news

This Paris Olympics,Very "luxurious".

Opening ceremony uniforms, medal boxes, torch boxes... In this year's Olympics, many luxury brands such as LVMH, Decathlon, Hermes, Chanel, Gucci and others participated unprecedentedly. Among them, LVMH Group, which took advantage of being the host country, became the largest local sponsor of the Paris Olympics with an investment of 150 million euros.

Image source: Internet screenshot

Behind the “big-money” sponsorship are the continuous profit warnings in the luxury goods industry since this year. Will the Olympics become an opportunity for “LV” to make a comeback?

Luxury brands focus on Olympic marketing

From the opening ceremony, LVMH brands appeared in close-up shots several times, occupying at least dozens of seconds of camera time. For example, the torch was stored in LV's suitcase; the Cheval Blanc Hotel and the Louis Vuitton Foundation Art Museum were both stops along the torch relay route...

Image source: Internet screenshot

The frequent "face-swiping" made "LV hard advertising" a hot search after the opening ceremony. Everyone was impressed by how much money LVMH Group spent. One netizen said bluntly: "The financial sponsor is different. The global advertising blockbuster premiered at the Olympics."

According to public reports, this Olympics attracted 79 Olympic sponsors, with sponsorship revenue estimated to reach 1.3 billion US dollars. As the senior partner of the Paris Olympics, LVMH Group sponsored the Paris Olympics with a total amount of 150 million euros.

Other luxury brands are not to be outdone. Top luxury brand Hermès also provided a full set of equipment for the French equestrian team. The brand's long-term illustrator Ugo Gattoni designed a hand-painted official poster for the Paris Olympics; Chanel's high-end craft workshop Lesage contributed hand-embroidery to the French athletes' competition uniforms; Emporio Armani also became the sponsor of the Italian national team's uniforms.

Image source: Internet screenshot

At the same time, some luxury brands are "attracting attention" by "betting" on athletes to step onto the Olympic podium - Qin Haiyang wore a TAG Heuer watch on the podium; Zhang Yufei wore a watch from Omega at the award ceremony; and the Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet worn by Zhang Jialang during the game also sparked heated discussions among netizens.

Image source: Internet screenshot

More and more athletes are establishing cooperation with luxury brands. Brands are no longer just focusing on "old money" sports such as skiing and tennis. Popular players in table tennis and swimming teams also have cooperation and endorsement with luxury brands. For example, Chen Meng is a brand friend of Dior China, Ma Long is a brand ambassador of Prada, and Wang Shun has cooperated with both Jaeger-LeCoultre and Boss.

In addition, some luxury brands have chosen to "take a different approach" and start from the surrounding areas. For example, Balenciaga, a brand under Kering Group, launched the "Souvenir Shop" Paris city souvenir series, printing the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe on many bags in the new series.

Can the Olympics be a life-saving straw?

World-class sporting events are a battleground for brand marketing. Kantar research shows that sporting events are a great opportunity for brand growth because they have a unified emotional atmosphere and huge influence.

Looking back, the tradition of sports and luxury goods "being in the same frame" is very old. In 1860, Charles Louis Tiffany, the founder of Tiffany, commissioned silversmiths to hand-make trophies. The first work was the Woodlawn Vase made for horse racing events, which is still one of the most expensive sports trophies in the world.

In fact, the reason behind the "screen-sweeping" of luxury goods in this Olympics is its increasing reliance on sports marketing. Bain & Company has recently released several reports that cross-border cooperation with sports has become one of the common ways for luxury brands to promote their brands. For example, Dior cooperated with a sports club for the first time in 2021 and signed a two-year sponsorship contract with Paris Saint-Germain to provide the team with formal and casual wear. In the same year, Italian luxury brand Loro Piana became a partner of Juventus Football Club in the 2021/22 season.

Since the beginning of this year, the luxury goods industry has been issuing profit warnings. Gucci's parent company Kering Group's revenue in the first half of the year fell 11% year-on-year to 9.018 billion euros; LV's parent company LVMH's sales revenue in the first half of the year fell 1% year-on-year to 41.7 billion euros, and net profit fell 14% to 7.3 billion euros. Burberry released its first quarter report for fiscal year 2025. In the three months ending June 29, the company's retail sales fell 22% year-on-year to 460 million euros, and same-store sales fell 21%. Burberry warned that if the business downturn continues into this quarter, it is expected to incur an operating loss in the first half of fiscal year 2025, and the full-year operating profit will be lower than expected; and Hermès has not escaped the situation of slowing performance growth. According to Hermès' financial report, in the first half of 2024, Hermès' revenue was 7.5 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 15%. In terms of market share, the Asia-Pacific market share, including China, has dropped from 49% to 47%.

Amid the crisis, the Paris Olympics may be an opportunity for French luxury giants to get out of the shadows, but at the same time, this Olympics is also a stage for major sports brands to compete. So, can increasing investment in the sports field help luxury brands "turn around"?To boost its performance?

LVMH Chief Executive Bernard Arnault has said the Olympic sponsorship will not have a significant impact on the group's profits, but LVMH's participation should "enhance the image of the group and its brands."

Industry insiders pointed out that brands can increase exposure and shape their brand image with the help of major sports events and top athletes. If they want to quickly convert exposure into sales, brand owners need to think about the conversion path. However, compared with mass consumer goods, luxury goods have a weaker traffic conversion rate, and whether they can generate considerable sales is unknown.

Industry commentator Zhang Shule also said that there are not many sports related to luxury brands, mainly some sports derived from aristocratic sports, such as equestrianism and tennis, and more general sports such as the three major balls are more suitable for fast-moving consumer goods. Relying solely on some specific projects to accurately market to mid- to high-end users is indeed effective, but it cannot break through the ceiling.

Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter Li Xuanzi and intern Liu Gongchen reported comprehensively

Reporting and rights protection channels: Download the "Morning Video" client from the App Store, search for "Help" and go directly to it; or add the reporting customer service on WeChat: xxcbcsp; or call the hotline 0731-85571188. If you need content cooperation, please call the government and enterprise service hotline 19176699651.