Team GB goes for gold on TikTok

This year’s Paris Olympics are like no other, and it won’t just be athletes competing for a podium placing but brands too, as these games mark a milestone in sports advertising. ‘Chronically online’ or just the new way audiences interact with sporting events, Team GB and Paralympics GB are plugged in and celebrating discovery on TikTok.

As part of the social media giant’s It Starts on TikTok campaign, they are ringing in a summer of sport with an activation which heroes the mindset of Team GB and Paralympics GB and celebrates the new things that people start after discovering them on TikTok. Huge sporting stars feature, including Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Lauren Steadman MBE and Delicious Orie, who share their incredible stories and highlight how they use TikTok to inspire others.

If Facebook’s legacy is keeping your friends virtual, then TikTok’s is fostering online communities. Whether it’s BookTok to inspire your next read or #runningtips which may take you to your first marathon, goal setting and community spirit is TikTok’s north star.

This year’s event is being billed as the ‘first real social Olympics’, and if brands want to truly make their mark, they’re going to have to go big.

With Gen Z getting their Olympics content through clips on TikTok, marketers’ growing confidence in the platform and its ecommerce capabilities represents a great place for brands to gain full funnel engagement with consumers. The numbers don’t lie, with GroupM’s latest mid-year forecast estimates that advertiser spending on paid social channels will grow 9.9% to $342.9 billion in 2024, with the proportion going to TikTok rising dramatically. Alongside this, Forrester’s 2024 Marketing Survey found that 67% of B2C marketers in the U.S. said their organisation plans to increase their investment in TikTok this year.

The arena of sports advertising is evolving dramatically, and the smart brand and marketers will be the first to pick up a metal. Team GB and Paralympics GB’s activation cleverly taps into the power of community on TikTok, and exploring organic avenues of inspiration should be in every marketer’s locker for future sporting events.