After a year-long delay, the Tokyo Olympic Games are finally here. Along with athletes and fans around the world, brands have also been anxiously awaiting the postponed 2020 Olympics to debut new TV ad creative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So far in 2021, sponsors like Toyota, Trulicity, Verzenio, Visa, New Balance and more have already advertised around the Games. And there\u2019s plenty more to come once the opening ceremony begins. While we expect this year\u2019s Olympic Games to have a different look and feel from previous years, analyzing TV ads from 2016 (Rio) and 2018 (PyeongChang) can still foreshadow what to expect this time around in Tokyo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2016 and 2018 Olympics TV Ad Performance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2018, 332 advertisers aired 730 unique spots over 15,000 times over the course of the Olympics. The 2016 and 2018 both respectively generated over a billion dollars in TV ad revenues for NBC, which in turn delivered 30 billion TV ad impressions for its brand advertisers. NBC garnered over 2 billion TV ad impressions per day<\/em> for the first 10 days for both of those events. For reference, this year\u2019s Super Bowl saw 6.3 billion TV ad impressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the 2016 and 2018 Olympics, automakers were the biggest sponsors from an industry perspective. Auto brands accounted for 16.8% of national TV ad spend in 2016 and 18.5% in 2018 — and in both cases, that number was twice that of the next-highest industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Emotional Themes from 2016 and 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to the feel<\/em> of Olympic-themed ads, key themes emerge. Inspirational, heartfelt storytelling has been the norm as brands capitalize on the emotions surrounding the games and the athletes themselves. In 2016 and 2018, 64% and 53% of respective Olympic-themed ads scored on the Inspiring metric from Ace Metrix Creative Assessment<\/a>. With all the trials and tribulations in 2020, this year\u2019s Olympics is sure to be packed with inspirational TV ad messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most Inspirational Olympics-Minded Ads<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n