Olympics sponsor Danone is expecting both a short and longer-term sales boost from the Games, having made changes to its products, invested in branding, and positioned itself in physical kiosks across Paris, its CEO said.
Danone, which makes Activia yoghurt, Evian water and Silk plant-based drinks, first reached out to the International Olympic Committee in mid-2022 to get involved in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Several major French companies, from LVMH to Sanofi, have emerged as first-time partners to the Games this year, hoping to take advantage of the sales opportunities and marketing exposure the event typically gives sponsors.
The 2024 Olympics is expected to amass more than €1.24 billion (£1bn) in sponsorship revenue. Sponsors rarely disclose how much they’ve spent or how much they expect to earn from such deals.
“It will definitely be a short-term driver of sales, but we see it having longer-term impact too,” chief executive Antoine de Saint-Affrique told Reuters.
Danone, which declined to go into detail about the size of its deal, also told Reuters it would support France’s application for the 2030 Winter Olympics, which could be held close to its rainwater catchment pool in Evian.
The group, which will report its first post-Games earnings results in October, said many of its products this summer will have Paris 2024 branding and that it is building four “fresh dairy takeaway kiosks” at key Paris 2024 sites.
Danone’s Danette brand will be at Club Franc, where French athletes are set to celebrate their medals, and in a temporary convenience store at the athletes’ village.  
The company’s Evian water brand however did not manage to secure the deal to sell bottled water at the event, which went to long-time sponsor Coca-Cola.
(Reuters)
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