Team GB’s epic medal haul highlights the commercial value of the brand

It also sealed the team’s transformation into a commercial brand. The value was there in the wake of London 2012 but much of that stemmed from being the host and so its marketing team paused for breath in the immediate aftermath to understand what the Team GB brand means. “We knew going into London that we really wanted to create a commercial brand and engage with the nation but we wanted to take time after it ended to do a bit of soul searching,” explains Leah Davis, Team GB’s head of marketing.

Communicating that value was always going to be different to last time around given the absence of the financial muscle of an organising committee like Locog behind it and the build-up to the Games blighted by social and doping scandals. “Our vision is for a nation to be inspired by Olympic athletes and the pursuit of excellence, which from a marketing perspective means how do we engage a nation to come together in support of the athletes and will them on to do their best,” says Davis of a plan that is very much in the mould of the integrated options Team USA and the International Olympics Committee are using to swell commercial revenue.

“That whole concept of home nation support is basically part of what we classify as marginal gain – the more the team feels supported, it can contribute to the success of the athletes on the field of play,” she adds.

Look no further for proof of concept then this weekend’s epic achievements. Fans across the country stayed up late into the night cheering on their heroes as the team moved closer to winning the most medals since the 1908 Games in London, when it scooped an astonishing 146 awards. Harnessing all that goodwill is a welcome problem for Davis and her team, who are calling on everything from Facebook Live to Snapchat and experiential to CRM to get the most from a budget that’s always going to play second fiddle to sports performance.

“We’ve been asking people to send in messages of support and then we’re using them on all our branding in the village and in the team house over in Rio,” adds Davis. “So if an athlete walks into their bedroom they see a poster with 100 messages of support – it’s bridging the gap between fan and the athlete.”

Throughout the Games the team is live-streaming a daily show from the British House pop-up, featuring interviews with medallists. Billed as more “fun and frivolous” in comparison to the other interviews they might give, each is done by one of the celebrity ambassadors working with the team. Live-streaming also happened on Twitter’s Periscope prior to the Games, while Davis is allowing athletes and ambassadors to take over the Team GB Snapchat. Instagram and YouTube round off the online push as the brand outdoors benefits from live results beamed to Ocean Outdoor’s screens across the UK.

Having a robust fan engagement strategy is impossible without the brand partners to amplify those messages. And while the roster of Team GB sponsors isn’t as big as London 2012, Davis assures a change in the way it works with the likes of Adidas and Nissan this year offsets any losses it has incurred. “It’s much more about creating sponsorship activations that are focused on where the fan is. I think that’s the difference in how we activate our sponsorships compared to the last few years,” she continues.

DFS is a “good example,” cites the marketer, even if a partnership with a sofa retailer might seem a little odd for a brand associated with athleticism. However, “the majority of people watch an away Games on their sofa,” she says of the insight that led to DFS’ products being used to ensure athletes are comfy as they’re being grilled on one of the its sofas during the Team GB ‘Great Brits Game On’ show.

“It’s having that view of turning it on its head a little bit and doing things from a more interesting angle,” says Davis of the strategy. “I would rather do less content and make sure it’s of higher quality rather than have stories out there every week just for the sake of it. We do take pride in the content and the quality of our brand.”

It may seem like a world away from the goodwill around the team now but the brand had been knocked in the run up to Games, admits Davis, in so far as the doping scandal around the Russian team dominated much of media coverage. “We’ve taken a very strong stance that we’re absolutely anti any kind of doping or anything that’s questionable in sport… we don’t shy away from that at all,” she says.

An additional challenge is continuing the Olympic legacy from London 2012. Over £9bn was spent on three weeks of elite sports but some critics slammed London 2012’s failure to inspire more people to get fit. The number of people playing sports at least once a week had declined by 222,000 in the first six months of 2015, while the percentage of those on the lowest incomes participating in sport hit the lowest level since records began in 2005. British Olympic Association chairman Lord Seb Coe has always insisted that it will take up to 10 years for London 2012’s legacy to materialise but Davis believes are encouraging signs already.

“We have nearly 90 per cent of schools in the UK today that are still teaching modules based on Olympic values,” she continues. “That programme was set up as part of London 2012 and for it to be still going at such a broad spectrum of schools is something that we’re really proud of. There’s also the fact still want to engage with us as proof of the legacy has been successful.”

Davis also points to later this month when ITV will turn off all seven of its channels for an hour to encourage the nation to take part in what is being billed as the ‘UK’s biggest sports day’ as proof the legacy is alive and well. “We’ve put a lot of work into this and if it comes off then there’s a huge legacy story that’s under a Team GB and partners’ umbrella,” she explains.

The biggest challenge for Team GB is to keep up the momentum and relevance once the Olympics is over. Investment needs to go into those digital platforms which provide the team and its partners with an opportunity to continue engaging with a nation that is so interested in the team and its athletes, advises Misha Sher, head of sport and entertainment at MediaCom.

“Other rights owners are becoming more sophisticated in being able to leverage technology and digital platforms in particular to ensure there is an ongoing engagement that fosters affinity. The key is in leveraging the power of their athletes to create specific online and offline initiatives to drive a closer connection with the audience and reinforce the unique attributes of Team GB.”

Additional reporting by Tony Connelly.