‘A fun playground for brands’: How brands like Figs & Pampers are getting creative with Olympic campaigns
More than 10,000 athletes are set to participate in this year’s Paris Olympics. But they won’t be the only ones competing. Brands, too, are battling for attention in France, and with so many eyes on the Games, some brands are finding out-of-the-box ways to stand out.
Figs, a direct-to-consumer scrubs brand, isn’t outfitting athletes but rather members of the Team U.S.A. medical team. Diaper brand Pampers is opening the first-ever nursery in the Olympic Village for athlete parents to spend time with their babies. And Uber is offering free one-hour cruises along the Seine River and a champagne tour of France.
Traditionally, brands have gotten involved in the Olympics by partnering with certain athletes, making uniforms for countries’ teams or backing the Games as a whole. Ralph Lauren, for example, has outfitted Team U.S.A. at nine consecutive Olympics and Paralympics since 2008, per CNN, while Coca-Cola has been a sponsor for every edition of the Games since 1928, per the Olympics website. Interest from advertisers is a constant, too; NBC sold a record $1.2 billion in ads for this year’s Games. Now, with so many companies having a presence in Paris, more brands are getting involved with parts of the Games that aren’t as front and center. Some are giving products to Olympics support staff, hosting pop-ups or holding giveaways.
One way that brands are getting involved with the Olympics is through supplying necessities. The Japanese mattress company Airweave, for instance, is the “official bedding supporter” of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, while Oral-B is the “official oral care product” partner. Belgian company Chaudfontaine, which is owned by Coca-Cola, is the “official water” of the Games. In cases like these, “there are a lot of ways in,” Christopher Douglas, senior manager of strategy at influencer marketing agency Billion Dollar Boy, told Modern Retail.
Figs, meanwhile, is the first brand to outfit health care professionals supporting Team U.S.A. athletes. Its partnership with the Olympics and Paralympics kicks off this year but lasts through the 2028 Games. The Figs x Team U.S.A. collection — now also available online — features red, white and blue scrub tops, scrub pants and scrub jumpsuits. The collection also includes tools like a stethoscope and scrub cap and accessories such as compression socks, a backpack and a headband.
Bené Eaton, chief marketing officer at Figs, told Modern Retail that in the past, members of the Team U.S.A. medical team had to provide their own gear. “We decided that this should change,” she said, “and the partnership unfolded enthusiastically from there.”
Figs began having conversations with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee in summer 2023. Its design team worked with medical professionals and the U.S.O.P.C. to create the uniforms, accessories and “anything and everything anyone on the medical team would need,” Eaton said. “We saw this as an opportunity to celebrate the healthcare professionals who we know pour their expertise and care into the most incredible athletes,” she added.
Smaller startups, meanwhile, are finding more creative ways to participate in the Olympics chatter without shelling out a bunch of money on an advertisement or sponsorship deal. Elite Eleven, an Australian sportswear and fitness apparel brand, has a new “Road to Paris” collection, a limited capsule inspired by the Olympics, albeit without any Olympics logos.
Tattoo care brand Mad Rabbit, meanwhile, is doing an unorthodox promotion to boost its brand awareness during the Olympics. Mad Rabbit is offering all present and past Olympians with Olympic Rings tattoos free products if they DM the company on Instagram through August 15.
For many athletes, getting a tattoo of the five Olympic Rings is a rite of passage, a reminder of their hard work, dedication and achievement. Allyson Felix, Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Michael Phelps and Noah Lyles all have the design on their bodies.
“Olympians often get the Rings tattooed and wear them as a badge of honor,” Oliver Zak, CEO of Mad Rabbit, told Modern Retail via email. “At Mad Rabbit, we felt uniquely positioned to support this aspect of their Olympic journey by providing products designed to care for those Ring tattoos from pre-care to post-care and maintenance.”
Even in a competitive field like athlete uniforms, small brands are getting a chance to shine at this year’s Games, exhibiting a widening of the playing field. For instance, Cariuma, a sustainable skate shoe brand, is designing Olympic uniforms for the first time this year and outfitting skateboarders from the Netherlands, Slovakia and Portugal with its footwear and apparel. Meanwhile, premium active swimsuit brand Left on Friday is making its Olympic uniform debut with bikinis, cover-ups and accessories for Canada’s women’s beach volleyball team.
Ultimately, the Olympics can be a “fun playground for brands,” Billion Dollar Boy’s Douglas told Modern Retail. “Brands often get very siloed into, ‘This is what our brand should be. This is how we should show up.’ Understanding the Olympics and the eyes that it draws, I think it’s a great opportunity to test things and push the envelope.”