco Chanel and the Hermès Birkin bag into the world not to put its fashion prowess on the Olympic podium.

The tournament has its first-ever official luxury sponsor in French luxury conglomerate LVMH. The design group’s house of brands, including Moët, Lous Vuitton and jeweler Chaumet will be showing up everywhere, from Team France’s official kit to the gold medal ceremonies themselves.

Beyond LVMH’s sponsorship, it’s set to be the trendiest-ever Summer Games. Ralph Lauren and Stella Jean will feature on various athlete uniforms. Elsewhere, Dior has partnered with several athletes, including French Paralympic swimmer Alex Portal and Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah, as brand ambassadors.

We’ve also seen some fun social work from luxe labels including Jacquemus, which has thrown its hat in the Olympic ring with a video series shot in the French countryside that combines visual sporting puns with immaculate outfits.

The worlds of sports and fashion have already collided at events including June’s Vogue World and LVMH’s Paris 2024 launch party, which brought together names like Anna Wintour, Pharrell Williams and Serena Williams.

Keep an eye out for celebrity court-side appearances, invite-only events and planned Paris paparazzi shots that spotlight French Savoir-faire. We also predict interactive experiences from luxury brands on the ground, especially in the Champs-Élysées shopping district.

This Olympics will pay testament to the increasing intersectionality between sports and entertainment, and the smartest brands will capitalize on it. — Rebecca Stewart