The 2024 Games in Paris promise to be a major global event, attracting millions of fans. As a result, many brands are looking to position themselves around this sports marketing event to engage their audiences with content around the games.
Contrary to what you might think, sports brands and sports clubs are not only ones who can communicate around sporting competitions. Whatever sector your brand operates in, it’s perfectly possible to launch a campaign or organise makreting games to the event.
Adictiz shares tips and ideas for sports marketing competitions so that you too can join in the momentum of the 2024 Games.
Why your brand can’t afford to miss out on sporting events
Major sporting events are always high points for brands. Les fans ont les yeux rivés sur les rencontres, partagent leur ferveurs avec les autres passionnés et se tournent vers les marques qui supportent leurs athlètes préférés.
The Games, along with the football World Cup, are certainly among the most unifying sporting events. Just read the study carried out by Kanta and ACPM for #DemainLaPresse 2 years ahead of the Paris 2024 Games.
The results of this survey of more than 2,000 French people show that 68% of them believe that the use of games in brand communications is positive for their image. It attracts public attention, particularly when celebrities or sportspeople are featured in marketing campaigns.
The list of advertisers positioning themselves on the games is logically made up of the various official partners of the event (such as EDF, Caisse d’Epargne, Coca Cola and Visa). But they are not the only ones positioning themselves on the event and all players can take advantage of fan engagement to expand their audience and increase their visibility.
The strategy of communicating around the games, in particular by organising a sports event or game, is all the more effective given that 2 out of 3 French people say they are preparing to follow the Paris games. And they will be doing so overwhelmingly via digital channel. 58% of those questioned said they preferred live or replay television broadcasts (compared with just 9% who watched the games in person).
Affirming your valued and commitment to sport
Because of the various formats and contexts in which you can set up a marketing game, gamification offers many advantages to your brand. But the main benefits you can reap are:
Above all, the games are an opportunity for bands to assert their values, in keeping with the philosophy of this age-old event. Parity, equal opportunities, courage, determination. The world of sport is an ideal place to communicate the idea of surpassing oneself, to encourage people to take up sport, particularly for their physical and mental health, and to promote a message of benevolence and acceptance of differences.
Brands that commnunicate around a sporting event therefore take great care with their storytelling. The FDL Group Encourages women’s sport and intends to support at least 400,000 women in this area by promoting female ambassadors. As an offical partener of the Games, Cisco has launched a program to encourage 8-16 years olds to take up sport. The fist event enabled hundreds of young people to meet athletes from a Cisco team, take part in training sessions and take part in challenges.
Over and above the valued associated with sport, many companies are campaigning for a more environmentally-friendly organisation and committing their audience to green initiatives. Renault is providing athletes with electric vehicles to transport them from the athletes’ village to the sports facilities. Maif, for its part, organised a General Assembly focusing on sport and the planet and set up a number of projects on the theme of water. Its partnership with swimming coach Philippe Lucas aims to raise fans’ awareness of water conservation through dedicated actions.
Engaging your audience with game marketing for a sporting event
As you can see, the two key ingredients of a marketing campaign to engage fans during a sporting event are:
- Position your brand on strong values linked to sport’s world;
- Associate your image with that of sportsmen and sportswomen and sports celebrities to promote your brand to a wider audience.
But beyond the advertising messages and initiatives organised around the 2024 Games, the best way to engage your audience on this occasion is to use of sports’ mechanics. Gamified marketing already makes it possible to use game mechanisms (such as video games, scratch cards or board games) to bring a more playful and interactive dynamic to campaigns.
With the Paris 2024 Games, gamification takes things a step further by combining games’ mechanics with those of sport. Your brand will be able to organise competitions, create Playable ads or challenge your audience around games in general, or a particular sport.
Here are a few examples and ideas for sports competitions to inspire you.
A scratch card game to win tickets for athletics events
On 3th July, La Française des Jeux launched a scratchcard game offering participants the chance to win tickets for the athletics events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The short-lived game, entitled “Mon ticket for Paris 2024” (My ticket for Paris 204), will give players the chance to win two “highly-placed” tickets for the athletics events, as well as transport to Paris, accommodation and catering. Ten million tickets will be drawn and the brand has announced around a hundred winners.
A sports video competition to challenge game fans
The instant win is a Christmas competition that’s really easy to sept up. It’s also highly engaging, as participant know instantly if they’ve won a prize.
For this year’s Olympic Games, the organisers have launched a video competition hosted by French tennis star Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Tsonga is challenging his fans to make a 30 second video of their best jongles. The winner could win a special training session with Tsonga.
This sport competition has enabled the organising committee to increase its visibility among a younger audience. But it also increased the commitment of its community thanks to UGC (User Generated Content).
Create a playable ad on the theme of a sporting event
The Olympic Games have also launched a nmuber of mini-games on the Paris 2024 Club area. The aim this time is to promote the platofrm and grow the 2024 Olympic Games community. Your brand can use this as inspiration to create playable ads on the theme of sporting disciplines such as hurdling, running, etc.
Make your mini-games even more engaging by adding difficulties,etc. With each game played, participants can collect points that unlock benefits (such as discounts or free gooies for the Olympcis, for example).
Looking for a good idea for a sports competition? You can also organise:
- A photo competition to encourage your customers to show their support for the sportsman with a dedicated filter and hashtag;
- A quiz in the hostory of the Olympic Games and the different sports represented;
- A competition with a random drawing or a wheel of fortune to win tickets for the Olympic Games, goodies, etc.
Discover our solution to launch your sports game!
