When the Olympics begin Friday, viewers will see more than double the number of typical advertisers for the Games, with NBCU reporting robust ad sales across its linear and streaming networks. That means brands will have to deploy smart marketing strategies to stand out amid the clutter.

NBCUniversal expects about 250 advertisers will be part of the 2024 Paris Olympics across NBC and Peacock, said Dan Lovinger, president of Olympic and Paralympic sales at NBCU. That’s up from about 100 advertisers in past Games, said Lovinger, because of the larger number of ads NBCU can serve on Peacock as well as more advertisers buying programmatically through The Trade Desk.

With programmatic access to the Olympics for the first time, brands of all sizes will be vying for consumer attention. Companies such as Google have constructed large, bespoke partnerships that will be unmissable during the Games, while consulting giant Accenture is pinning its hopes on a spot tailored specifically for the Olympics audience.

Becoming part of the Games

In tentpole media events, unmissable marketing “really is the sum of a lot of different parts nowadays,” said Marvin Chow, VP of global marketing at Google. “It’s no longer like you just make one great spot and run the crap out of it and it breaks through. You need a great story ... but at the same time, you want to have the natural feeling of our product fitting into the context of watching the Games.”

Google, which announced itself as the official search AI partner of Team USA last week, constructed a partnership with NBCU that makes the tech company and its products an unmissable part of the Olympic competition.

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Google’s content integrations are extensive: During Games coverage, commentators will use Google Search’s AI Overviews feature to explain to viewers the rules and function of each event. A content series starring Leslie Jones will feature the actor and comedian using Google’s Gemini chatbot to learn new sports or choreograph dance routines. A social content series called “One Day in Paris” will follow five Olympic and Paralympic athletes as they explore the Games’ host city. Plus, Google Maps’ 3D renderings of Paris venues hosting Olympic events will be utilized.

NBCU’s Lovinger said that pairing traditional spots with unique sponsorships is critical in embedding a brand’s message with the Olympics. 

For example, in addition to Visa’s Olympics commercial, it is sponsoring an influencer’s coverage of the surfing competition in Tahiti. And Delta is supplementing its spots by sponsoring a hub on Peacock that tracks medal standings. Delta's sponsorship comes as it deals with negative publicity related to the airline’s mass cancellations and delays as a result of a software outage might affect its advertising approach. The airline in a statement said  it had “no changes to report related to our Team USA marketing campaign.“

Today, NBCU announced that this year’s Games will feature the first commercial-free hour of Olympics coverage during the Opening Ceremony, which NBC will air live on Friday afternoon. Beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET, the logos for six Team USA partners will rotate onscreen during the uninterrupted segment. The sponsors are Coca-Cola, Delta, Lilly, Toyota Motor Corporation, Visa and Xfinity. NBCU tested commercial-free programming during the fourth quarter of its Peacock-exclusive holiday NFL game last year.

Google’s goal for its Olympics sponsorship is to “bring [AI] to life for people, make it tangible, make it helpful and exciting,” said Chow. Part of that task is retraining consumers on how to use legacy products such as Google Search with the addition of AI Overviews and tools to search by taking a photo or circling an object in a photo with one’s finger, as well as introducing newer products such as Gemini to broad audiences not as tuned into tech developments.

Flexibility

Chow said that although it’s important to get the basics of a media buy right in tentpole events, finding ways for ad-averse and young consumers to engage with the brand as part of the content is just as crucial. Brands willing to be flexible and respond to the moment are the most successful during events like the Olympics, NBCU’s Lovinger added.  

“These games are live,” said Lovinger. “While our coverage and planning of the coverage starts years in advance, it changes literally up to the moment. If a new star emerges in the pool, we’re going to spend more time at the swimming venue. Advertisers that have that ability to roll with us, trust us and collaborate are the ones that tend to be the most successful in these Olympics.”

Chow said the same flexibility is key for brands that may not have Google-sized marketing budgets to create bespoke integration programs with media companies.

“There’s definitely an opportunity for a lot more social, a lot more virality that creates talk-ability around what’s going on in the Games,” said Chow. “At the end of the day, the followers that you have on YouTube Shorts or TikTok—that’s how [viewers] are going to consume a lot of information around what’s going on in a big event like the Olympics.”

Spot strategy

Even with the influx of advertisers entering the Olympics for the first time, there are still ways to stand out in traditional ad breaks. 

NBCU began testing programmatic Olympics access during the U.S. Olympic Trials. Lovinger said that more than 35 first-time Olympic advertisers participated. In April, NBCU announced that it anticipated a record $1.2 billion in ad revenue from this year’s Olympics, with $350 million coming from first-timers. 

Those advertisers, as well as the many that bought traditional ad inventory, can still have impact through spots. According to Lovinger, brands that advertised during the U.S. Olympic Trials experienced 15% higher average attention, 22% higher message recall and 27% growth in brand search over other media inventory. 

Accenture provided NBCU with data, talent and management services for building the Peacock platform prior to its launch in 2020. It will air a spot showcasing its past Peacock partnership during the Olympics as part of its recent “Reinvented with Accenture” campaign.

The spot, created by Accenture’s Droga5, taps into the inaugural breakdancing competition that will take place in this year’s Olympics, showing dancers performing to a track by James Blake.

“Breaking reinvented how we move,” says text in the spot, which doesn’t feature branding until the end. “Together, we reinvented how you watch live. Learn how Accenture partnered with NBCU to scale Peacock.”

The spot links to a case study page for the past partnership.

Jill Kramer, chief marketing and communications officer at Accenture, said that previous pieces of the “Reinvented with Accenture” campaign have been effective in driving viewers to its case study pages and growing website traffic through clickable digital media. Now, Accenture is advertising in the Olympics to boost awareness for the company, both for prospective clients as well as talent in the job market.

While Kramer said a TV event like the Olympics isn’t a typical place to see B2B brands, advertising in the Games “when viewers’ hearts and minds are engaged with content means their hearts and minds are going to engage with our brand. You see us in the right place with the right type of creative for that moment. And it doesn’t have to be the typical, expected B2B [creative]. It has to be associating your brand with what matters” to the Olympics’ audience.