Linear Television has proven a gold medal winner in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Research revealed that 80 per cent of participants had watched or followed the Olympics via linear television through the Nine Network, and 58 per cent viewed the games in catch-up via 9Now. AAMI, Telstra and Qantas were also revealed among the most memorable brands from the coverage.
An independent survey conducted by Bastion for B&T with over 300 participants has uncovered how Australians interacted with the games and how advertising changed consumers’ brand perceptions.
In an interesting twist, given the recent conversation around access to free sports, radio outperformed the Nine Network’s paid streaming platform, Stan, with 17 per cent of participants following the action of Paris 2024 on the radio as opposed to nearly 13 per cent on Stan.
It was still a successful period for Stan, however, with the streaming service reporting a 50 per cent growth in subscribers to the Stan Sport package, surpassing forecasts. “Australia’s response to our ground-breaking Olympic viewing experience has exceeded all our expectations,” said Stan’s chief executive officer, Martin Kugeler. “We set out to raise the bar for Olympics coverage in this country by introducing Australian firsts, including 4K and exclusive international multi-language channels, and we are enormously proud to have delivered on this vision. Stan’s record-breaking achievement is a testament to the team’s tremendous dedication and passion to providing subscribers with a world-class experience”.
In unsurprising news, social media far outperformed newspapers and news sites with 40 per cent of participants saying they were keeping across the action on socials as opposed to nearly 30 per cent who used newspapers and news sites.
Overall, the feedback on Nine’s coverage was very positive, with 47 per cent rating it as good and 23 per cent labelling it very good. Only 16 of the over 300 participants labelled the coverage as poor or very poor.
In an email to staff last week, Nine CEO Mike Sneesby revelled in the glory of its coverage of Australia’s most successful games to date. “We made a commitment to put our audiences and advertisers first with Olympics Games and Paralympic Games coverage of an unprecedented quality and scale, and we are delivering on that promise,” he said.
“While our Aussie athletes are turning it on in Paris, making our nation proud and breaking records, you are setting a new standard for Olympic coverage”.
“These results show we are delivering for our loyal Australian audiences and our advertising partners like never before”.
What Ads Stood Out?
Among the most memorable ads were the AAMI, Telstra and Qantas campaigns.
AAMI celebrated the country’s youngest athletes by highlighting the challenges that having future Olympians in the making at home can pose to Australian households. Called Athletes in the Making, the brand platform reminds Australians across the country that when unique quirks happen here in Australia, it’s Lucky you’re with AAMI. “Kids love pretending to be their favourite sporting heroes. Especially when the world’s biggest sporting event is about to happen. Realistically, though, they don’t have the silky skills of their heroes. But when things go wrong, the parents of Australia can take comfort if they’re covered with AAMI,” said Ogilvy Australia ECD Hilary Badger when the campaign launched.
The Qantas campaign launched during the Opening Ceremony and featured eight athletes being sent off to the games by their friends, families and local communities.
The B&T Campaign Of The Month winning Telstra stop campaign was not Olympic-specific but did air just in time for it to become synonymous with the games. The campaign was created by +61, the bespoke agency, combining the creative talents of TBWA and Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, as well as OMD and features 26 stop-motion films that focus on locations around Australia and their idiosyncrasies.
Sneesby’s email last week also revealed that Olympic advertising revenue had increased by more than $5 million dollars since before the games started. “Before the games commenced, I let you know that we had secured $135 million in advertising revenue for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic coverage. That figure has now increased to more than $140 million as our sponsors and advertising partners have embraced Nine’s platforms and coverage”.
“We have always focussed on making strategic investments that deliver profitable outcomes for our business, ensuring that we have a financially strong and sustainable platform for growth and continued investment in quality content and journalism. Your united efforts and commitment have ensured that these games are delivering an important profitable contribution to our business this financial year, setting us on a fantastic path as we continue on our journey as Australia’s home of the Olympics through to Brisbane 2032,” Sneesby said.
A number of respondents also expressed admiration for the Paralympic advertising, with one saying that they would now watch those games when they hadn’t previously thought they would.
Surprisingly, only 15 per cent of participants said that the adverts they viewed throughout the Olympic coverage changed their perception of brands or purchasing intentions.
Most respondents who did experience a change in perception said that they would be more likely to use a brand after the coverage, and one even reported buying a new washing machine after viewing the Harvey Norman ad.
8 per cent of respondents who experience a change in perception said that they now feel less favourably about the brands in question, with one saying, “I now hate Qantas”.
Most Memorable Moments
Among the most memorable moments from the games were the Fox Sisters gold medal Canoe Slalom wins and the huge number of medals won by our Aussie swimmers.
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Skateboarding, BMX and Gymnastics were also huge winners across the board.
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But, of course, viewers couldn’t go past RayGun. The iconic moment that has since gone viral has been
@tortilla__blanket congrats on your julliard audition raygun #olympics #raygun #breaking #australia ♬ original sound – Ivy Lee 🪩
