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Whether you’re a die-hard fan of the Winter Olympics or a casual watcher tuning in every four years, it’s no secret that the Winter Olympics are a huge cultural moment. Loyalty to country and age-old traditions and rivalries are at an all-time high when it comes to the Winter Olympics. Brands looking to capitalize on this cultural moment should monitor viewers, commentators, and athletes as they navigate the Olympic season. From skiing and snowboarding to ice skating, you will not want to miss the cultural moment that is the Milan Winter Olympics.
The Attention Economy in 2026: Where Influencers Win
What Brands Need to Know:
The Olympic Games attract record viewership each year. The 2024 Paris Olympic Games attracted millions of viewers worldwide. Many are forgoing live television to watch the Olympics and instead opting to follow the games on social media. This change marks a shift in media platform usage, with more attention to YouTube and TikTok than to live television or streaming. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, YouTube accounted for 17% of global Olympic engagement, generating 12 billion cumulative views and drawing 850 million unique viewers. Engagement will be just as high, if not higher, this year at the Milan Winter Olympics.
Read more about the Summer Olympics in this report: Olympic Gold in the Digital Age: Paris 2024
Clearly, brands will want to leverage social media platforms such as YouTube and TikTok to gain a head start on audience engagement and retention.
Telling Athletes’ Stories:
Brands will also want to capitalize on the stories behind the athletes. Netflix has already gotten a jump on this concept, as they are rolling out a multi-part documentary series following the lives and training of various ice dance teams. Defending ice dance World champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates are featured in the documentary, as are their competitors’ teams. The documentary will follow each team’s journey to the Milan Winter Olympics.
Netflix is priming its audiences to follow and fall in love with these ice dance teams. Clearly, this was a project long in the making, but that doesn’t mean brands can’t also tell athletes’ stories. NBC Universal is partnering with YouTube creators to capture the experiences of 40 Olympic hopefuls across a variety of winter sports. This marketing move aims to capture the attention of an audience that prefers the commentary of internet personalities to that of traditional commentators.
In fact, some of the best stories are coming out of the Olympic Village. With the reach of YouTube and TikTok, the behind-the-scenes action of the Olympic Village is more accessible to fans and viewers than ever before. Viral moments come from athletes all the time – such as the chocolate muffin thief of summer 2024, or athletes joking about how they’d like to find “love in the villa… I mean the village.”
@ilonamaher I got a text!!@Love Island ♬ original sound – Ilona Maher
Lean Into Culture, Not Just Competition
Unlike previous Winter Games, Milan brings a strong cultural layer that extends beyond sport. As a global hub for fashion, luxury, food, and design, the city offers brands a chance to align with a broader lifestyle narrative. Winning brands will activate around culture as much as competition by partnering with creators, athletes, and tastemakers who embody Italian style, innovation, and creativity.
Don’t Miss Beyond the Hype: Building a Defensible Marketing Moat in 2026
This is particularly powerful on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, where behind-the-scenes content, athlete routines, travel moments, and fashion-forward storytelling perform exceptionally well.
Creators Are the New Olympic Megaphone
Even if you cannot collaborate directly with athletes, influencer marketing offers brands a flexible and impactful way to participate in Olympic conversations. Creators—especially athletes, sports commentators, travel influencers, and lifestyle creators—can authentically share Olympic-adjacent experiences without infringing on sponsorship restrictions.
Brands that succeed will identify creators early, develop transparent yet flexible briefs, and empower talent to create content that feels native to their audience. Short-form video, day-in-the-life content, and real-time storytelling will dominate feeds throughout the Milan Winter Olympics.
Plan for Always-On, Not One-Off Moments
The Milan Winter Olympics aren’t just a two-week event—they’re a months-long marketing runway. Innovative brands will activate across three phases: pre-Games hype, in-Games storytelling, and post-Games momentum. This ensures campaigns build anticipation, capture peak engagement, and extend relevance long after the closing ceremony.
This approach allows brands to repurpose content across paid media, organic social, email, and e-commerce, maximizing ROI from each activation.
Balance Global Reach With Local Authenticity
The Olympics are inherently global, but local nuance matters. Brands should consider how messaging lands across different markets, especially in Europe, North America, and Asia. Partnering with regional creators and adapting content to cultural preferences helps campaigns feel authentic rather than overly commercial.
Local activations—such as pop-ups, experiential events, or city-specific influencer content—can further amplify impact without requiring official Olympic sponsorship.
Conclusion
Brands should plan early. Olympic partnerships, athlete endorsements, creator collaborations, and experiential campaigns often require long lead times. The most successful brands will integrate the Games into broader marketing strategies—connecting Olympic storytelling to product launches, seasonal campaigns, and long-term brand narratives. The Milan Winter Olympics is not just a sporting event; it’s a cultural moment, and brands that approach it with creativity, authenticity, and strategic foresight will have the most significant impact.
