Inside brands like Powerade, Reese’s and Old El Paso’s Olympic and Paralympic influencer play

The Olympic Games aren’t due to start until the final week of July, but brands hoping to bask in the glow of the Olympic torch have already commenced campaign efforts. And as the Paris Games edge closer, partnerships with competing athletes are set to be an increasingly vital part of the brand arsenal.

Despite strict regulations around advertising and brand partnerships, marketers and specialist agencies have been working to carefully select rosters of Olympians in the hope of piggybacking their rare organic reach in the run-up to, and during, the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Samsung, for example, began sponsoring the governing body for skateboarding in the U.K. (imaginatively titled Skateboarding UK) last September. The brand hopes to capitalize on both the novelty of the sport, only a recent addition to the Olympic Games, and the profile of skateboarder Sky Brown.

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