Ralph Lauren Scores Gold With His Olympic Sponsorships

GAME ON: When Jill Biden donned a Ralph Lauren outfit to cheer on the U.S. team in Tokyo, she helped the American brand rise to the top of the charts for fashion sponsorships at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

According to an analysis of social media by data and insights company Launchmetrics from July 28 to Aug. 2, Ralph Lauren brought in $14.8 million in media impact value for his Olympic-related sponsorships, with the Biden post alone garnering $163,000 in MIV on The New York Times and an additional $92,300 on the Polo Ralph Lauren feed.

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Lauren designed the official Team USA Olympic uniforms that were unveiled at the opening ceremony on July 23, consisting of a navy blazer and trousers with RL Cooling technology, striped navy and white short-sleeved shirt and a custom Ralph Lauren-branded face mask.

A post of Jimmy Fallon wearing a Ralph Lauren Team USA jacket on his way in to “The Tonight Show” studio brought in $141,000.

In Olympic parlance, Nike narrowly missed out on the gold medal with $14.7 million in MIV, while Skims got the bronze with $8.6 million — a surprise on the podium, according to Launchmetrics. Kim Kardashian West’s Skims fashion brand supplied the official undergarments, sleepwear and loungewear for Team USA.

The reality star’s single post on Instagram revealing the project brought $912,000, while eight posts on Twitter yielded only $826,000 in MIV.

Courtesy Photo

Rounding out the top 10 were Omega at $5.6 million; Adidas at $5.5 million; Emporio Armani at $3.3 million; Telfar at $2.2 million; Uniqlo and Speedo, each at $1.3 million, and Ben Sherman, at $800,000.

Liberian-American designer Telfar Clemens signed on as Liberia’s official sponsor, giving the team its first sponsorship deal since 2000. The New York-based designer created roughly 70 pieces that included competition uniforms.

The top social media post for Telfar was on the Instagram account of The New York Times, netting $105,000 in MIV, while one on the Telfar brand channel brought in $72,000.

Jason Nocito

According to Launchmetrics, global sponsorships during the Olympics allow brands to thrive on their own media channels, and via partners.

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