8 Ways Companies Can Use The Olympics to Boost Business Boosting business during the Olympic Games is a bit tricky for marketers.

Boosting business during the Olympic Games is a bit tricky for marketers. Marketers have to review trademarks, as the Olympic Games do have several. Your brand can, however, still use the Olympic Games to market to consumers and increase business. The seven items below will help your business learn how to get around these small hurdles.

Rule 40

Rule 40 was implemented to allow non-sponsoring businesses to endorse athletes and market their support for said athlete. Before this rule went into effect, non-Olympic games sponsors were not permitted to endorse, market for or use certain trademarked terminology. With rule 40 in place, startups are able to steal marketing dollars from Olympics sponsors, but in a completely legal way.

Creative Marketing

This is where your creative marketing development team's expertise has to come into play. Since you cannot use the Olympic rings, word Olympics, or other branded content in your advertisements, you have a few hoops to jump through. An idea is to support a local athlete and offer a promotion to your audience if the athlete "places in his next competition". This avoids any language that may be trademarked.

Another idea here is to discuss the benefits of a specific sport, such as one included in the Olympic Games. Generating a conversation, offering prizes for trivia questions correctly answered and promotions during specific events can be done. When you want to offer a promotion during an event, just say that your promotion runs from time A through time B, without correlating exactly why your special is for that time slot.

Pay Attention to Markets

One way that your brand can see a boost in business is to become an active Olympic sponsor and have a stock market presence. Stock in your brand can increase in value per share just from putting a financial stake in the games by becoming a sponsor. If history repeats itself, Brazil's economy will see a boost.

Abstract Advertising

Use an alternative way to advertise, such as creating an article to share with your readers about the importance of hydration when playing sports. You could also use the approach of showing the benefits of wearing the right running shoes for the sport that you play.

Sharing Content

Even though you cannot create content or advertisements containing certain words or photos related to the Olympics, you can share content created by an approved sponsor. Sharing content on social media, especially when it is a major current event, draws attention to your business. A simple comment above the post showing support or "We think this is great!" kind of thing gets your audience talking. Your brand's involvement will help boost business naturally.

According to Mention, Coca-Cola has been mentioned 72,934 times as a sponsor of the Rio games through the sharing of Olympics-related content.

Become an Olympic Games Sponsor

When you are a sponsor for the Olympic games, you are able to advertise using trademarked language and imagery. Samsung is a sponsor and understands that not all consumers can afford to attend, so they have made viewing the games available through virtual reality devices. As a result, Samsung is pushing its VR content and technology capabilities to increase brand awareness and boost business at the same time.

Bring Attention to your Brand

You can bring attention to your brand by creating video advertisements, which accounts for 52-percent of all mobile traffic. How do you create a video for your brand that does not break any trademark infringement laws you ask? It really is quite simple. Use royalty-free clips, or gain permission from an athlete's manager to use clips of non-Olympic games events to highlight an athlete or the athlete's sport. This way, your video content is coming across as general information rather than a specific attempt to make money from the current event.

Bring Attention to Causes

Something that is currently taking place in Brazil is that there is additional attention being drawn to favelas. Locals are offering tours of these depleted communities that show the dire straits that some areas of the country face. These neglected favelas are used to boost business for tourist groups, locally owned shops, and local landowners. Renting out favela locations for a fair fee lets tourists see how some communities in Brazil live. The cultural experience is a real revelation.

Final Thoughts

Once your brand has come up with a content marketing strategy that is themed around the Olympics, without infringing on any trademark or copyright laws, marketing to specific demographic groups should begin. Engaging with consumers and showing genuine excitement is an ideal way to increase your company's income. Think outside the box and entice your audience strategically.

How will your business increase business creatively during the Olympic Games?