00:00:00
Something else about the curling point
that I wanted to make was that a lot of
00:00:04
brands also try to cozy up to
those sports and those moments,
00:00:06
without paying for Olympic
sponsorship, via social media.
00:00:11
So I know you're talking about curling,
so I can make this meme about curling that
00:00:14
somehow relates to my soap brand or my
water bottle brand or whatever,
00:00:18
and kind of hijack that moment to draw
some attention to my brand.
00:00:22
But what's interesting is, though,
that with— you use the example of Nike
00:00:27
earlier. Nike obviously is a shoe
brand, or it's an athletic brand.
00:00:32
But you see, especially in the Summer
Olympics, athletes wearing Nike spikes if
00:00:38
they're running on the track. They're not
paying for the USA sponsorship,
00:00:43
but they have the
benefit of having that
00:00:45
athlete kind of on retainer
as one of their own.
00:00:50
- Welcome to <i>The Ripple
Effect</i>, the podcast that takes
00:00:52
you on a journey through
the minds of Wharton faculty.
00:00:55
I'm your host, Dan Loney.
00:00:57
And in each episode, we'll be diving deep
into the inspiration behind the
00:01:01
groundbreaking research that Wharton
professors have conducted and exploring
00:01:05
how their findings resonate with
the world today.
00:01:09
The world of advertising is a very busy
space during the month of February.
00:01:14
Usually it's because of the Super Bowl.
But it is multiplied this year because not
00:01:19
only do you have the big game, as you have
to use it in most cases, but you also have
00:01:24
the Winter Olympics this go round,
which is, of course, a two-week-long
00:01:29
opportunity not only
for athletes, but also for
00:01:31
companies to try and gain
the attention of the consumer.
00:01:35
But how do companies prepare for
such an event?
00:01:38
Pleasure to be joined by
Annie Wilson, who's a senior
00:01:40
lecturer in marketing here
at the Wharton School.
00:01:43
Annie, great to talk to you today.
How are you?
00:01:46
I'm good.
Thanks so much for having me.
00:01:48
So let me start there, because it is
interesting that— how do you think about
00:01:52
the difference between how
companies will prepare for a Super
00:01:56
Bowl in comparison to preparing
for something like the Olympics?
00:02:01
Yeah, it's a— it's an interesting
comparison.
00:02:03
I think it also— there's a difference
between Summer and Winter Olympic Games,
00:02:07
but obviously the Winter
Olympic Games are going to be the
00:02:10
ones that overlap with the
Super Bowl in terms of timing.
00:02:13
I think with the Super Bowl,
there's a heavier emphasis on
00:02:17
trying to capture that spike
of attention and excitement.
00:02:21
And so you see, like, a greater use of
humor, for example. And also trying to
00:02:26
create hype around the
ad that's going to come out,
00:02:30
and then get people to
talk about it afterward.
00:02:32
With the Olympics, it's obviously a longer
moment in time.
00:02:36
It's several weeks. And there's a lot of— a
long tail of lead up that allows for,
00:02:41
I think, more involved storytelling.
00:02:43
And so you see more kind of long-running
campaigns around the Olympics in terms of
00:02:49
trying to appear endemic in the sports
world, or show up as a global brand.
00:02:54
And around the Super Bowl, it's really
trying to capture that really small moment
00:02:58
of lightning in a bottle where everybody's
eyes are on the ads in this game.
00:03:03
Both events have corporate partners,
but it feels like when you watch the
00:03:08
Olympics, there is more
emphasis on mentioning that X
00:03:13
company is a global partner
or corporate partner of the U.S.
00:03:16
Olympic Federation.
00:03:18
Yes, that's definitely true.
00:03:19
And the Olympics is very protective of the
Olympics IP and the rings and who can
00:03:25
claim to be a sponsor and use what
intellectual property and imagery.
00:03:29
What I think is interesting
is when brands actually
00:03:32
engage in ambush marketing
around the Olympics.
00:03:35
So they show up really heavily, but
they're not actually official sponsors.
00:03:39
Nike did this pretty famously in the '90s
in Atlanta.
