By Sheila Dang and Mimosa Spencer
PARIS (Reuters) - Winning athletes in Paris have received their medals on Louis Vuitton trays before being handed a Samsung flip phone to take a "victory selfie", heralding a new era of product placement at the Olympics that Los Angeles looks set to build upon.
The medalists' podium photo didn't happen by chance. Samsung told Reuters it began talks with the International Olympic Committee 18 months ahead of the Games to plot the product placement drive.
The boundary-pushing placement of wares by high-profile sponsors LVMH and Samsung in Paris is illustrative of how sponsors are seeking new commercial opportunities from an event that still has strict rules around advertising inside competition venues.
Samsung said the strategy was "driving awareness of the new Galaxy Z Flip6 globally," though it did not provide details on sales since the Paris Games opened.
Meanwhile online searches for LVMH grew 43% in the United States during the first week of the Games, according to digital analysis provider Captify.
The opening ceremony saw artists Lady Gaga, Aya Nakamura and Celine Dion all clad in LVMH brand Dior, whilst the event included a minutes-long video showcasing Louis Vuitton's design and crafting of the Olympic flame trunks and medal trays.
"Paris has moved things on significantly for all and created something that's been like a playground for brands - the ultimate playground," said Steve Martin, founding partner of MSQ Sport and Entertainment, a sports marketing agency.
Paris 2024 has seen sponsors and broadcasters turn to product placement, influencers and celebrity commentators like U.S. rapper Snoop Dogg to reach younger audiences and new markets.
The International Olympic Committee this week said it was embracing the trend and facilitating it.
Organisers of Los Angeles 2028 say their Games - with a budget estimated at $6.9 billion - will be privately funded through a combination of sponsorship, ticket revenue, broadcast and merchandise revenues, and not taxpayer money.
LA28 officials told Reuters they had raised more than $1 billion in domestic sponsorship to date, more than Paris had achieved at the same point, and was two thirds of the way toward its goal that exceeds $2 billion.
LA28 anticipates announcing an auto sponsor by the end of the year, LA28 CEO Casey Wasserman told Reuters.
"We’re in the market for the category, we've got very active discussions and I imagine that before year-end, we're likely to announce our partner," he said.
THE 'COMEBACK OLYMPICS'
The increased product placement at Paris 2024 is likely to prompt debate over just how far to push it.
Michael Payne, a former IOC marketing director, said the overt display of LVMH wares during the opening ceremony and the 'victory selfies' with Samsung's flip phone threatened to cross a fine line.
"Other sponsors will say, 'well, why can't I have something on the medal stand?'" he said. "If you let that genie out of the bottle, you will never put it back," he told Reuters.
Nonetheless, the IOC appears set on its course.
"This is the path that we are taking, deliberately, and you will see things evolve in that direction in future Games," Anne-Sophie Voumard, the IOC's Managing Director of Television and Marketing Services, told reporters this week.
The IOC's shift was "encouraging", said Martin Sorrell, the founder and former chief executive of WPP, a leading global advertising group.
Los Angeles' reputation as a city that oozes celebrity glamour, wealth and ostentation was a tantalising prospect for sponsors, said Harry Poole, vice president of marketing solutions at Excel Sports Management.
"There couldn't be a better commercial market," he said.
(Reporting by Sheila Dang and Mimosa Spencer; additional reporting by Rory Carroll and Mathieu Rosemain; Writing by Dominique Patton; Editing by Richard Lough and Christina Fincher)
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