With the Paris 2024 Olympics in action, Mediaweek is catching up with the standout brand partners powering the Summer Games to hear first-hand from their marketing guns about running campaigns on the world’s biggest sporting stage. Today, we’re with Tim Morrissey, national deputy sports editor and sports commercial editor of Australian Olympic and Paralympic Team partner, News Corp. Morrissey is on the ground in Paris.
What does being an Olympics partner mean for your brand?
News Corp Australia has a proud history of supporting the Australian Olympic movement. Our sponsorship of the Australian Olympic Committee includes Paris as well as Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032. We also extended our sponsorship of Paralympics Australia to include Paris and the winter games in Milano Cortina in 2026.
News has a deep commitment to covering all sports -– ranging from grassroots community level via KommunityTV all the way through to Olympic and Paralympic level. We always look forward to sharing inspiring stories that the games inevitably produce – stories that connect with our audience and unite us as a country.
How are you covering the Olympics, and what does the contingent look like?
For the first time, News Corp Australia has brought its entire business together, sending a single, unified team to Paris. Forty-five journalists from the metro mastheads, The Australian, news.com.au, Fox Sports, and Sky News Australia are providing 24/7 digital and print coverage as well as video, social media, podcasting, blogs, newsletters and photography.
Journalists from Vogue Australia, Body+Soul, Escape and delicious. are also in Paris giving our audiences insider knowledge and behind-the-scenes stories across fashion, art, entertainment, where to stay and what to eat.
News’ ability to cover Paris is truly unrivalled – we have every angle covered, whether it’s breaking news, athlete interviews, insights and analysis, or all the colour from the ground. All of the content can be found at a dedicated games hub, parisnews.com.au.
What are you hoping that coverage achieves for commercial partners?
From print to digital, social media, video, photography, and podcasting, News Corp Australia is the gateway to the games, spanning multiple touch points across every platform, giving commercial partners the chance to reach 17.7 million* Australians.
News Corp Australia has several key commercial supporters for Paris, including Harvey Norman, Woolworths, Omega, and Asics.
We are able to help our partners stand out in a traditionally cluttered environment by creating tailor-made solutions giving clients much more meaningful integration, ensuring unrivalled visibility, reach and engagement.
What’s a campaign you are really proud of?
An example of a truly integrated campaign is Harvey Norman’s partnership with News Corp Australia. It started back in February and continues through the Olympics and finishes at the end of the Paralympics.
A key element of the partnership is sponsorship of News’ En Route to Paris podcast, an 18-part series hosted by Australian water polo star and three-time Olympian Rowena Webster. The series features interviews with Olympians, both past and present, including Harvey Norman Olympic brand ambassadors Ariarne Titmus, Jye Edwards and Sally Fitzgibbons.
Harvey Norman is also the exclusive sponsor of News’ Olympic and Paralympic countdown liftouts. The monthly liftouts feature interviews with a variety of athletes as they prepare for Paris.
Official Olympic Launch Guide
News’ official Olympic launch guide, with Ariarne Titmus on the cover, is also sponsored by Harvey Norman. The guide contains special athlete features, predications, events you cannot miss as well as a comprehensive event schedule.
Olympic Countdown Liftout
Finally, our dedicated Olympic and Paralympic hub, parisnews.com.au, which houses News’ comprehensive expert coverage, live event blogs and daily podcasts, is a premium destination for our partners, like Harvey Norman, to own 100% share of voice sponsorship per day.
How do you plan to build upon the Olympics momentum moving forward?
At News, sport is in our DNA. Our coverage starts at grassroots level and continues to the elite levels. We are committed to supporting Olympic and Paralympic sports in the lead up to Brisbane 2032. We are committed to identifying, celebrating and supporting junior athletes today who will compete in Brisbane in eight years time. We will continue to advocate for funding and support to ensure our future stars can pursue their dreams.
Outside of the Olympics and Paralympics, we remain focussed on our coverage and commercial partnerships of the NRL/NRLW and AFL/AFLW seasons, Spring Racing, Summer of Cricket as well as tennis, netball, and basketball.
At News, we are also continuing to invest in our dedicated premium sports brand, CodeSports.com.au. The sports-only digital masthead gives readers exclusive insights on their favourite sports and teams.
*Source: Roy Morgan Single Source April 2023 – March 2024. 14+. News Corp Australia (excluding REA).
See also: CMOlympics: Michelle Klein on the ‘ideal platform’ for historic NRMA Insurance partnership
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Top image: Tim Morrissey