Luxury Venues during the 2024 Paris Olympics
are up for grabs for brands wanting to stand out
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What if hiring luxury venues during the 2024 Olympics were a good opportunity for brands, even small ones? The Olympic Games are only six months away from now and I was wondering how much of an opportunity it was for brands and which ones. To find out I invited Tanya Bencheva, the CEO and founder of Native Spaces, to share her reflections on that subject. Little did I imagine, when I first contacted Tanya, that there were so many options for smaller brands. It’s certainly up for grabs and our readers should definitely give it a thought.
2024 Olympic Games in Paris: Luxury Venues are a Good Bargain for Smaller Brands
What are the expectations six months ahead of the Games
Tanya Bencheva. It’s certainly a very exciting event. I really hope for everybody and for the world that it’s going to be as big as we expect it to be because we are all in need of a reminder of the values brought together by the 2024 Olympic Games.
How successful do you think will it be from a business point of view?
It would be a no-brainer not to use that event to get more visibility.
Now how big it will be, I couldn’t say precisely but there are a lot of expectations and buzz. What we know for sure is that a lot of property owners are increasingly coming to us to try and monetise their buildings and venues via this big happening.
Why should a brand bother about luxury venues and the Olympic Games at all?
There are many, reasons for this. There will be millions of people from all over the world and with a high level of income who will be staying in Paris during the Olympic Games. Hence it’s an excellent opportunity for visibility. On top of that, these people will share content with their communities, and that adds other millions of viewers to the lot. And then obviously the games are televised, therefore generating more listeners. So it’s an incredible possibility to build brand awareness. And beyond that, engagement.
I think it’s a no-brainer.
Is it just for big, renowned brands?
I think they can all benefit in different ways. That’s a unique opportunity to advertise internationally. Established brands can bring together their fans, they will already be in town for the Olympics, so they can increase customer engagement.
There are particular sectors that would be more prone to profit from this visibility, though. Anything that has to do with sports and also maybe apparel and consumer brands. But that being said, the Olympic Games are about much more than just sport. It’s a huge event that is based on positive values that any marque may want to be associated with. So, I think any label may try to find creative ways to align itself with the Olympic spirit.
If I were selling plastic tarpaulins, could I jump on the bandwagon too?
You could! There are always creative ways to grab the public’s attention. The Paris Olympic Games have a special focus on sustainability. This could trigger an idea for you, but you’d have to do that with authenticity, though. If you don’t live and breathe such values, it would be more difficult to align your brand with them.
Are such luxury venues only for B2C businesses?
Of course not! B2B companies can also resort to these kinds of events not only for visibility but mostly to show special attention to their larger clients. For instance, inviting key customers to join them in their private lounges. They can invite them to outstanding locations overlooking some of the sports venues or lavish apartments overlooking the river Seine. Or inviting their clients to watch the opening ceremony in a specially branded environment.
How do brands, and especially lesser-known ones stand out from the crowd?
You don’t need to spend billions to engage your, audiences because there are many creative ways to build personalised experiences.
Younger people feel more comfortable in small groups and very niche communities. And brands are more and more inclined to acknowledge this. Intimate spaces, remarkable spaces for those events or experiences that will suit smaller groups. That requires preparation and the greater the surprise, the more unique the experience, the bigger the impact.
For a very small business wanting to attract people’s attention, what kind of venue would you choose?
I would select a venue whose authenticity is suited to my brand values. Is my brand very digital or experiential? What is my audience like? I would choose the venue that reflects the personality of my audience. So it might be a homey place if this is a small brand where the community spirit is very important, or something completely out of the ordinary. For example, a brand like Jacquemus that will set up events in vast natural spaces.
The buzz created before, during and after the event also enables the brand to extend its visibility.
It’s not always a good idea to throw a lot of money at exceptional venues overlooking the Eiffel Tower. There are other ways and means.
What about online and hybrid events?
I think one doesn’t quite realise how much hybrid events have become. By the way, we don’t call them hybrid events anymore. Businesses have realised that, in essence, the audience for an event is bound to be hybrid.
I think one doesn’t quite realise how much hybrid events have become.
Hybrid events are no longer the same, though. In the beginning, we were trying to push the same content in the same format to our online audiences, for example, streaming conferences. That really didn’t resonate well with our audiences. Online audiences will consume content differently. They are different people, they belong to different segments from those that will be present on location.
Maybe both populations were mixed during those Covid years because they had no choice but to be online. But those audiences’ expectations are very different now. Often, those who attend online are those who wouldn’t have been there in person. So you need to think about them in a different manner.
We have also witnessed a significant change in event management platforms. It’s incredible what you can do online nowadays and how you can deliver that hybrid content. Besides, even those people who are physically there are experiencing a hybrid event. They are attending the event on location and are connected at the same time. They are engaging with brands and other users on their phones. It’s an omnichannel experience.
Could you give us some examples?
Recently I was attending a big tech conference for start-ups and investors in Helsinki. They did an amazing job of bringing the virtual and physical worlds together. Delegates were able to organise their meetings on the fly with the app wherever they were and on location. Meeting places were geolocated with the app and so on. Digital really was instrumental in making such a big event more successful.
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Yann Gourvennec a créé visionarymarketing.com en 1996. Il est conférencier et auteur de 6 livres. En 2014, il est passé d'intrapreneur à entrepreneur en créant son agence de marketing numérique.
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