What’s Your Olympics Marketing Plan?

How brands can capitalize on the world’s biggest shared moment, without pretending they’re Nike.

For the next two months, the world is about to talk about one thing, and one thing only: the Olympics.

The 2026 Winter Olympics are about to dominate headlines, social feeds, and dinner-table conversations. At the same time, momentum around the 2028 Games in Los Angeles is accelerating fast. Venue announcements, early storytelling, sponsor activity, and yes, even ticket conversations are starting now. This is not a one-week spike of attention. It is a long, slow burn that smart marketers prepare for early.

Which raises an important question for brands of every size and category.

What is your Olympics marketing plan?

First, let’s get something straight: 99.99999% of the people reading this haven’t purchased ad space during the Olympics broadcast. So we are NOT talking about your actual marketing plan for the Olympics. We’re just talking about “your plan” as it relates to the Olympics. Not your sponsorship plan. Not your logo-placement fantasy. Your plan for how, when, and whether your brand shows up during one of the most emotionally charged global moments we collectively experience.

Because moments like this are rare. And when they arrive, they reward brands that understand what they are really tapping into.

The Olympics are not an ad opportunity. They are an attention opportunity.

The Olympics create something marketers cannot manufacture, no matter how big the budget. Shared attention at a global scale. For a brief window, billions of people are focused on the same stories, the same human drama, the same sense of anticipation and pride.

That kind of focus is marketing gold, but only if you understand what you are borrowing!

The brands that perform best around the Olympics are not trying to sell. They are trying to resonate. They understand that the Games function as emotional infrastructure. The Olympics give people permission to feel. Pride. Hope. Tension. Belonging. Awe.

Brands that treat the Olympics like a billboard opportunity tend to feel hollow. Brands that treat them like a cultural moment tend to feel human.

And that distinction matters whether you are a global brand or a local organization.

Global moment, local intelligence

One of the biggest misconceptions about Olympic marketing is that it requires a global message. In reality, global moments demand sharper local thinking.

A small business does not need to pretend it has an international footprint. A state organization does not need to speak to the entire world. A B2B company does not need to suddenly adopt consumer-brand theatrics. The Olympics do not ask brands to go bigger. They ask brands to go more relevant.

Local intelligence is what separates thoughtful participation from awkward bandwagoning. It is the difference between acknowledging the moment and forcing yourself into it.

For Colorado-based organizations, the Winter Olympics land differently than they do in other regions. For healthcare brands, the stories of endurance and recovery resonate in a completely different way than they do for real estate developers. For B2B companies, the lessons of preparation, partnership, and performance translate cleanly if you know your audience well enough to draw the line.

The Olympics give you a shared language. It is your job to speak it fluently within your own context.

What you can and can’t say, and why that is not a problem

Major sporting events come with rules, and the Olympics are no exception. Certain terms, marks, and phrases are protected. This is similar to the Super Bowl or March Madness, where brands navigate carefully around official language.

The mistake many marketers make is letting those rules shut down creativity entirely.

Constraints are not the enemy of good marketing. They often make it better. When you cannot rely on official language or logos, you are forced to communicate through ideas, tone, and storytelling. You focus on themes rather than trademarks. On meaning rather than mechanics.

Most audiences do not care whether a brand uses the word “Olympics” explicitly. They care whether the brand understands why the moment matters.

If your entire idea depends on a protected phrase, it was never a strong idea to begin with.

Why Olympic storytelling always feels emotional

Watch a highlight reel of Olympic advertising from any decade and a pattern emerges quickly. You will see human stories. Personal sacrifice. Long roads. Quiet moments before the noise. Families watching from afar. Communities holding their breath together.

This is not accidental.

The Olympics are not about perfection. They are about pursuit. They celebrate the effort as much as the outcome, the preparation as much as the podium. That is why the best Olympic marketing rarely feels flashy. It feels earned.

Brands that understand this do not try to hijack the emotion. They align with it. They find the parallel between what athletes experience and what their own audiences experience, whether that is perseverance, teamwork, ambition, or resilience.

This approach works across industries because it is rooted in something universal. People want to see themselves reflected in the story, not sold to inside it.

Practical ways brands can participate without pretending

You do not need sponsorship rights to participate thoughtfully in the Olympic moment. There are smart, accessible ways brands of all sizes can engage.

Content is the most obvious. Stories about preparation, dedication, and progress translate well across channels. Short-form video, behind-the-scenes features, and employee spotlights can all echo Olympic themes without ever referencing the Games directly.

Internal culture is another opportunity many brands overlook. The Olympics create shared viewing moments. Team watch parties, internal challenges, or storytelling initiatives tied to values like commitment and teamwork can strengthen culture in a way that feels timely and organic.

Community involvement also matters. Local partnerships, youth programs, wellness initiatives, or educational efforts aligned with movement, health, or opportunity can carry Olympic energy without borrowing Olympic language.

The common thread is intention. Participation should feel natural to who you are, not bolted on because the calendar told you to do something.

The most important question: should you be doing this at all?

Not every brand needs an Olympics marketing plan. And having the restraint to say that out loud is often the mark of a confident marketer.

Relevance matters more than reach. Timing matters more than volume. Authenticity matters more than cleverness.

If the connection between your brand and the moment feels forced, audiences will sense it immediately. Silence can be a strategy. Observation can be preparation. Sometimes the smartest move is watching how others show up and learning from it.

The goal is not to be loud. The goal is to be aligned.

How COHN rises to the Olympics moment

At COHN, we spend a lot of time thinking about moments like the Olympics because they reveal how brands really operate under pressure. Big moments expose shallow thinking quickly. They reward clarity, confidence, and creativity grounded in strategy.

We are genuinely thrilled to be part of the conversation around LA28. It is an incredibly exciting opportunity to work on an event we have known and respected for most of our lives. Creating marketing for the Games that resonate locally and globally is the kind of challenge that motivates our team to do our best work.

COHN works through a blend of internal and external partners to exceed client goals. For LA28, that includes a seasoned art director who created the Look of the Games for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, along with an L.A.-based partner deeply connected to popular culture and influencer marketing. Together with our core team, this approach allows us to work in true partnership for meaningful results.

What guides us is consistent across every engagement.

Relationships come first. Impactful results are built through shared vision and trust.
Commitment is non-negotiable. We show up, we do the right thing, and we stay invested for the long haul.
Creativity and innovation run throughout everything we do. Strategy, service, and creativity are not separate disciplines. They work best together.

The Olympics remind us why great marketing matters. When the world is paying attention, brands have a responsibility to show up with intention, empathy, and intelligence.

So the question remains.

What’s your Olympics marketing plan?

And if you want to talk through it, we would love to be part of that conversation.