“Go for gold with advertising that has a passion for sport, entertains and inspires audiences, and draws attention to your brand,” says John Evans, Chief Customer Officer of System1 Group, which helps the world’s biggest advertisers make creative decisions leading to better business results. System1 offers solutions for testing ads and creative ideas and measuring emotion, so it can get the most accurate forecast of the business impact of creativity. With a database of more than 170,000 ads, the System1 platform enables brands to benchmark their advertising messages against those of their competitors, increasing the effectiveness of their ads and ideas.
The Olympics is a unique opportunity
For people from all corners of the world, the Olympic Games represent a special moment when borders and differences between nations are blurred. They are moments when all of humanity unites in celebration of strength and endurance – rare moments when the world is united for a while. The Olympics attract the attention of millions of television viewers. It is a unique communication opportunity for brands – both in terms of visibility and brand image.
According to independent research conducted on behalf of the International Olympic Committee, the Tokyo Olympics attracted an international audience of 3.05 billion people. On the occasion of this year’s Summer Olympics in Paris, an even wider audience is expected. No wonder. Sporting events are historically among the most watched worldwide. What’s more, the 2024 Olympics in Paris will be the first since 2018 without major pandemic impacts.
Source: IOCThe Olympic Games are synonymous with passion, competition and excellence, and brands can use this to combine these positive values with their products or services. Moreover, advertising during this event is not just about raising awareness but also about building long-term image and customer loyalty. Advertisers have the opportunity to tap into the emotional charge of the games, reaching audiences on a deeper level. But how do you make sure your ad resonates with your audience?
The Five Olympic Circles of Efficiency
The five circles of the Olympic symbol represent the continents. The five circles of effectiveness that System1 focuses on represent five principles that should be kept in mind by advertisers who want to impress during the Olympics. System1 reveals best practices and highlights examples from past Olympics. This reservoir of valuable information serves as a guide to developing compelling campaigns that will resonate with a wide audience throughout this global sporting event. What do the five circles of effectiveness include?
- Celebration of excellence
- Global brand appeal
- Use of sports dividend
- Faster, bolder, stronger brand
- Entertainment
Successful Olympic campaigns
With Gold Standard, you can take inspiration from successful campaigns. A great example is the Nike ad that uses a collaboration with Venus and Serena Williams. This collaboration has been going on for practically 20 years. But in 2021, Nike has taken a slightly different approach to advertising. The ad entitled “You Can’t Stop Sisters” has an excellent 4.7-star rating and is a beautiful example of how a familiar story and well-known achievements can be brought to an audience:
Video: Nike – You Can’t Stop Sisters
Another example of a successful Olympic ad is P&G’s “Thank you, Mom” spot. The brand has managed to create a global campaign that manages to overcome cultural barriers. During the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the brand used the tagline “Proud Sponsor of Moms” to launch a spot that captures the hope, dedication, and happiness associated with raising an athlete. This ad gained huge reach on TV and online and transformed into a multi-year campaign. The brand later said it was its most effective ad in history:
Video: P&G – Thank You Mom
It pays to be prepared
Soon the eyes of the world will be on the television screen. That is why the preparation must not be underestimated. Just as every race and every jump counts during the Olympics, brands must fine-tune their creative down to the last detail. Every triumph is a story of perfect preparation and indomitable will. This is true for athletes and advertisers alike. And preparation is what System1’s Gold Standard can help you with.
Creative ratings by System1
System1 offers TYA (Test Your Ad) and TYI (Test Your Innovation) solutions that predict the short- and long-term commercial potential of ads and ideas, giving marketers confidence that their creative concepts will resonate with consumers and lead to profitable commercial growth. TYA and TYI are complemented by TYB (Test Your Brand) - a solution measuring the impact of ads and ideas on brand health.
The creative model used is the same as that applied to test the effectiveness of commercial advertising. The aim is to measure the emotional reactions of the audience. The evaluation is based on three key indicators of the impact of creative on advertising effectiveness:
- Star Rating – The star rating is based on how positively viewers respond to the ad. It predicts the ad’s potential to contribute to long-term brand growth. It ranges from 1 to 5.9 stars. Approximately half of the ads that are introduced in the System1 database receive only a 1-star rating, and conversely, only 1 in 100 receives the maximum rating.
- Spike Rating – This rating predicts the potential for advertising to trigger short-term activity, such as sales. This rating is based on how intensely viewers respond to the ad and how quickly they associate it with the brand. Reactions do not have to be positive - anything is better than nothing for short-term impact. A Spike Rating of less than 1 indicates limited or no impact, a rating of 1.3 or higher predicts strong or exceptional activity.
- Fluency Rating – Fluency is a measure of how many respondents correctly identified the brand at the end of the advertising spot. If this rating is low, the ad may be emotional but risks missing out on the impact it deserves.
Gold Standard service
System1 offers a Test Your Ad database that allows you to look at the best Olympic and sports ads and get inspired by asking questions such as “What makes the best ones so special?”, “What puts brands like P&G or Nike at the top of the medal tables?” and “What is the gold standard of Olympic advertising?”.
