The 2024 Summer time Olympics open in Paris on Friday. Gender parity was a said purpose, giving girls athletes a much bigger stage than ever earlier than. Within the U.S., sports activities followers might be watching all of the competitors, and far of this consideration might be on the celebrities of girls’s sports activities. What does this imply for entrepreneurs?
“The visibility is increasing,” stated Tania Salarvand, EVP of hospitality and leisure for digital innovation firm Globant. “Some would argue slowly, but it’s definitely happening. A lot of it is about media coverage, and more fans watching through streaming. Brands have the ability to leverage social media and these brand activations in a digital way, and this has changed the dynamic.”
Join sports activities to tradition
With extra visibility, girls athletes are showcasing their star energy in main model campaigns, following within the footsteps of trailblazers like tennis legend, and four-time gold medalist, Serena Williams. Manufacturers capitalizing on the success of remarkable athletes ought to acknowledge the broader cultural impression of girls athletes on all of us. Doing this takes the sponsorship or marketing campaign past a sports activities viewers and connects with informal Olympics viewers’ passions.
A latest instance is Bose’s new marketing campaign starring American tennis star Coco Gauff. Earlier than successful her first grand slam ultimately yr’s U.S. Open, Gauff was already on the radar as a sports activities and trend ambassador for GenZ. (In 2022, American Eagle drafted her to affix them within the metaverse.)
Not solely does Gauff present how the Bose Extremely Open Earbuds can conveniently play music throughout intense tennis rallies, however the spot additionally supplies a cross-culture reference to a cameo by British rapper Little Simz. Gauff will compete in singles and doubles tennis in Paris and can function a USA flag-bearer within the opening ceremonies.
Equally, the WNBA has seen a big increase in client consideration and fan attendance drawn by younger stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. A carry within the magnitude of consciousness results in larger alternatives for tie-ins to music, trend and different cultural pursuits. This doesn’t imply the potential wasn’t there to start with.
“I was reading an article recently about fashion in the WNBA, which I think is ironic because it’s always been there,” stated Salarvand. “But because the WNBA is starting to get more of a voice now, there’s a convergence with these players and brands.”
The model sponsorship panorama is drastically completely different from the 2020 Tokyo Video games (which passed off in 2021 due to COVID-19). For that Olympics, 86% of the sponsors have been Japanese manufacturers. Native manufacturers for this yr’s Paris video games are solely 37% of sponsorships, in keeping with sports activities and leisure intelligence firm SponsorUnited.
U.S.-based corporations symbolize 41% of non-local sponsors in Paris. Procter & Gamble will activate over 30 manufacturers via an unique partnership within the Private Care and Family Merchandise class. The partnership consists of offering services within the Olympic Village, together with merchandise from At all times and Tampax for the wants of girls athletes. P&G manufacturers might be leveraging social media to generate natural content material by athletes and their followers all through the Olympics, in keeping with SponsorUnited.
The model advantages of taking part within the Olympics and different occasions that includes girls athletes are overwhelming. Coca-Cola not too long ago celebrated its involvement for almost the whole historical past of the fashionable Olympics, and these efforts have led to the model being the most-recognized sponsor within the U.S., in keeping with model monitoring firm Tracksuit.
Nonetheless, affiliation with the Olympics might be achieved with out changing into an precise sponsor. Tracksuit discovered that Nike ranks second when respondents have been requested to call an Olympic sponsor. The one downside is Nike isn’t a sponsor. Nonetheless, sponsoring girls’s sports activities supplies a measurable increase in model choice.
“Ahead of and during last year’s 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia & New Zealand, which drew record attendance for a women’s sporting event, Tracksuit…collected data from 4,000 Australian consumers to gauge their sentiment on the event,” stated Connor Archbold, Tracksuit’s founder and co-CEO. “The data revealed that 42% of Australian consumers prefer brands supporting women’s sports over brands that do not, indicating substantial potential in this market. It also was a firm message to brands that it’s not just viewership that’s growing; audiences are showing a clear preference for brands that sponsor women’s sports.”
