LA28 Olympic Handover from Paris 2024 Olympic Games

ABOUT THIS ENTRY

The Handover from the Paris 2024 Games to the LA28 Games is the single biggest moment in the journey of an Olympic and Paralympic Games leading up to the Games. On Aug. 11, 2024, LA28 gave a world a taste of what's to come in 2028. As a cultural melting pot with a youthful energy, the Handover showcased all that LA has to offer - it's culture, diversity, music, entertainment and sport - featuring some of the world's biggest stars and some you may not know, from Tom Cruise, H.E.R. and Snoop Dogg to Olympic athletes including skateboarder Jagger Eaton and mountain biker Kate Courtney. The live in-stadium, televised production spanned Paris and LA with a bit of Hollywood magic.

Shattering all kinds of targets, the Handover was a critical moment for LA28 to engage with the world and invite them into the journey of the LA28 Games.

How does this represent "Excellence in Engagement"?

This work highlights how sport and culture can feed off each other to breakthrough and resonate globally.

It also showcases how different elements/entertainment mediums can cohesively work together to enrich storytelling. The hero piece of content included a live stunt, a pre-recorded film and a concert at the beach all strung together to deliver the most compelling narrative possible.

The marketing of the campaign also showcases how brands should think about maximizing the followers/audiences of the talent they engage with by offering bespoke shoulder content. Some of the most successful assets – beside the hero film which was broadcast on NBC - were bespoke or repurposed pieces of content tailored for talent. For example, Tom Cruise unveiled on his Instagram an exclusive trailer and a selfie on the rooftop of Stade de France that delivered over 4MM engagements and Billie Eilish posted her music performance on YouTube, garnering over 10MM views.

Finally, the marketing initiatives mentioned above are also an example of how the industry can get creative to drive engagement through complementary content while also respecting pre-existing broadcasting rights that can impact ownership of the key/hero assets.

Objective

The Handover from Paris to LA was to introduce the world to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games during the Closing Ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The goal was to capture the essence of Los Angeles and the LA28 brand, and give spectators a taste of what they can expect when the Olympic Games come back to Los Angeles in four years.

The LA28 Handover endeavored to showcase sport, the city and the people of LA while also tapping into Hollywood and the LA music scene that make this city a cultural capital of the world.

In addition, we needed to develop a concept that would both thrill a live audience inside the Stade De France, and also deliver an impactful TV moment for the hundreds of millions of fans watching the Paris 2024 Closing Ceremonies in their homes.

After an incredibly successful Olympic Games in Paris, it was crucial to build on that momentum—showing fans that LA is ready to raise the bar and that the best is yet to come in 2028.

Strategy & Execution

The modern sports fan isn’t a sports fan in isolation; they deeply care about the athletes and the competition as well as culture and entertainment. This is particularly true for Olympic fans who engage with the Games to see the world’s greatest sporting event and for the can’t-miss pop culture moments that overtake social media.

Today, sports and culture are inseparable and intertwined, with fans consuming both back-to-back in an endless scroll and because the athletes themselves permeate and shape culture.

With this in mind, we developed a concept that brought together the most recognizable names in entertainment & music (Tom Cruise, Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre, Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers, H.E.R) as well as iconic and upcoming Olympic athletes (Simone Biles, Michael Johnson, Kate Courtney, Jagger Eaton). This star-studded cast were the heroes in an epic journey that brought the Olympic Flag from Paris to LA.

In addition to the hero film itself, we developed a wide range of marketing assets (trailers, teasers, BTS) that were leveraged strategically across social media platforms – tapping into the individual accounts of talent – reaching fans everywhere they consume media, driving tune-in and maximizing amplification.

Organizations

• LA28 Olympic
• Parlympic Games
• Fulwell 73 Productions

Links

•   Website

Featured

• Tom Cruise
• H.E.R.
• Snoop Dog
• Dr. Dre
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Billie Eilish
• Kate Courtney Olympian
• Jagger Eaton Olympian
• Michael Johnson Olympian

Credits

Amy Gleeson
CMO (at time of project)
LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Dana Lent
VP, Games Experiences and Engagement
LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Olivia Cheng
VP, Marketing and Brand Engagement
LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Eric Vexelman
Director, Brand Strategy
LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Aaron Lowenstein
VP, Deputy General Counsel
LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games