Olympics Marketing Strategy - It's Deeper Than Paid Advertising

Olympics Marketing Strategy isn't cheap. It doesn't take someone with a career in business determine that. Obviously, it costs a premium to be on one of the largest stages in the world. Just how expensive it is, though, is worth nothing. According to ISPO, Coca Cola - a long time olympic sponsor - is paying approximately 1.5 billion dollars to maintain this status from 2021 to 2032.

In one of my recent Instagram reels that can be viewed here, I discuss the differences between Inbound and Outbound marketing. One could definitely argue that a large part of Olympics Marketing Strategy is Outbound marketing. After all, companies that have the capital to put themselves on such an enormous stage are reaching massive numbers of people from a plethora of backgrounds. Coca Cola knows they have an audience of people who will buy their product, but they all know many people will see their ad and want nothing to do with soda. Yet, at the same time, they don't care. They're one of the few companies with enough money to spend a huge amount on mass marketing. This, and every other aspect of Olympics Marketing Strategy could be examined at length; it's incredibly fascinating. There are many avenues to go down, but one in particular stands out to me.

Sponsoring the olympics is obviously a paid form of advertising, but in my opinion, it's more than that. Being successful enough as a company to be able to even market on that kind of a level is bought literally, but not from a process standpoint; businesses that successful earned their way to their spot. Being in the olympics isn't just a paid form of media - it's an earned one as well. Businesses reached the extremely high level necessary to have such a large marketing budget by providing sought after products or services - and that requires referrals or word of mouth.

For every business - no matter what industry - thinking about the sponsors of the Olympics provides an extremely important lesson in marketing. Paid advertising is necessary and effective, it's true - especially in today's day and age. It's important to keep in mind, however, that without earned advertising, no business can be successful. From a digital perspective, this could include story mentions, reposts, reviews or even referrals. There are many different forms, and they all tie into marketing strategy whether that means asking for reviews or offering rewards for referrals. In my opinion, earned is one of the most overlooked aspects of marketing - which is unfortunate, because it's one of the most effective. So, in conclusion I urge every business owner out there to take a lesson from Coca Cola and the other olympic sponsors, and to seriously consider how earned media strategy can be incorporated.