00:03:42
Beats by Dre did it pretty famously in
London in 2012.
00:03:46
And so, yes, you see this use
of these global partners and
00:03:50
what they're trying to do is
show, "We're a global brand.
00:03:54
So we're for everybody."
00:03:55
That gives you some prestige
and some— you know, a bit of
00:04:00
an edge from a brand equity
perspective, on the global stage.
00:04:04
But it is really a small
handful of brands that get
00:04:08
to officially claim their
partnership with the Olympics.
00:04:10
So when you're watching the Super Bowl,
one of the things that we've seen over the
00:04:15
years is the want, in many cases,
to tell a story.
00:04:19
And in some cases, you'll see a company
might have two spots or three commercials
00:04:24
in the Super Bowl so that they can tell
that story over a period of time.
00:04:30
I don't think we see that as much during
the Olympics, right?
00:04:33
It's really about delivering that message,
whether it be the connection to U.S.
00:04:38
Olympic team or the connection
to the United States or kind
00:04:40
of that feel good message that
the company wants to deliver.
00:04:43
Yeah, I would say that that feels
generally true.
00:04:46
There's also a lot of, on
the Olympic stage, getting
00:04:49
your brand to show up from
an awareness perspective.
00:04:51
So I just want my logo to show up
somewhere.
00:04:54
I want to be associated with the Games.
00:04:58
I do think, though, what I've observed,
at least anecdotally, is in the Olympics,
00:05:02
there's a lot more of piggybacking
off of the existing stories
00:05:06
of the Olympians, or the
teams. Versus in the Super Bowl,
00:05:10
there's more telling brand-originating
stories, because I can make up a number of
00:05:15
theories as to why you might not do that
so much in the Super Bowl.
00:05:18
But the storytelling is more contained to
the brand, rather than the existing
00:05:22
narratives around the
athletes like Phelps or the
00:05:25
gymnastics team or
whomever they're talking about.
00:05:29
So you mentioned earlier, Summer versus
Winter Olympics.
00:05:32
Are there dynamics that are different in
how companies think about the marketing or
00:05:37
the advertising that they might do in each
one of those different events?
00:05:42
Yeah. So generally, the Summer Olympics
tends to have a broader audience base.
00:05:47
Obviously, it takes place in a warmer
climate, it's warmer games.
00:05:50
And so how brands show
up is a little bit different
00:05:54
in terms of the mood
from that perspective.
00:05:57
For the Winter Olympics, it tends to be a
smaller audience, but a more premium
00:06:01
audience, particularly in the US and
Europe.
00:06:04
It's usually a more affluent audience.
00:06:06
So you get some more prestige brands for
that reason.
00:06:10
And there's a little bit of a greater
focus on performance technology from
00:06:14
brands in the Winter Games, given the
different sports that they're engaging in.
00:06:21
Yeah, so those would be the big
differences.
00:06:23
But still, both Games have their marquee
moments that the brands want to get in on.
00:06:28
And so does the event that maybe the
company wants to advertise around,
00:06:34
whether it be downhill
skiing or hockey,
00:06:37
does that matter and
come into their thinking?
00:06:40
And I say that because in the last couple
of Olympics, curling has become this
00:06:45
unbelievably loved sport here in the
United States.
00:06:49
And it feels like more people talk about
curling, at least in this two-week window,
00:06:53
than we've ever seen.
00:06:55
Yeah. I think what's interesting about how
you just put that, though, is how much
00:07:00
they talk about in this two-week window,
because it's also, how much do you talk
00:07:04
about it outside of this two-week window
is worth noting.
00:07:07
Certainly brands try to cozy up to
particular sports.
00:07:12
And that can help if you
have an audience of people
00:07:15
who care about that sport
and want to talk about it.
00:07:18
Now, if you made yourself the official
whatever of curling, how much does that
00:07:22
get people to want to be associated with
it?
00:07:24
It's not— at least in the US, it's not
totally clear how valuable that would be,
00:07:29
other than just showing
up and being kind of
00:07:31
visible in the space as
people are watching it.
