Why didn’t Rio 2016 create the marketing splash we were all waiting for?

The Olympic Games: one of the biggest sporting stages in the world, but an expensive stage for brands who want to make a scene.

There was much chatter before the games on the partial relaxation of Rule 40. That made it slightly easier for brands who already possessed existing partnerships with athletes to create content around the event. Yet throughout the games there didn’t seem to be one sneaky brand that ambushed through.

As previously discussed, sometimes it’s better to not be a sponsor at a major sporting event, but the IOC cracked down this year and made it nearly impossible for brands to discuss Rio 2016 in an innovative way. There were none of the perfect brand marketing moments the world of digital dreams of. Brands were decisively quiet around the games and considering how many gold medal moments there were, nobody owned them online – except the Olympians themselves (and their nans – Ed).

So we sat, and we waited patiently until the story about Ryan Lochte and his teammates came out. Initial shock was our first thought; it nearly pushed the negative spin surrounding Rio to the forefront on social media and nobody wanted that. However, what happened next seemed even more implausible – the team lied. Lochte damaged his own personal brand, and will now have to work hard to grow it back – was this the biggest media ambush of the games?

There were a few murmurings in the world of digital from brands. Some made the most of Rule 40 being slightly relaxed. Furniture retailer DFS in particular sponsored some of Team GB’s finest: Laura Trott, Adam Peaty AND Max Whitlock.  They produced some good content around #FlipIt and #GameOn during the games with the British Gymnastics team and Laura Trott, but it didn’t have me reaching for the share button:

Samsung made a good stab with their “School of Learning” campaign starring comedian Jack Whitehall and Sir Bradley Wiggins – it was funny, on brand and followed on from their Rugby World Cup series. However, did Samsung manage to tap into the audience who were consuming the games all day, everyday?

Then there was Under Armour. They leaned on the success of their brand ambassador Michael Phelps, and why not?! The most decorated Olympian in history went on to win even more medals – a dream for the brand, especially as they were not official Olympic Sponsors. They also sponsor the US Olympic team, there campaign #RuleYourself was well thought out and played on the hard work and success of their Olympians:

And Nike… of course. They produced a fantastic video series but mostly in the run up to the games, they didn’t overwhelm in real-time.

The question we are all asking was where was the big WOW moment? It goes to show that perhaps Rule 40 did its job too effectively – leaving us official sponsors as the only source for digital activity – but did any of it deserve GOLD?

About author

Mary Varney
Mary Varney 4 posts

Mary is Senior Account Manager at Snack Media. You can follow her on Twitter at @varns_social

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