The 2024 Paris Olympics acted as a stage for athletes to showcase their physical abilities and prowess as well as their highly sought-after beauty looks. Hosting over 30 million views per day, with ratings up by more than 75% compared to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, the games became a hub for beauty marketing. From innovative beauty partnerships and sponsorships to athletes embracing makeup and skincare as part of their pre-event routine, the 2024 Olympics challenged conventional perceptions of beauty in the world of competitive sports.
The hype began with a successful stance from Sephora, the official partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relays. Sephora's Olympics campaign featured activations in the 46 stores located in the cities covered by the relay. Sephora employees including Guillaume Motte, CEO of Sephora, were among the torchbearers. In-shop activations included sport-themed makeovers, as well as opportunities for customers to win beauty products and tickets for the games. Once the games kicked off, Sephora makeup artists decorated the medalists who took to the podium at the Trocadéro each evening.
"Sephora's commitment as Official Partner of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relays is a source of immense pride for our 52,000 employees worldwide," Motte commented. "Personally, I am very honored to have been one of the torchbearers, along with more than 50 of our employees."
P&G was another key beauty industry player making its mark at the Olympics. The business, which has been a worldwide partner of the International Olympic Committee since 2010, brought its popular brands including Always, Gillette, and Oral-B to the event as an official partner. P&G collaborated with over 500 athletes, homing in on their daily beauty routines to draw a connection between the "superior performance of athletes and P&G brands."
P&G's powerful partnerships took many different forms. Venus launched "The Power of Smooth" campaign, highlighting its razors as athlete-trusted to achieve smooth skin during precompetition routines. Following a similar path, Gillette unveiled an exclusive Olympic gold razor, focusing on its "the best a man can get" slogan to support male athletes. Head & Shoulders granted itself a "Gold Medal Against Dandruff" with an ad campaign featuring Team GB gymnast Jake Jarman and hurdles athlete Jessie Knight, while Oral-B presented "Brush Like a Champion," naming itself the Olympic's number one oral care brand.
Always, the Official Period Product of Paris 2024, emphasized the importance of comfortability and confidence when it comes to female athletes' intimate care regimes. The brand's "It's a New Period" campaign encouraged education surrounding period protection for athletes in a way that celebrated womanhood. Throughout the stadiums and athlete accommodations, Always products were stored in restrooms. The campaign followed in the footsteps of several other brands pushing a positive period narrative, including West Ham United FC Women's Club partnership with FemFresh and August's collaboration with USA Track & Field athletes.
To give athletes the space and time to focus on achieving their Olympic goals, P&G provided complimentary services and products to the 22,000 participants and their staff staying in the athletes' village. This ranged from more simplistic touches including a branded welcome bag consisting of health and hygiene products to more complex activities such as The Olympic Village Nursery with Pampers. The nursery created a convenient environment for athletes with children to reconnect with their families post-events, as well as childcare during events, hosting space for playtime and changing with free-of-charge diapers and wipes.
Grooming salons were opened by Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Gillette, Braun, and Mielle Organics, designed to help athletes look and feel their best. Mielle Organics used its presence to raise awareness of the textured-hair expertise gap in women's sports, being the only brand to provide services for coily, curly, and wavy hair types. Athletes were able to request a range of hairstyles, including braids, curly cuts, and blowouts while being guided through haircare tips from textured hair professionals.
"Every day, P&G brands provide consumers with high performance products that they trust to meet their daily household and personal care needs for themselves and their families," said P&G Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard. "That inspired us to prominently feature how those superior performing products serve athletes, families, and fans so they can focus on achieving their personal best whether on the Olympic or Paralympic stage or in those everyday moments in life that matter."
Fenty Beauty indulged in all things makeup and medals as another official partner of the games. The brand gifted beauty kits to the 600 volunteers who presented medals to winning athletes. These volunteers were also granted access to Fenty's makeup artists to prepare their looks for the award ceremonies. The brand had a social media viral moment at the games when a video of gold medal gymnast Simone Biles (who also gave K18 presence at the Olympics) surfaced, in which she could be seen topping up her makeup with Fenty's setting powder while awaiting the team finals. The partnership continues Fenty's dedication to having a presence in the sport's realm, following its appearance at the 2023 SuperBowl during Fenty founder Rihanna's performance.
Aside from authorized partnerships, many other beauty brands had their winning moment at the games. Rhode's Peptide phone case frenzy continued to take the internet by storm when American gymnast Sunisa Lee was seen topping up her lipstick using her phone as a mirror, which was protected by the viral case. The moment got beauty fans talking, with several commenting on the "It Girl" status of the brand for it to have a presence at the event among prestigious athletes. These social media moments represent how beneficial organic advertising can be at such events, as the brand garnered significant attention and visibility through an authentic, unpaid endorsement from Lee.
Caudalie also tapped into the opportunity to have an Olympic marketing moment despite not being a partner of the games. The brand did so through a creative yet subtle strategy on Instagram, posting a CGI video (which amassed 8 million views) of a large version of its Vinoperfect Serum traveling down the Seine River. The serum was then applied to the river, turning it from a dark brown color to a bright blue shade—a reference to the much talked about moment when Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo went for a swim in the river to prove it was clean enough to host the triathlon competition.
"We knew that we couldn't directly reference the Olympics because we are not a partner and couldn't afford to be. But we wanted to be a part of the conversation," Alexandra Gachet, Caudalie's Global Communications Director, stated. "Everyone was talking about the Seine and how it's always so dirty and the mayor's swim, so we had to jump on the opportunity as soon as possible."
As this year's games were the first in history to have gender parity, with over 5,000 female athletes, beauty gained a mass of attention aside from brand-specific activations, with viewers closely eying athletes' hairstyles, manicures, and makeup. Countless participants went above and beyond to express themselves—notable examples included Team GB weightlifter Emily Campbell who attracted the eyes of many, winning her gold medal with the Olympic rings braided into her hair, as well as Team USA sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson who set the standard for nails, showcasing her signature ornate manicure.
Despite beauty being a typically female-dominated category, male athletes were also involved in beautifying themselves in spirit of the Olympics. USA Track & Field athlete Noah Lyles intrigued onlookers as he took to the stadium with pearl hair accessories and a manicure that replicated abstract designs of the USA flag on one hand and the word "ICON" painted across the other.
During an interview with US Weekly, Lyles addressed the topic, speaking of some of the negative comments he received as a result of his beauty choices. "To be honest, I'm so confident in myself that it doesn't really matter. I think [the comments are] funny at times," he expressed. The athlete's bold sense of self, along with his creative flare, has opened up a wider conversation, giving men's beauty the space to be seen on the Olympic stage.
Beauty has firmly established itself as a prominent force at the Olympics, providing athletes with products and services that enhance their confidence while making a powerful connection between beauty and sport. The presence of the industry at the games has also sparked important conversations surrounding gender equality, challenging traditional norms in both the worlds of beauty and sport, respectively. Looking ahead to the Paralympics, there is a significant opportunity for beauty brands to further this dialogue, helping them to push the boundaries of marketing, while offering inclusive support that celebrates the diverse way atheletes express themselves both on and off the field.
