The Paris 2024 Olympics? NBCUniversal Rolls Out a Campaign to “Save the Date” (Exclusive)
The Olympics are a big deal for NBCUniversal.
The winter and summer games dominate the ratings, the culture and the sports landscape while they are happening. And they serve as a tentpole for Peacock, the company’s streaming service.
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So with the Paris 2024 Olympics a little over a year away, the company is just beginning to get out its message to viewers: Save the date.
NBCU is beginning a multi-platform marketing push, using the “Save the Date” theme, to get consumers amped up for the Olympics, which will kick off July 26 of next year. And to help it do so, the company is turning to some old friends:
In the first commercial spot for the new campaign, legendary country singer Dolly Parton (who has appeared in NBC Christmas specials), WWE superstar Roman Reigns and a minion are all involved.
It makes for what Jenny Storms, the CMO for entertainment and sports at NBCU, calls a “combustible moment.”
Storms said, “Some are definitely part of the organization. But in many cases, it’s just people who are fans of the Olympics and the Olympic movement. We’ve done a body of work with the minions and their love for Olympics in the past. We know that the WWE superstars are big Olympic fans. So it was just about bringing to light the story and the idea and the concept, and these are the biggest superstars that you can get in entertainment to kind of come together for this campaign and launch it in a really big way.”
As for Parton, she told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement: “I love the Olympics! I do my best to plan my schedule to watch as much of it as I possibly can. I tape it just in case I miss the live action on a certain day and watch it back as soon as possible. I laugh, I cry, I scream; there are no losers in the Olympics as they have all spent a lifetime preparing but I celebrate with the ones that go away with the gold, silver and bronze medals.”
But the Save the Date campaign is not just the commercial spot. On Monday morning, NBC’s Today show hosted a segment sending off Savannah Guthrie, who will report from Paris this week to tee up the games, interviewing athletes like Noah Lyles, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Jordan Chiles, Shilese Jones and Konnor McClain.
“There are some names that you know from the last Olympics and some that are names you will know in about a year from now,” Guthrie told THR in an interview. “So the idea is really just to introduce some of the athletes some of the storylines that we’re following, but also to show off Paris a little bit.”
The Today show has long been NBC News’ flagship program at the Olympics, with athletes making it a regular stop on their media tours, and with the multiple hours of programming allowing for cultural segments and tours alongside the day’s news.
“I think that the Today show and the Olympics go hand in hand,” Guthrie says. “We’ve always tried to embrace the Olympics and the spirit of the games and it matches so well with the spirit that I think our show has, which is of inspiration and hope and optimism, the best of us, excellence. Those are the themes that we hope to highlight every single day and the Olympics provide such a great opportunity. And it’s one of those things that we can all really be proud of and it’s a unifying moment, we hope.”
And NBC is also turning to an expert in saving the date for the new campaign: The wedding vendor marketplace The Knot. The Knot will have a Paris 2024 landing page, and will tout the Olympics on its social channels.
“It’s a bit of a wink and a nod, because you think about The Knot for big celebrations and big invitations,” Storms says.
The campaign is part of NBCUniversal’s “Symphony” advertising effort, which brings together all of the company’s divisions to promote key programming or strategic efforts.
“All of those pieces are getting infused the entire week across the Today show and Access Hollywood and Nightly News and Kelly Clarkson and in Universal Parks and our sports and Fandango,” Storms says. “And so there’s there’s just that opportunity again, where I want to give that depth and that breadth because it’s such a secret sauce in our business and what we do.”
The 2024 Olympics will be streamed on Peacock live, with many of the events also broadcast live on NBC, as well as some other NBCUniversal TV networks. The event will be the first Olympics since the COVID-19 pandemic to feature stadiums full of crowds, and with families of athletes on site.
In addition, Paris organizers have designed the games to be TV-friendly, with an opening ceremony that will take place on the River Seine, and with some events being held in historic locations (like beach volleyball at the foot of the Eiffel Tower).
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