Brands catch Rio fever: Pump sports-themed ads

The Olympic Games are considered to be one of the most distinguished international sports events. The modern day Olympics spectacle has grown in size and splendour over the years, and how! The fact stands corroborated due to several ad campaigns being run by brands around the same theme these days.

We take a look at the brands that have worked their advertising strategy woven around the Rio Olympics 2016, over the past few days.

STAR INDIA

The broadcast network Star India (the fully-owned subsidiary of 21st Century Fox) is the official broadcaster for the event in India. The Network has rolled out its advertising campaign 'Life Gives You Tough Choices' on its online video platform Hotstar, as well as a couple of ad films on the theme #BillionCheers.

COCA-COLA

The beverage company has released a one-minute ad film called 'Gold Actions' that tells us about who the Gold really belong to. The film goes on to say that a Gold at the Olympics is meant for the fastest, the most passionate, and for those who take it seriously.

AMUL

The butter marketer, in its inimitable style, released a topical print ad titled 'Rio, Mere Laal', dedicated to gymnast Dipa Karmakar, after she qualified for the Rio Olympics this year.

EDELWEISS GROUP

The financial services company has launched the campaign #IamTeamIndia in support of the Indian team at the Rio Olympics this year. The company has launched an inspirational anthem, as well as an e-book on the occasion.

SAVLON

The antiseptic brand has released an ad film titled 'Savlon Performance Power', featuring Indian badminton player Saina Nehwal, who can be seen rising to the occasion and proving her detractors wrong through her dedicated performance on the badminton court. The ad urges viewers to push themselves beyond the obvious challenges and work towards channelising their fears into their strengths.

BOURNVITA

As part of its long-standing 'Tayyari Jeet Ki' thought, the chocolate malt drink brand has rolled out its latest ad film. The film is based on a child who is preparing to be a future gymnast, but fears falling. The child's mother helps instil the thought in the young boy's mind that falling helps set us free.

NIKE

The sportswear brand recently launched a video 'Da Da Ding', which features women athletes and Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone. The film shows the unrelenting spirit of women in India and aims at being a conversation-changer towards perception of sports in the country.

SAMSUNG

The smartphone brand released a video titled 'The Anthem' which featured parts of the National Anthems of 15 different countries, shown through the power of its model Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. The phone tried to portray its seamless technology as the unifying factor across geographies.

FEVIKWIK

The adhesive brand from Pidilite Industries rolled out a hilarious spot that showed a hockey player in action, in which the ball, on its way towards the winning goalpost, sticks to the hockey stick. The product being promoted is Fevikwik Gel.

TATA SALT

The salt brand from Tata Chemicals has launched an integrated campaign titled 'Namak ke Waastey', aimed at catalysing support for the Indian Olympic squad. The campaign features sportspersons Shiva Thapa, Babita Kumari, Inderjeet Singh, and Avtar Singh who tell their stories and are committed to make India proud.

HOTSTAR

Star India's online video platform Hotstar recently rolled out two ad films as part of the campaign 'Life Gives You Tough Choices', created and conceptualised by the in-house creative team at Hotstar. Modelled on two different situations – one, a girl who deals with the dilemma of having simultaneous appointments with sporting legends at the Rio Olympics even as she decides what to watch, and two, a cute, young boy shown as part of a humorous family setting who has to go through several steps in order to finally enjoy what he wants to lay his hands on.

Both films depict the problem of plenty that Hotstar presents the protagonists with as it offers them 'live feeds' throughout the day – 42 sports, 14 live streams, and 3,000 hours of live streaming and video-on-demand, beginning August 5.

STAR SPORTS

Star Sports, the sports channel from the broadcast network Star India, has rolled out a couple of ad films as part of the #BillionCheers theme around the Rio Olympics. Uploaded on the brand's YouTube channel, the films exhort viewers about various issues such as uniting for the cause of the sports event and to let that unity be a harbinger of change at the global level, a new generation of participants (called as stars in the video) aiming to reach the stars by rewriting the rules in their own way, participants being hungrier and more charged to give their best to their games, and the men's volleyball team that qualified for the finals at the Rio Olympics.