00:07:34
There's also the attachment to
the USA brand.
00:07:38
And obviously, you know, when you're
watching the Olympics, there's such a kind
00:07:42
of a national connection that
many people have when they're
00:07:46
watching a US athlete
compete in some sort of event.
00:07:49
How important is that for the company when
they're thinking about making that
00:07:54
investment, to realize that part of this is
showing that their brand is connected more
00:08:00
so to the country than maybe
some of their rivals?
00:08:03
Yeah, I think that's really important.
00:08:05
And you see that particularly in the
uniforms, like with Ralph Lauren,
00:08:08
for example, or Lululemon in the Canadian
uniforms, of wanting to be associated with
00:08:14
the national brand and supporting the
athletes of the nation.
00:08:19
I think what's really fascinating
is how much more patriotic
00:08:22
the Super Bowl seems to
have become in recent years.
00:08:26
I think, like, Budweiser's ad, for example,
in the most recent Super Bowl, of the
00:08:32
Clydesdale, that then has the bald eagle
on its back and is, like, raising it.
00:08:37
It was very notably patriotic,
I thought, more than past Super Bowls,
00:08:41
which— you know, there's obviously a lot
of political discourse around the
00:08:44
advertisers and the halftime show and
decisions around the games this year.
00:08:48
So it's interesting to me that that has
actually become, to me, a little bigger
00:08:52
emphasis on the nation versus being a
global brand.
00:08:57
Something else about the curling point
that I wanted to make was that a lot of
00:09:01
brands also try to cozy up to
those sports in those moments
00:09:04
without paying for Olympic
sponsorship, via social media.
00:09:08
So I know you're talking about curling,
so I can make this meme about curling that
00:09:11
somehow relates to my soap brand or my
water bottle brand or whatever,
00:09:15
and kind of hijack that moment to draw
some attention to my brand.
00:09:20
But what's interesting is, though,
that with— you used the example of Nike
00:09:25
earlier. Nike, obviously, is a shoe
brand, or it's an athletic brand,
00:09:29
but you see, especially in
the Summer Olympics, athletes
00:09:33
wearing, you know, Nike spikes if
they're running on the track.
00:09:37
They're not paying for the USA
sponsorship, but they have the benefit of
00:09:42
having that athlete kind of on retainer as
one of their own.
00:09:47
And so they're getting
the advertising without
00:09:49
really even having to
foot that extra bill as well.
00:09:52
Oh, absolutely.
00:09:53
And brands that are smart about it—
I'm thinking about like Brooks Running
00:09:57
from the most recent Summer Games,
capitalizing on their world champion
00:10:02
runners of using that
imagery that they capture in the
00:10:06
Olympics and then putting
it in their ads later, too.
00:10:09
So they can actually bring
that sponsorship forward
00:10:12
and kind of milk it for
a longer period of time.
00:10:15
Sponsoring the individual athletes is
certainly, like, a way to get in on the Games.
00:10:19
I think what's interesting now,
too, is how brands are showing up more
00:10:23
during the Games in a way that used to be
very unsavory.
00:10:26
So Samsung, in the last Summer Games,
the athletes were taking selfies on the
00:10:32
medal stand with their Samsung phones.
00:10:34
That was a sacred place for many years,
being on the medal stand.
00:10:38
And now you have Simone Biles with a
Samsung phone taking a selfie. It's—
00:10:43
I think brands are
showing up more with the
00:10:46
athletes actually holding
and using their goods.
00:10:50
How much of a challenge is it for a brand,
and I'll say maybe for a newer brand like
00:10:55
On Cloud, to try and get as much publicity
as they can around an event like Olympics,
00:11:01
especially when they are going up against
the likes of Nike, Adidas, Brooks,
00:11:07
New Balance, so many other
of the more established brands
00:11:11
that have been around for
such a long period of time?
00:11:13
Yeah, I think that's, again, being smart
on your sponsorships.
00:11:17
I mean, especially with On Cloud,
for example, just having Federer has been
00:11:22
huge for them. That they can have the
cloud of one or a handful of athletes that
00:11:27
can really drive that brand awareness and
that brand love forward.
