Thomas Bach announced it at the end of last week in front of the media, when drawing up a first mid-term assessment: the Paris 2024 Games will mark the start of a “ new era. » The IOC president did not say much more. But it is not difficult to predict that it will see the Olympic event push the marketing and commercial spinoffs level to a new level.
Anne-Sophie Voumard, the director of marketing and television at the IOC, explained this on Wednesday August 7 at a press conference: the Games will remain unique in their commercial approach, without the slightest visible brand on the competition field. This singularity, preserved Olympiad after Olympiad, will not change. Lausanne makes the promise.
But the Paris 2024 Games opened a door by letting the event's partners, global and even national, set up on a field previously reserved only for athletes. They were seen on screen. A first.
The opening ceremony set the tone, Friday July 26 on the Seine, with a very visible presence of two brands from the LVMH group, premium partner of the COJO Paris 2024: Louis Vuitton and Dior. One of the 12 paintings in the artistic part of the ceremony even visited the Louis Vuitton workshops at length, where the trunks containing the Olympic torches were made (photo above).
Since then, the trend has been confirmed. At each medal ceremony on the podium, the medalists are invited to take a selfie with a cell phone provided by a protocol volunteer. The brand of the device: Samsung, global partner of the IOC within the TOP program.
Anne-Sophie Voumard underlined this: “ Athletes are not allowed to bring their own cell phones onto the competition field. This initiative allows them to preserve an image of this unique moment. " OK. But the Swiss agrees: the medalists' selfie is not just a novelty intended for athletes. “ It also allows us to organically integrate our partners' products. We worked with them to imagine a new way to engage them in the organization. »
The message is clear: the IOC's global partners cannot yet appear on the competition site – they will probably never be able to – but it is now possible for them to enter the place, through a product or an service. “ We are going in this direction, recognized Anne-Sophie Voumard. And we will go even further in future editions."
The door is open. It will undoubtedly be even more widespread in four years, at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, temple of liberalism and the market economy.
Another message delivered this Wednesday by the IOC: the imminent arrival, even very soon, of an Indian partner within the TOP program. The announced departure of the Japanese Toyota, a history of the Olympic Games, could quickly be compensated by a new name. “ It would be natural for the IOC to soon have a partner from the second largest market in the world in terms of population”, suggested Anne-Sophie Voumard.
A name is already on everyone's lips: Reliance. The Indian conglomerate, whose activities range from petrochemicals to retail, including chemicals and textiles, is no stranger to the Olympic universe. It contributed to, and largely financed, the Indian House at the Paris 2024 Games, the first of its kind at the Olympics. Above all, the Reliance group is led by Mukesh Ambani, whose wife Nita Ambani has been a member of the IOC since 2016.
« The TOP global program has existed for forty years, it is normal that it is regularly renewed, with departures and arrivals”, summarized Anne-Sophie Voumard. A Japanese leaves, an Indian arrives. Not the worst way for India to boost its chances of bidding for the 2036 Summer Games.
