The Olympics are now over and while we consider what to do to fill the hole it leaves & replenish the dopamine of watching Aotearoa collect 10 GOLD MEDALS, we’ve put together our thoughts on social media & the Olympics. 

This year, the Olympics wanted high-viewership and to attract a younger audience. This meant introducing a new sport, breakdancing, round the clock live social content and relaxing the rules for athletes’ social media. Widely regarded as the “social media Olympics,” our socials were flooded with the games TikToks & Instagram posts, we think they were an incredible success in increasing the interest to a wider audience. 

  1. Te Ao Pewhairangi and Shiray Kaka: Covering Team NZ

Our favourite NZ creators were the duo of Te Ao Pewhairangi and Shiray Kaka (injured Black Fern). They took us on a hilarious ride around Paris and the games, a seamless mix of dancing and capturing authentic athlete stories. 

The figures: 

The top post reached 1.2 million (Instagram), 948.8k (TikTok). 

Whakaaro: 

  • The power of NZ humour in story telling: find your great story tellers and give them a platform 
  • Jumping on trends: the team used trending formats and tunes to tell their stories on all channels. This widened their reach to a global audience keen to engage with Olympics content. 
  • Utilising collaborators: Te Ao and Shiray had a huge following between them already, but when they added in @thenzteam and @skysportnz, they widened their reach even further, helping them hit over 1 million reach. 
  1. Team NZ & Sport NZ: the value of quick turnaround sharable content 

Speaking of great content, we have to mihi to the team running the New Zealand team and the Sport NZ accounts. They had shareable social tiles ready to roll immediately so our nation could celebrate the wins live with them. Content is a really tricky thing to navigate with rights holders, with Sky Sport and the Olympics running pretty strong take downs so making sure the content is compliant & quick is a real art. 

Whakaaro: 

  • To be the leader and the one source of truth, you have to post first. 
  • Get your rights and approvals ready to roll before, then have all your assets made for every possibility so as soon as it happens, press publish. 
  1. RayGun: The role of memes in connecting people to the games 

Breakdancing was added to the Olympics and Australia’s entrant made sure she left a memorable mark on the sport. In an attempt to add Aussie culture (?) to breakdancing, she came with kangaroo hops, the sprinkler, a fish-type move and something that resembled a snake. The internet came to the party with memes galore, inspiring many at-home dancers to try out for the next games. 

Whakaaro

  • Meme-makers are just itching for the next viral piece of content & global cultural moments provide the best ground for this 
  • Be part of the meme, find your connection to the cultural moment & add your own spin to it quickly – 1-2 days is fine, a week later is too late. 
  • Imane Khelif: The speed of disinformation (and the fight after that) 

In an Olympic games full of beautiful moments, there was one very ugly one that stood out. A nasty group of conservative influencers questioned the sex of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, after her Italian opponent pulled out of their fight after 45 seconds. Imane’s family were forced to show birth documents and assure the public that their daughter was, as they always knew, their daughter. Imane ended up winning gold, and had the majority of support across the globe. She is now taking legal action against those spreading the false information. 

Whakaaro

  • Have the crisis plan ready to roll and get the correct info out as quickly as possible 
  • The community is a strong ally and it’s important you activate them early – give them the right info quickly and let them support  
  1. Social Media rules for athletes relaxed 

This Olympics, the rules were relaxed for the athletes using social media and this meant we got an intimate view of their experiences. Team NZ tested out the durability of the cardboard beds (they passed). We saw gymnastics beef addressed with the GOAT, Simone Biles, cute athletic couples and we saw one athlete share his obsession with the muffins in the Olympic Village. This increased the overall audience to the Olympics and introduced new supporters to sports. 

Whakaaro

  • Empower your social stars and trust them to talk to their audience their way
  • Give freedom but provide frameworks to operate safely within 

So, lots to learn from the social media Olympics. We know we’ll be applying some of this knowledge with the people we work with. If you want to learn more, we’ve got 5 courses coming up in September, we would love you to join us!