Projected Olympics viewership is break up almost evenly between women and men, in keeping with Tracksuit — 48% males; 52% girls.
Leverage digital channels to create distinctive fan experiences
Participating sports activities followers in 2024 goes far past the location of the competitors. For U.S. skilled groups, most of their followers stay outdoors of the house market, stated Salarvand.
“Earlier, it was kind of about the on-site brand activations,” she stated. “To engage these fans now, brands need to be able to leverage social media and these activations in a digital way.”
“Brands seeking to maximize impact during women’s sporting events like the Paris 2024 Olympics should lean on social media and social media partnerships as pivotal avenues,” stated Archbold. “Women athletes typically have a 14% larger social media following than male athletes (according to the United Nations group UN Women), offering brands a powerful platform to connect with fans through co-branded content, campaigns and promotions. Strategic use of social media allows brands to boost engagement and drive awareness within a new segment of fans.”
Archbold added: “Combining traditional TV with digital content can help ensure a larger audience reach and higher engagement, maximizing the impact of marketing campaigns. Digital platforms offer interactive experiences and more personalized content delivery, catering to modern preferences for easier, on-demand and interactive engagement. Half of consumers watch event highlights and replays across digital platforms such as news channels, YouTube and TikTok, creating additional opportunities for brands to make a splash, especially given the time differences between the US and Paris.”
Deliver Paris to U.S. followers
For the Paris Olympics, U.S. entrepreneurs ought to be fascinated with methods to deliver the sports activities expertise stateside via pop-up experiences and watch events, Salarvand stated.
“Not all of us are going to be fortunate enough to go to all the events in Paris,” she stated. “I love women’s gymnastics — it’s my absolute favorite — but I’ve never been to a women’s gymnastics event. How do we bring that here? Whether it’s through a local gymnasium, where you can create a kind of local event, or launching a pop-up activation…how do we create that experience here, live, for people who are mega-fans but don’t have the privilege to go to the event and still feel a part of the opportunity?”
Salarvand added: “Create something that is super unique to your brand with a message, your brand voice, a connection, but then makes it very accessible to the masses.”
Along with offering manufacturers with expertise to execute significant digital-first experiences, Globant additionally executes its sports-themed activations. For example, it partnered with FIFA for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and FIFA Ladies’s Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023.
“From a brand perspective, it’s really been about, how do we create and activate our brand within that space and also bring to life some of our passions,” stated Salarvand. “So, leveraging technology data and AI, we did a lot of live activations as well around ‘the perfect shot’ — how to mimic yourself against your favorite player and your ability to shoot a goal, for example.”
When making a custom-made expertise for sports activities followers, ensure to tie it again to your model.
Take heed to the followers and increase the dialog
Entrepreneurs must also take into account how sports activities activations invite followers to share extra about themselves. Manufacturers ought to use these alternatives not solely to develop engagement but additionally loyalty.
“There’s a lot of user-generated content that is pulling in people’s experiences and love for certain teams and certain athletes, so that’s something that’s taking over,” stated Salarvand.
Along with Globant’s FIFA sponsorships, the corporate partnered with the brand new residence of the Los Angeles Clippers — Intuit Dome — opening this summer season. Globant is rethinking the same old method followers are engaged by contemplating methods that present deep curiosity in followers’ preferences.
“A lot of the working we’re doing is around ‘fan 360’ — how we fully understand fans, what they’re interested in, what they’re engaged in, and how we interact with them in new and different ways,” stated Salarvand. “We’re doing quite a lot of mobile development to customize experiences depending on who the fan is, how often they come back to [a team’s home market] and actually engage physically, versus digital engagement. They may be buying gear, there’s a big ecommerce component to this. They might be interacting with Q&As with certain players. They might be engaging with teams on social media. And not just through likes, but there are a lot of fans creating their own content.”
Entrepreneurs ought to take into consideration how deeply they have interaction sports activities followers to generate these buyer insights. Leagues and sports activities groups are doing it. And types can have the chance to have interaction followers in the identical method as they root for athletes, in Paris and afar, through the Olympics.
