2021 Silver Best Use of Social Media

Agency: Ogilvy UK

Client: International Olympic Committee and The Coca-Cola Company

Campaign Name: I Belong Here: The Olympics: Tokyo 2020

Campaign Overview

Driving acquisition and engagement of Gen Z and Millennial audiences with a scalable platform for Tokyo 2020 and beyond, while recognising the changing needs of audiences and raising awareness of Coca-Cola’s brand portfolio.

Strategy

During 2020 people needed positivity and excitement - but were also searching for deeper meaning and hoping for better times. Meanwhile, empty proclamations of inclusion would be called out as tokenism by Gen Z and Millennial audiences.

The IOC and Coca-Cola needed to go beyond sport and enable interaction with the great stories that make the Olympics special; they knew traditional broadcast channels weren’t sufficient. Elevating Olympic values, linking them to a specific purpose and enabling these specific audiences to interact with the Olympics on their terms, would be crucial.

For inspiration, the team looked to a true symbol of diversity and inclusion: the Olympic Village. It provides a singular manifestation of the Olympic spirit, the place where athletes and teams from all backgrounds come together and take their part in the stories behind the competition that make it unique.

The strategy therefore entailed building a platform through interactive digital activations, driving engagement and sharing. Along with digital display and social, the power of Instagram and influencers was harnessed, delivering reach, relevance and authenticity.

Creativity

The platform, ‘I Belong Here’, showcased the inclusive nature of the Olympics: no matter your background, everyone is welcome.

From artists to activists, gamers to ‘grammers, it celebrated the communities and values that make the Olympics special and encouraged people to interact with and share their own stories of belonging.

The campaign featured activations across social and digital channels including:

• Living Olympic Awards, introducing Olympic values by inviting audiences to vote for people from beyond the world of sport who exemplified those attributes in 2020

• My Story Belongs Here invited audiences to share their stories of belonging with the world, framed with an Instagram filter

• My Flag saw commissioned artists create flags that represented what the Olympics meant to them, used to invite audiences to create and share their own versions generated upon completing an online quiz

• Gamers Belong Here pitted gaming influencers and Coca-Cola Company athletes go head-to-head in live-streamed contests on SEGA Tokyo 2020 Olympics, supported by a fan voting system

While activations lived across multiple channels, users could also explore them and experience associated content on the Tokyo 2020 hub.

Results

Having set out to introduce the Olympics and make them relevant to Gen Z and Millennials, the results revealed the creative platform was hugely effective in engaging audiences with attention-grabbing, relevant content and engaging social experiences.

The initiative smashed benchmarks and targets, delivering 297m impressions and 130m video views. I Belong Here video content kept people enthralled, achieving 78% VTR.

On social, VTR extended to 91.61%: 435% above benchmark. Successfully piquing the interest of users across the globe, the campaign drove 1.3m clicks to the Tokyo 2020 website.

In addition, working with global influencers added further reach and relevance to the campaign enabling IOC and Coca-Cola to take the message to 12.8m more people, with 1.36m engaging with the partnership.

The Team

Ogilvy - Tim MacLehose, Head of Go To Market - Jackson Russ, Managing Partner - Jessica Apellaniz, Chief Creative Officer - Angus George, Executive Creative Director - Johnny Watters, Executive Creative Director - Matt Straker-Taylor, Social Strategy Director - Benedita Leitao, Strategist - Andy Feasey, Programme Director - Coby Walter, Programme Director - Christian Portugal, Senior Project Manager - Lily James, Creative - Naomi Nicholl, Creative - Sam Hinckley, Creative - Chris Lawlor, Creative - Dave Towers, Head of Design - Fantino Perez, Motion Designer - James Baldwin, Influence Director - Paul Dellow, Lead Experience Designer