Making The Most Of The Olympic Spotlight

Leveraging Podiums For Your Brand

tiktok/scotty james

The Olympics are set to end in two days' time it’s evident that most stories from the games usually come from podiums - ranging from Cinderella stories, upsets, or sheer dominance of the sport (s/o Canada’s women’s hockey team). With that being the case, it’s clear that medal-winning athletes have a surge in following. For example, we noticed one athlete in particular, on the Canadian women’s hockey team, jump over 1K followers in two days. The key variable being Canada’s gold medal performance.

But, we’re a sports marketing newsletter first so we aren’t going to talk about hey, if you’re an athlete get on the podium and that’s the only way you’ll be able to grow your brand. It’s for sure one way, but that’s easier said than done and we're in no position to be providing athletes with performance advice (unless it’s rec league soccer on Tuesday, I’m a star).

In The Sport Marketeer issue prior to the Olympics, we provided insight on what we suggest athletes should do to maximize their time in the spotlight. One of our biggest suggestions was athletes leveraging the mediums at their disposal to connect with fans, the best example being TikTok. Every athlete has a phone, which I hope they all know how to use the camera feature and you go from there. If you’re a top athlete providing BTS coverage of a coveted event, it’s the perfect time to prioritize timeliness and relevance over quality.

Let’s look at Australia’s snowboarder, Scotty James. Sure, he was on TikTok prior to the event but he simply made a video to the trend just makes sense, and BOOM. At the time of this article being written it’s amassed more than 5.2M views and almost 2M likes, is that good? Video’s like this are why athletes should be available on social platforms, especially with marquee events on the calendar. Not only, does it allow you to further connect with your current audience but it allows you to leverage the Olympic spotlight.

Scotty’s profile was going to grow with his medal performance, that’s a fact, but his availability and presence on social media prior to the podium is what added jet fuel to the equation. Being 27 years old, he’s unfortunately on the back 9 of his career (a topic we know athletes don’t enjoy having). But the positive note is that, at 27, he was able to capitalize on his Olympic exposure, go viral, and gain a large following on an app, TikTok, that contains the next generation of consumers. Now post-career he can leverage that newfound following on TikTok for potential brand deals, business ventures, or even networking opportunities.

Props to you Scotty.

Published: February 18, 2022 - Issue 27 of The Sport Marketeer