The 2024 Games in Paris promise to be a global event, attracting millions of fans. As a result, brands are looking to position around this sports marketing event to engage their audiences with content around the games.
Sports brands and clubs are not the only ones who can communicate around sporting competitions. Whatever sector your brand operates in, it’s possible to launch a campaign or organise marketing 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. Fans have their eyes riveted on the matches, share their fervour with other fans and turn to brands that support their athletes.
The Games, along with the football World Cup, are 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% believe that the use of games in brand communications is positive for their image. It attracts public attention, when celebrities are featured in campaigns.
The list of advertisers positioning themselves on the games is made up of the various partners of the event (EDF, Caisse d’Epargne, Coca Cola and Visa). But all players can take advantage of fan engagement to expand their audience and increase their visibility.
The communication strategy around games, by organising a sports event or game, is 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 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 game, gamification offers advantages to your brand. But the benefits you can reap are:
Above all, the games are an opportunity to assert values, keeping with the philosophy of this age-old event. Parity, equal opportunities, courage, determination. The sports world is an ideal place to communicate the idea of surpassing oneself, to encourage people to take up sport, for their physical and mental health, and to promote a message of benevolence and acceptance of differences.
Brands that commnunicate around a sporting event take great care with their storytelling. The FDL Group Encourages women’s sport and intends to support at least 400,000 women 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 people to meet athletes from a Cisco team, take part in training sessions and challenges.
Over and above the values associated with sport, 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 organised a General Assembly focusing on sport and set up 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
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 sports celebrities to promote your brand to a wider audience.
Beyond the advertising and initiatives organised around the 2024 Games, the way to engage your audience on this occasion is the use of sports’ mechanics. Gamified marketing makes it possible to bring a more playful and interactive dynamic to campaigns (video games, scratch cards or board games).
With the Paris 2024 Games, gamification takes a step further by combining games’ mechanics sport. Your brand will be able to organise competitions, create Playable ads or challenge the audience around games.
Here are a 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. The short-lived game, entitled “Mon ticket for Paris 2024” (My ticket for Paris 204), will give players the chance to win “highly-placed” tickets, 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 easy to sept up. It’s also 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 jongles. The winner could win a training session with Tsonga.
This sport competition has enabled the 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 launched a number of mini-games on the Paris 2024 Club. The aim is to promote the platform and grow the Olympic Games community. Your brand can use this inspiration to create playable ads on sporting disciplines.
Make your mini-games more engaging by adding difficulties. With each game played, participants can collect points that unlock benefits (discounts or free gooies for the Olympics).
Looking for ideas for a sports competition? You can 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 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!
