Paying homage to the power of sporting subcommunities with as much pop-cultural clout as athletic relevance, Samsung’s trio of 10-minute documentaries drills into the dynamic subcultural communities behind new and recently introduced Olympic sports breaking (breakdancing), surfing and skateboarding.

Simultaneously challenging assumptions around mothers giving up their sporting careers and tapping into the explosion in women’s sports (see Women’s Sports Boom: Brand-Backed Strategies), US (P&G-owned) nappy brand Pampers has created the first ever nursery for an Olympic Village, open to both mums and dads.

Tapping into the rise and rise of sports-ready beauty (see Athbeauty’s Ascent Tracks the Women’s Sports Boom in Strategies for Supercharging Beauty Retail, publishing on July 22), P&G is echoing its supportive spaces strategy (see Pampers, above) with an athletes’ salon, also in the Olympic village. It features (P&G) haircare brands Braun, Gilette, Head & Shoulders, Mielle and Pantene.

Nike’s resilience-centring campaign featuring the International Olympics Committee (IOC) Refugee Olympic Team takes inclusivity to the next level. Putting a radical new spin on athletes needing grit to triumph against adversity while refuting negative sentiment around mass migration and asylum seeking, it forms a fierce riposte to the question: “Where are you really from?”

The IOC’s own campaign for the Refugee Olympics team individualises, and humanises, the stories behind refugee statistics by juxtaposing the team’s Olympic journey with those of the 100 million+ people displaced worldwide.

Luxury department stores Samaritaine (French) and Selfridges (British) both demonstrate brand-space-anchored tentpole marketing, harnessing sporting heritage and fitness-focused Civic Commerce respectively. See Tapping into Pop Culture's Tentpole Moments and New Sports: Malls Morph into Wellness Hubs in Remastering the Mall: New Engagement Strategies for more.

A rallying cry to living life wholeheartedly, Australian swimwear brand Speedo’s Olympics-adjacent everyday-hero-focused campaign (while a sponsor, its advert doesn’t directly reference the Games) urges viewers to fully commit by “Go[ing] full Speedo”. As the website tagline reads: “We want everyone to feel that feeling. That rush, that nerve, that endeavour, that reward, that first dive, that world record.”

Upping the ante for disability representation while owning its own mistakes, British broadcaster Channel 4’s ‘Considering What’?’ advert confronts the narrative of its previous well-known Paralympics campaign ‘Superhumans’, which faced criticism from disability rights campaigners for inferring that “the only acceptable disabled person is a Paralympian” with superhuman capabilities.

Feeding on a desire for more extraordinary IRL experiences (see Immersive Art: New Opportunities in Experiential Pop Culture), Airbnb’s trio of activations lets sports fans get closer to the Games by offering stays in Olympic-associated venues, connecting with tentpole-moment-extending strategies (see New Power Pop-Ups: Supercharging Engagement).

Sixty-nine per cent of American women aged 18-49 say they are frequently stressed (Gallup, 2024). Centring mental health and performance pressure as stress levels rise (see Brands Breaking Barriers with Sport), US sports beverage brand Powerade’s campaign places mental restoration on a level with physical replenishment.