Olympics incoming: The Summer of Sport continues... are brands seizing the right opportunities to win Gold in shopper loyalty? ??
2024's Summer of sport continues as the biggest event of the summer, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, kick off next Friday. With the Olympics on the horizon, brands are seizing unique opportunities to capture shopper engagement and loyalty. The question is: are they hitting the mark in their efforts to win Gold? In our latest edition of Insight Hub, we delve into the strategies that leading brands are employing to leverage the power of sports partnerships.
We even had the opportunity to speak with Victoria Westwood, UK & IRE Marketing Cluster Lead at Green Cuisine, to gain insights into how they are spreading their plant-based message during the Olympics.
As brands and retailers leverage these high-profile sports events, they emphasize key messages of health, unity, and sustainability, creating a need for seamless omnichannel journeys from discovery to purchase, to help brands connect with inspired shoppers both in-store and online.
Keep reading to find out more...
Green Cuisine: Powered By Plants
We spoke to Green Cuisine UK & IRE Marketing Cluster Lead at Green Cuisine Victoria Westwood, to understand the power of sports partnerships and to learn how they are spreading their plant-based message to a wider audience during the Olympics: ?
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What made your brand want to Partner with an Olympic team/ get involved with a large sports event like the Olympics???
We are proud to be an official partner of Team GB again – continuing our mission to make plant-based foods accessible to all. Team GB athletes perform to the highest standards, and we want consumers to recognise how the nutritional value of plant-based foods can help them in their day-to-day lives.?
This partnership offers us a golden opportunity to highlight the benefits of a flexitarian lifestyle for the good of ourselves and the planet, and also allows us to go one step further and deliver a united sustainability strategy. With plant-based consumption set to explode to five times its current size over the next 15 years, we are committed to helping consumers and retail partners recognise the benefits of the category and educate them on its relevance and the role it has to play in the health of both the planet and ourselves.?
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How do you decide where to partner and what events are right for your brand and message????
Our decision on where to partner was based on aligned credible core values and the right strategic fit for our brand. Our mission is to democratise plant based for all and you can see below Team GB is not only the second most loved brand after the NHS but has a great appeal across all genders and age groups. Our desire is to create a partnership that increases brand awareness, and overcomes key consumer barriers through promoting the taste & health credentials of Birds Eye Green Cuisine through recognised Team GB athletes.?
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What is the key message you want shoppers to take away from your sponsorship/partnership???
The brand will work alongside the Team GB athletes to highlight both its own and Team GB’s sustainability efforts, helping to emphasise how including plant-based products in your diet can help the health of ourselves and the planet. The athlete will also help us highlight that plant based tastes great too! I would like shoppers to have thought ‘If Green Cuisine is good enough for Team GB, it’s good enough for my family’?
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What opportunities does sponsoring or partnering with a team during big global event like the Olympics bring to your brand????
Following a successful partnership with Team GB during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, we're proud that Green Cuisine will once again be an Official Partner of Team GB ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, furthering our mission to make plant-based foods accessible to all. The collaboration will see Green Cuisine helping to educate the nation on the nutritional benefits of plant-based food, as well as supporting Team GB’s drive for environmental sustainability.?
We have joined forces with Team GB to launch ‘Get Set to Go Green’, an educational programme which aims to empower children to explore sustainability and advocate healthy eating habits, particularly after seeing the appetite from young children in our Green Paper Report. The initiative aims to reach over 25,000 primary school teachers, giving teachers and their pupils access to enquiry led ‘Get Curious’ activities to help understand the role that we can all play in improving our health and the health of the planet. Each activity is supported by an editable PowerPoint presentation, including notes, key vocabulary and printable worksheets to support the teachers in delivering the lessons. This is just one way Green Cuisine will continue to support shoppers over the coming year, and help them understand the impact of their meal from crop to table.?
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Will you create new packaging or even products to support your campaign around the event?
Yes for the campaign we are running an on pack promotion giving away Daily family Sports prizes. Starting from Jan through Until July, every day this is a chance for a family to win a sports session. Simply buy a pack and go online to enter for your chance to win. In addition all entries get entered into a grand prize draw for a free trip for 2 to Paris Olympics. ?
This on pack competition will run across 5 hero lines:?
领英推荐
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How do you plan to tell your brand story across multiple channels including social media, ecommerce platforms, advertising and marketing etc.. during your campaign????
We plan to tell our story through multiple channels, mostly instore directly with Shoppers through our on pack promotion and instore shopper marketing communications. However, we also have a 3 part digital content series going live with Team GB from January which will be helping to educate around the nutritional benefits of plant based and all about living a sustainable lifestyle. In addition we will be taking part in Olympic fan zones throughout the Summer to sample our products with consumers so they can see that they taste great too!?
Olympic Partnership Spotlight?
Coca Cola 'It's Magic when the World Gets Together'
Coca Cola continues their global partnership with the Olympics and Paralympics for Paris 2024, introducing their new ‘It’s magic when the world gets together’ campaign, focusing on the power of an embrace. This campaign features digital advertisements, an emotive new advertising campaign highlighting swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker, and even some brand-new packaging designs by three French artists that form an embrace when joined together. ?
Coca Cola introduced the campaign as an ‘emotive, unifying campaign showcasing the power of sport to embrace our differences and foster cross-cultural connection as athletes and fans gear up for Paris 2024.’?
Coca Cola have turned this campaign interactive and will be capturing dynamic digital content during the Olympics by sharing real-time hugs captured in Paris across social media.??
Carrefour: Nourish Every Hope
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In 2022, French retail giant Carrefour announced its premium partnership with the Paris Olympic and Paralympic games. The partnership’s official tagline ‘Nourish Every Hope’ marks the first time a ‘world leader in food distribution involved in the greatest sporting event on the planet.’?
The campaign centers around four key pillars, each centering around the importance of food and nutrition, with Carrefour providing nutritious meals for athletes competing at the games whilst simultaneously running branding and advertising campaigns that promote healthy and sustainable eating to millions of shoppers across France. ?
Carrefour has also partnered with a team of 17 athletes, making them ambassadors for Carrefour, sharing their passion for sport and nutrition with shoppers. In return Carrefour has provided them with resources to create the ‘optimum conditions they need to succeed and attempt to win medals.’?
Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard commented: ?
“It will be a historic event for all French people, with the eyes of the entire world fixed on Paris. With its popular presence, its 5000 stores in France, and its blue, red and white logo, the Carrefour Group wishes firmly to contribute to the success of this huge celebration of sport, help all French people to take part, and associate our brand with the marvellous values of Paris 2024.”?
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What we’ve seen with Olympic partnerships in 2024, is that brands and retailers are using these sponsorships, partnerships and collaborations to push important messages to their consumers. ?
Primarily, the message seems to be one of healthy eating and nutrition, while Coca Cola have used their coverage to promote messages of unity and collaboration to create emotive responses to their campaign. Whatever the message, these companies have worked hard to tie the power of this summer of sport to their FMCG strategy, connecting-with and engaging shoppers.
At NIQ Brandbank we strongly believe in tying seasonal campaigns to the product page to create seamless omnichannel journeys, from the discovery to the point of purchase. If a shopper discovers or is inspired to purchase a product from a sports campaign, it is down to brands and retailers to connect them seamlessly to that point of purchase, whether in store or online. ?
Check out our full article to learn how brands and retailers can capitalize on sporting events here ??