Building my career in the tourism industry was a conscious choice based on a personal passion for travel and on occasion, that passion has intersected with my interest in various sports. I’ve traveled to Los Angeles for the NCAA College Football Championship and enjoyed a day or two at The Players Championship with friends and family down in Florida. These events were always filled with two noticeable elements: the energy and enthusiasm of the fans and ADVERTISING. Sponsorships, preferred vendor products, branded activations, giveaways and the list goes on. I would know firsthand how valuable these sponsorships/placements can be through my work on SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) and their previous partnership with the U.S. Open in New York. It felt like our purple brand and star logo were splashed everywhere back then and at the time it was a smart choice to align the loyalty brand known for its upscale and luxury properties with the affluent tennis audience. So, when I had the opportunity to attend this year’s Olympics in Paris, I had certain expectations and a marketer’s curiosity to see how the city would execute the pinnacle of global sporting events as well as who was buying up the valuable sponsorship deals.
Coming off my Air France flight from Dulles and landing at Charles de Gaulle in Paris, I was buzzing with energy–ready to be welcomed by the city along with other Olympic spectators, athletes, coaches, and journalists coming through the airport. Already familiar with the airport, I kept my eyes peeled for any Olympics signage, activations or photo ops welcoming me to the Olympics host city. There was nothing in customs so I kept looking. Nothing in baggage claim. Nothing in the terminal. Near the exit as I went to meet my Uber driver? Nothing. Nothing at all in the city’s major international airport. Not one Olympics sponsorship ad or piece of branded signage. How could you host the world’s pinnacle sporting event and not have an arrival experience in your primary airport? It truly was a missed opportunity and one that left me wanting. For this type of occasion, where visitors are literally traveling from all over the globe in/out of your destination as the host city, the DMO needs to build upon visitors’ excitement and engage with them as soon as they touchdown. This is their first impression. Pump them up and hook them right away on your destination’s unique experience.
After checking into my Airbnb, I was again on the prowl, now hungry for my first Olympics experience and ready to feel the communal energy that one might associate with such an important event. Walking through our neighborhood, it didn’t take long before we stumbled upon the Team USA house. The beautiful building designed in that gorgeous Parisian architecture was wrapped with signage celebrating our Team and off to the side, the first branded activation I came across. Next to the house was an exclusive (and rather secretive) Oakley experience with lots of security around. While Ralph Lauren had the honor and (sponsorship) of designing Team USA’s uniforms, Oakley had the honor of being our Team’s official eyewear and with that they’d obviously secured prime real estate next to the team house to promote their brand.
The next day while on the train to men’s golf finals, I was wondering what brands spent the big bucks to sponsor the event. Much to my surprise, all I could find was one lonely cool down tent sponsored by Samsung. Later in the week, I found another sponsorship at the Le Concorde street party, where the official Olympics clock ticked down the remaining hours of the Games. This was sponsored by Omega, rather fitting for a watch brand. However, at women’s football finals there wasn’t one branded sponsorship in sight! As a marketer (and if we’re being real, as an American with our capitalist nature) I was shocked that not one brand had cashed in on this prime opportunity. It was curious to me that the city and the Olympics brand hadn’t sold every bit of potential ad inventory at these venues. However, as a fan and event attendee it did offer a sense of purity. An honesty in the game as representing the true mission of the Olympics: building global community through sportsmanship. As you see from the photos of the stadium interior, there is only Olympics branding, not one single ad in the mix! And in watching the medaling ceremony, hearing our national anthem and watching our flag rise to the top, it felt peaceful and distraction-less. Rather than force feeding ads to the crowd, there was clearly a conscious choice to allow the audience to focus on a deep emotional connection, the pride of watching your countrymen succeed on a global stage.
Despite the lack of sponsorships and advertising (or maybe because of it), the city of Paris crafted a beautiful, well-designed brand that was found everywhere through the city (minus the airport). The modern, yet elegant graphic style and pastel color palette were offset by the brightly colored and playful mascot, the Phryge. The color choice of the brand palette paid homage to the City of Love’s famous pastel pink color, but I believe this was also a strategic choice. Primary colors, red and blue, are the world’s most common flag colors. Red appears in 74% of all national flags with blue appearing in 71%. In fact, red, blue and white is the most common color combination across all the world’s national flags. With so many of those primary colors running around Paris, the chosen Olympics color palette offered a juxtaposition and clear visual distinction amongst the moving blur of primary tones—everyone is decked out in their country colors or wearing their country flags. The mascot (a hat) leaned into that familiar color combination of red, white and blue, but also had a playful cartoon-like persona that was used to feature the city’s sustainability focus for the Games. Kids especially loved this approachable, fun and snuggable figure making it hard to find the standard plush toy at many of the merch booths around town.
Coming from an international city (DC) and my pervious sporting event experiences (US Open in NYC and the NCAA College Football Championship at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena) I had apprehension about traffic/transit and being able to get around the city or finding the various venues. I knew we’d rely on the Paris Metro and many train routes to move through the country, but my expectations were low to non-existent for the wayfinding experience around the Games. I figured we’d use Google maps and ask questions as needed. However, I was very pleasantly surprised. The city made wayfinding almost dummy proof! They stuck to their signature branded color palette with pink as the hero for all wayfinding signs. They created overlays in the Metro trains that showed explicitly the stops associated with each venue. Getting on/off the trains there was large pink directional signage for the venues and if that wasn’t enough (which it really was) they had employed an exceedingly friendly set of locals decked out in the same purple uniform with big pink foam fingers to direct you as needed or answer any potential questions. Getting around the city and to the Olympic venues was honestly, the easiest part of the trip, which made the overall experience all that more enjoyable. It was a big win for Paris as a destination and their tourism brand experience.
Once we were in the vicinity of the venues or inside the street party, the sophisticated Parisian modern-minimalist-design sensibility became all the more evident. Rather than adding a lot of flash and gimmicks, they kept it simple with selfie photo ops and artistic uses of various sports equipment. It felt very French and why shouldn’t it? That’s who they are and there is nothing more on-brand than staying true to your inner most persona.
For those working in the tourism industry looking to grow their sports tourism market share, I leave you with three key takeaways from this year’s Olympics in Paris:
- Make the experience easy and engaging.
- Embrace your visitors and capture their enthusiasm upon arrival.
- Don’t discount the importance of wayfinding. Making transit to/from venues, fields, or courts foolproof will substantially improve the visitor experience and win your destination “points.”
- Paris isn’t exactly known for friendly service, but by employing the best of their locals, those who embraced strangers with kindness and offered a friendly greeting, it made visitors feel respected and welcomed. You should do the same.
- Stay true to your brand and make thoughtful choices about it.
- Design choices are not just for visual appeal. They should be strategic and serve a purpose.
- Once you’ve made those thoughtful design choices, employ your branding in a consistent and identifiable fashion.
- Not everything needs to be a quick money maker.
- Don’t feel the need to sell every bit of ad space at your venues or throw around sponsorship opportunities without first considering how it impacts your visitor experience or affects your destination’s brand message. Instead, think about identifying ad partners/sponsors you’d be proud to affiliate with your destination. Ideally, they should speak to the same audience and authentically align with your brand.
Finally, for those of you wondering if an Olympics experience lives up to the hype… I promise you; it was truly the trip of a lifetime!