The Paris 2024 Olympics Debrief

The Paris 2024 Olympics not only captivated sports fans with its athletic feats but also made a significant impact on social media via viral content, with official Olympics handles amassing over 12 billion engagements – more than double that of Tokyo 2020. The content output across TV and digital platforms was 15.8% higher than for the Tokyo games (Olympics). While athletes were the central focus, luxury brands also reaped benefits from the heightened visibility – think Louis Vuitton branded cases at the Opening Ceremony and Yseult’s Dior look at the Closing Ceremony making headlines. Lefty's partnership with Kala Otto revealed that brand partnerships at the Paris Olympics generated a total of $163.3M in Earned Media Value (EMV), with emerging athletes surpassing the influence of even the most decorated Olympians.

What were the moments that will go down in Olympic history?

Fashion Brands Take 31.5% of the Share of Voice

The Paris 2024 Olympics lived up to the city's reputation as the fashion capital of the world, with fashion brands outshining sportswear in EMV. Fashion brands generated a total of $53.6M EMV compared to sportswear's $43.9M. While Nike earned $19M EMV, the most out of all apparel brands activating in the space, Christian Dior Couture, Ralph Lauren and SKIMS all exceeded the second most visible sportswear giant at the games, adidas, which earned $12M EMV.

LVMH’s official partnership with the games paid off, with Christian Dior Couture generating $9.33M EMV, making it the number 1 most visible fashion brand. SKIMS was the third highest EMV earner, only exceeded by fashion giants Dior and Ralph Lauren, even outperforming Louis Vuitton in online visibility. SKIMS’ alignment with Sports and the Olympics dates back several months, as the brand started teasing key partnerships with the US Women’s Basketball team back in May 2024. The official campaign for its 2024 Olympics collection was previewed in June, further building hype ahead of the games. The brand also successfully tapped key up-and-coming athletes such as Rugby Sevens bronze medalist Ilona Maher, whose partnership with SKIMS topped the brand partnerships tables, generating $8.74M EMV with 3 posts on the athlete's Instagram.

SKIMS’ success could also be attributed to a strong TikTok marketing strategy, which varied from informal TikToks of athletes going about their day wearing SKIMS, to stylised shoots that still felt personal. By featuring audio from local heroes like gymnast Sunisa Lee, who spoke about how SKIMS aligns with their values, the brand kept storytelling at the heart of their content, making a powerful connection with audiences.

Similarly, Ralph Lauren stood out by activating not only athletes but influencers and high-profile celebs: Emma Chamberlain featured in short format videos on TikTok and Instagram exploring Paris during the games, generating $2.93M EMV for the brand, according to Lefty. Celebrities such as model Kendall Jenner were photographed sporting all-over Ralph Lauren to the Women’s Gymnastics event, while Billie Eilish wore the brand’s iconic polo shirt in her viral closing ceremony performance.

Who Were the Most Visible Athletes?

Sports’ appeal in popular culture was evident through the many viral moments that dominated our social media feeds: from Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen’s infatuation with the Olympic Village’s chocolate muffins, which saw him gain 500k TikTok followers in the space of 3 weeks, to Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez’s announcement that she competed while 7 months pregnant. Social media allowed audiences to get to know athletes on a more personal level, as opposed to curated media features: Simone Biles’ videos showing her getting ready before performing accumulate over 10M views on TikTok, and a video of her showing her nails and hair to the camera before competing stands at 56.2M views. Despite everyone being at home and on social media during the Tokyo 2020 games, TikTok revealed that the Paris Olympics had over 1.3M posts on the platform, an increase of 1,828% from the Tokyo Olympics.

Viewers are cheering not only for their national teams, but for the athletes that they have connected with from ‘behind the scenes' moments to the medal victories, as well as personal victories. Major buzz grew around athletes and their partners taking advantage of being in the city of love, with a record-breaking number of proposals taking place during the live events. The video of pole vaulter Armand Duplantis running to embrace his girlfriend after beating his own world record has over 167.8M views on TikTok at the time of writing. The noise driven by these intimate moments shared between athletes and their loved ones highlights viewers' desire to connect not just with the elite athlete, but with the individual behind the persona.

But, it was Women’s Rugby player, Ilona Maher, who won the hearts of the people and who became the second top athlete at the games, generating $50.4M EMV across platforms. Maher’s visibility was surpassed only by Simone Biles, whose highly anticipated return to gymnastics gold standard generated $65M EMV. Maher’s achievement is noteworthy considering that she generated markedly more visibility than high-profile athletes in more popular sports, such as Basketball powerhouses LeBron James ($38.6M EMV) and Kelsey Plum ($15.3M EMV), as well as Olympic veterans such as Rafael Nadal ($11.4M EMV).*

Maher set herself apart with her infectious personality and charisma, advocating for women’s athleticism and body positivity. Her impact on TikTok and Instagram is remarkable considering that women’s rugby is not usually a sport that gains a lot of media attention compared to sports such as swimming or gymnastics: the most viewed events globally according to GWI. Maher’s media success is a prime example that it's not just about winning medals: displays of positive sportsmanship and the ability to establish personal connections with audiences are what made the top athlete collaborations so successful.

Snoop Dogg's Sports Victory

Alongside athletes, the Paris games were a star-studded spectacle that amplified the event's global visibility and cultural impact. From the start line, brands took advantage of global star power: Christian Dior Couture took centre stage from start to finish, having dressed French signer Yseult for the finale, as well as both Lady Gaga and Celine Dion at the Opening Ceremony, generating $6.9M EMV and $1.89M EMV respectively, as per Lefty. Despite not performing, Ariana Grande was the second top profile at the official Opening Ceremony after stepping out in Thom Browne, Inc., accumulating $9.33M EMV with 6 posts. Lefty data shows that celebrity posts about the Opening Ceremony contributed to a 281% increase in engagement rates.

But, it was Snoop Dogg’s presence at the games that took the internet by storm. As a prime-time correspondent for US broadcasting giant NBC News, leading the series ‘Snooping Around Paris’, the artist’s interactions with athletes, such as getting a swimming lesson from Michael Phelps, generated $938K EMV, and multiple videos of him appearing at events such as Equestrian each gained over 15M views on TikTok. Over the course of the games, Snoop Dogg generated over $51M EMV – more than the cumulative EMV generated by sportswear brands during the games.

Choosing to activate a celebrity such as Snoop Dogg ensured that the Paris Olympics coverage was fun, fresh and aligned with the cultural zeitgeist. While Snoop Dogg is most famous for his music in the early noughties, he is wildly popular with Millennials and Gen Z due to his humour and laid-back demeanour, and he has subsequently become a cultural icon. By leveraging Snoop Dogg, NBC was able to reach wider, more diverse audiences using the global appeal of popular culture.

As the excitement of the Paris 2024 Olympics starts to settle, the stage is set for the Paralympics to take the spotlight. With the viewership records expected to carry over to the games starting next week, we will be discerning how brands and consumers take advantage of this world stage.

*Lefty data was retrieved from Instagram based on accounts with over 10,000 followers – this type of data is dynamic and subject to change over time.