Who’s heard of Rule 40? What started as one of the most interesting subjects as the Rio Olympics eventually lost headlines to our amazing gymnastics team and of course #LochteGate. I apologize for the late post, but it’s been a busy summer and the marketing story is still an interesting one, even if the timing is delayed.
So back to Rule 40. Well if you haven’t heard of Rule 40, it is essentially the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) control of sponsorship and exclusive marketing rights during the Olympics. And they justify this rationalization with language like “to preserve the unique nature of the Olympic Games and prevent over-commercialization.” I hate to break it to you, but once you’ve sold national and international sponsorships, you’ve commercialized the Olympics.
Back to Rule 40 and why it matters – especially to athletes and athlete’s sponsors. Many athletes make a living from the endorsements garnered from sponsors like gear and apparel companies. Those companies benefit from the use of name and likeness of the athletes and the aspirational messaging of those athletes to other amateur athletes and enthusiasts of the sport. Rule 40 essentially creates a blackout that does not allow athletes or unofficial sponsors use the name and likeness of the Olympics or anything associated with the Olympics during a designated period before, during and after the Olympics. What makes Rule 40 even messier is the complexity of social media, including everything from liking and sharing to hash tagging.
Many athletes and non-Olympic sponsors felt that Rule 40 was a dramatic overreach of free speech and free enterprise, especially in the era of social media. I mean seriously, IOC had a team of legal experts prepared to go after non-official sponsor companies if they were using the Olympic messages. There were large documents prepared for athletes, coaches, sponsors, etc. of the words they could not use.
However, in the months and weeks leading up to Rio, one enterprising brand found a way around Rule 40 in their own genius marketing kind of way.
It would quickly become known that Brooks was behind the Rule 40 campaign. Not only did they develop a clever marketing campaign, they drew public attention to a rule that many felt was unfair to athletes. Just go to Rule40.com to learn why athletes being able to market themselves is so important.
But it wasn’t just this clever marketing campaign that was finding its way around Rule 40. Marketing teams all over were assembled in conference rooms figuring out words that they could use to support their athletes without crossing the line and suffering the wrath of the IOC legal teams. Lists that included copy points like Big Event, Southern Hemisphere and rhymes with Neo were bantered around as official social media posts were drafted.
So the day before the sponsor blackout and the long list of “do not use” words…athletes made sure to show their sponsors some love.
But once the blackout started…some athletes and marketing companies that had spent some time holed up in conference rooms with copywriters and wordsmiths had figured it out – and others still were making sure the antiquated idea of Rule 40 was being made loud and clear.
Rules will always dictate norms. But the reality is; good marketing doesn’t follow the rules. Good marketing is governed by the heart and soul of a brand and the people who love it. Rule 40 proves that when brands are passionate about an issue they will find a way to continue to have a voice for their audience.
