streaming, social, & branding — shaping consumer engagement at the Paris Olympics
Peacock leads Gen Z engagement with live sports as social media bridges informational gaps, while brands shift away from loud advertising
Apologies for the very delayed post this month. I’ve been in birthday mode, celebrating my dad’s 50th the past couple of weeks. And I’ve struggled to figure out the topics that I wanted to talk about this month, but I’m excited to talk about the Olympics, from a media and consumer perspective. The Olympics is an incredible sporting event that really reassembles the global community to celebrate achievements and the greatest talent across multiple sports. The culture of the event is unlike any other, cultivating authentic national pride while also respecting the achievements of other countries, near and far. And this is why it’s important to know how to get more consumers to watch the Olympics, and how brands can shape their public reputation in front of millions across the world.
But before that, let’s get you plugged into the Twin Cities startup ecosystem♥️
Startup Events & News
8/21 - Startup Connect
8/21 - EmpowerHer Raise Summit
Here’s today’s breakdown — Paris Olympics edition:
Peacock’s lead in capturing Gen Z through live sports
Social media bridging gaps between the Olympics and viewers
Brands taking a back seat on loud advertising
Peacock’s lead in capturing Gen Z through live sports
Peacock, a streaming platform coming off a high from Love Island, had a couple of unique strategies to engage a young audience for the 2024 Olympics.
Bringing in Gen Z creators as media hosts. Alex Cooper, founder of podcast Call Her Daddy, had the chance to be a fun sports commentator for the Olympic games. She brings the young, predominately female audience to the sports scene. Kevin Hart was also brought on as another commentator for the Olympics to chat about unexpected and funny moments at the Olympics.
Using a “multi-view feature” to watch multiple sports at once. This feature allows for viewers to switch between screens seamlessly to stay up-to-date with other sports in real time. This is exactly why streaming dominated in the first place. People didn’t want to adhere to TV broadcasting schedules, so this feature allows viewers to watch sports according to their preferences.
While I never fell into the longstanding Love Island lore that has taken over my social media feed, I am impressed with Peacock’s ability to play a strong position not only in reality TV but also in live sports. CNN describes that streaming platforms have struggled to retain subscriber count, but live sports events drive high engagement, so platforms are working to expand their portfolio into sports. To be loved (by consumers) is to be seen, and we can see that Peacock’s expansion into live sports has been an incredible experience for viewers.
Social media bridging gaps between Olympics & viewers
Many of us GenZers have noticed how unserious brands are getting on their official social media accounts. The traditional copy-paste format of marketing is out the door, and consumers instead want authentic, trendy, subtle marketing techniques. Take a few that some of our favorite brands have done:
Live sports have joined this new wave of marketing, and we’ll be able to see how the Olympics has been able to reel in a younger audience these past few weeks. The Paris Olympics has racked up over 1.3 million posts on TikTok, a 1,828% increase from the Tokyo Olympics. You read that right, 1,828%!!!
The Paralympics have continued to lag in viewership for years, but the official Paralympics TikTok account hopes to change this by sharing clips from various clips with trending music or a touch of humor. There has been some controversy about the potentially insensitive humor, but a representative from the International Paralympics Committee shares that the accounts are run by “a Paralympian who fully understands disability”. I’ve had a great laugh watching some of the videos and am glad to see more recognition of the disability community across social media.
Individual Olympic athletes are also using social media to connect with their fans on a more personal level. From sharing BTS content from the Olympic Village to using trending audios to capture winning achievements, Gen Z is keeping up to date with the Olympics directly from their favorite athletes. Take, for example:
Ilona Maher, a US Rugby player, dove head first into using her platform to share fun BTS content in the “Olympic Villa”. She’s even used her platform to talk about serious topics, such as body positivity.
Suni Lee & Simone Biles, US all-around gold champions, were caught chatting about what TikToks to make after winning gold. Using trending sounds creates a sense of relatability with their fans, encouraging Gen Z to invest their attention toward the Olympics.
Stephen Nedoroscik (aka pommel horse guy) became an overnight icon after people found out he was on the US Olympic gymnastics team for only one event: the pommel horse. Diagnosed with a rare eye condition that typically makes it difficult for children to become athletes, he’s challenged the status quo by reaching the Olympics and serves as a standing example for young kids.
Brands taking a back seat on loud advertising
The Olympics, for brands, are a lucrative opportunity to expand their visibility to a global audience. Not only are brands coming in to grow their presence, but notable athletes and celebrities are also finding ways to draw attention to their impact.
Bandit, an apparel brand for runners, started the Unsponsored Project to provide unsponsored apparel for new Olympic athletes. Intended to challenge the standard sponsorship model for professional athletes, Bandit chooses to support emerging athletes who don’t have an existing platform to seek sponsorship.
Allyson Felix, an 11-time Olympic medalist, partnered with Pampers to create an Olympic nursery for new moms who are competing in the Olympics. Looking back at her challenges when she had to compete with a newborn led her to make a strategic decision to support mothers during such a critical time in their professional careers.
LVMH is the first luxury brand to be an Olympic sponsor and seamlessly integrated their portfolio of products throughout the Olympics. Chaumet designed the medals, Dior was dressed by celebrities Lady Gaga and Celine Dion, and Moet Henessey was a part of the hospitality experience. LVMH knew to stay away from loud, traditional advertising. Clearly, they know that money talks, but wealth whispers.
There’s more nuance to brand strategy this year for the Olympics. For streaming, social media, and brands. As Morning Brew quoted from an expert: “You need to make sure you’re looking at it as a connected ecosystem, where you’re activating your athletes on the ground, on social media, pre-event, post-event, and that’s a much more complicated and complex system”. For media companies, leveraging platforms of any kind to amplify the Olympics is the goal; for brands, their goal is to expand their reach in a creative, lasting way, unlike traditional sponsorships.
What I’m working on // Post-Grad Diaries
Yesterday marks my 2 months remaining until I start work full-time. While incredibly unnerving and overwhelming, I’m also excited to see my intern friends and my fav MDP and start getting paid🙏🏽
A project I’ve been working on this summer while volunteering with Forge North is how to make sure founder groups, those that are by-founders-for-founders, are well-supported with resources and contacts so that leaders of these groups aren’t burnt out. I’ve had amazing conversations the past few weeks with local founder communities and am currently working on building out documents to help them increase diverse representation, have information on venues to host events, and strategic collaborations they can make to grow their audiences.
This, along with my newsletter, pretty much sums up my more productive activities for the day. Besides that, I’m reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (a Reese Witherspoon book club rec!), running a lot, and eating a lot of peaches!
Also heard my Iceland Travel Guide wasn’t working for some, so attached it again if anyone wants to check it out 😊
Thanks for reading,
Sanjana