00:11:32
I think, again, that's a great time to use
really scrappy ambush marketing.
00:11:36
Like, maybe you can't afford to be
on the medal stand
00:11:39
or to have that prime time slot.
00:11:42
So where else can you show up?
00:11:44
And I think that's where you see a lot of
advertisers just getting creative with
00:11:48
guerrilla marketing and using out-of-home
marketing geographically near where Games
00:11:52
are happening. Showing
up on the athletes in
00:11:56
some way, in a way
that appears very natural.
00:11:59
I think brands are getting really creative
with that because they have to,
00:12:02
because they don't have the budget to
outspend the Nikes and the Visas of the world.
00:12:06
But usually when you're talking about
doing a Super Bowl ad or an ad in another
00:12:12
big event like the Olympics, most cases—
and correct me if I'm wrong— this is part
00:12:17
of some sort of campaign where some of
this will end up being kind of on the
00:12:22
ground, boots on the
ground, where you'll have
00:12:25
your brand being
marketed at different venues.
00:12:28
Does that occur as much at the Olympics as,
say, it may at a Super Bowl or at a World
00:12:34
Series or the NCAA tournament,
for example?
00:12:37
Yeah. I would argue in some ways it may
occur more at the Olympics from the
00:12:43
perspective of these
kind of— creating the
00:12:44
foundations for these
long-running campaigns.
00:12:47
And I'm thinking about how using the
Olympics can get you associated with
00:12:51
certain adjectives around performance and
national pride and resilience and,
00:12:56
you know, any of the underdogs.
00:12:58
And so I'm even thinking about like
Procter & Gamble's "Thank You Moms,"
00:13:02
that has run for quite a while around
00:13:04
the Games, of using that as
an opportunity
00:13:06
for storytelling that lives
beyond the Games.
00:13:09
The Super Bowl, I mean, also often can be
the beginning or the climax of campaigns.
00:13:15
CeraVe, last year at the Super Bowl, was a
great example of using the game as the
00:13:19
climax of their Michael Cera campaign, or
the beginning of a new campaign.
00:13:24
But in a lot of ways, it serves as this,
like, spike moment.
00:13:28
And so you do also see in the Super Bowl,
you create ads that can stand alone for
00:13:32
the brand. That contain
the whole story or the whole
00:13:35
moment, so that we've
all seen it and remember it.
00:13:37
And I don't need to know everything else
before and after it to appreciate it.
00:13:42
So we also have a Summer Olympics here in
the United States in Los Angeles in 2028.
00:13:48
I assume that companies are already
thinking about their plans and their ideas
00:13:53
of what they're going to do during the
Olympics in '28.
00:13:56
Or if they want to be a part of
that right now.
00:13:59
I would hope so.
00:14:00
Because you do need to plan pretty far in
advance.
00:14:03
I'm not sure when the Games or the
broadcasters actually open the window to
00:14:08
sell the the various spaces in real
estate.
00:14:11
Typically, you have a pretty long runway
of what you're planning for in terms of
00:14:15
what you're going to run and the assets
you're going to use.
00:14:18
And then also, typically, the media
companies hold back a little bit of real
00:14:21
estate so they can sell some stuff at a
premium and a scramble for those who
00:14:26
didn't get in and maybe want to get in
last minute.
00:14:29
And that drives more money for the media
companies.
00:14:34
Maximizing profits.
00:14:35
Yep.
I've seen it a lot.
00:14:37
Yes, exactly.
00:14:38
Annie, a pleasure to talk to you.
00:14:39
Enjoy the Games.
00:14:40
Thanks very much for your time today.
00:14:43
Thanks so much.
00:14:43
Thank you.
00:14:44
Annie Wilson, who is a Senior Lecturer in
Marketing here at the Wharton School.
00:14:49
Thank you for listening to
<i>The Ripple Effect</i>.
00:14:51
We hope you found this episode
informative and engaging.
00:14:54
Don't forget to subscribe, and
leave us a review so that we can
00:14:57
continue to bring you the best insight
from the Wharton School.
