Sells Like Team Spirit: How Brands Celebrate U.S. Olympians

July 25, 2024

The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics are underway and the whole world is watching! Naturally, we’ve got our eyes on the American athletes – but we’re not the only ones. Brands of all kinds are leveraging the Olympics by aligning themselves with individual athletes, a particular sport, or the entire U.S. team. With NIL (name/image/likeness) restrictions eased on college athletes, there’s more opportunity than ever to get into the team spirit.

What follows are a few of the contextually relevant campaigns cheering athletes on.


As the U.S.A. Swimming Olympic Team held its trials in Indianapolis, pharma brand and Official U.S. Olympics Team sponsor Eli Lilly and Company had an inspirational message for athletes via this window wrap on the nearby Artsgarden.


Out of home is an effective way to get more bang out of official sponsorship dollars. Promoting its partnership with the U.S.A. Gymnastics team during its trials in Minneapolis, Samsonite showcased male and female gymnasts just steps away from the Target Center, where fans attending the U.S. Gymnastics Trials could snap and share a pic of their favorite.


Samsonite stuck the landing with social out of home, amplifying the campaign’s reach on Instagram by showcasing the larger-than-life creative and the excitement on the ground in a collaborative video post with the team.


Also in the Minneapolis Skyway, Nulo Pet Food featured its brand ambassador, four-time gold medalist and six-time world champion Simone Biles (and her fur babies, Lilo and Rambo), in liveboards, video urban panels, static backlit panels, and a wallscape near the Target Center. The creative included a QR code to generate engagement.


In addition to wall clings, liveboards, and VUPs inside the Skyway, L'Oreal's professional cosmetics brand NYX shouted out Shilese Jones with an inspirational message on brightly-colored ads across two nearby wallscapes and this bulletin.


Another advertiser going outside and old-school is Xfinity, dual sponsor of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams. Its traditional static billboard featuring gold medalist and Eagan, Minnesota native Mallory Weggemann renders the Xfinity logo in stars-and-stripes livery that extends beyond the border of the canvas.


But advertisers don’t have to be in a city with a trial in order to boost their favs. Monmouth University deployed DOOH bulletins all across the state of New Jersey wishing good luck to Allie Wilson, the track and field star who ran the fastest 800 in the school’s history.


In San Francisco, official timekeeper OMEGA put up a wallscape in which 2024 gold medalist Gianmarco Gamberi high-jumps over the Arc de Triomph.


In New York City, Delta, the U.S. team’s official airline, took to this OUTFRONT PRIME unit adjacent to Madison Square Garden and Penn Station in a digital spot showcasing numerous athletes in action.


Also on Penn Digital: Peacock, streaming home of the Summer Games, used the XPress dynamic creative advanced capability from our XLabs team, to integrate moderated posts from X (f/k/a Twitter).


It wouldn’t be the Olympics without a swoosh. Here in Miami, Nike cheers on track star Sha’Carri Richardson with a wallscape. The brand also gave a similar showcase to basketball Paralympian Ixhelt Gonzalez in Chicago.


And speaking of wallscapes, Ralph Lauren updated the creative on its Sunset Strip spectacular to show off its work as the official outfitter of Team USA.


This bold Gatorade campaign went live nationwide, including on these Video Urban Panels in New York City.

Finally, our Moments content platform is also featuring Olympic Visions, a sports-inspired art collection curated by our partner Artsy. Watch for it on our Liveboards and Video Urban Panels.

With contextually relevant out of home advertising, brands can tap into excitement over the Olympics – or anything else that’s happening. Contact us now to learn more.

Author: Jay Fenster, Marketing Manager @ OUTFRONT
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