Fans actively engage with brands during the Olympics, but the strongest relationships are built by giving consumers something worth engaging with. BERA’s LA28 sponsorship research found that a majority of consumers enjoy when brands are closely integrated into the Olympic viewing experience, especially when sponsors provide behind-the-scenes athlete content, travel or ticket packages, athlete stories, support for underrepresented athletes, discounts, or exclusive offers.
People respond to sponsorship that feels useful, emotional, or connected to the reasons they care about the Games. LA28 gives brands a rare cultural stage, but the best activations will give the sponsor a specific job inside the fan experience.
Brand fit should guide the activation
Two factors should guide how a brand shows up during the Olympics. The first is what the brand needs to strengthen in order to grow brand equity. The second is which perceptions need to be built, refreshed, or re-established with consumers. Lagunitas and Budweiser show how different those needs can be.
Lagunitas has lower Familiarity and Regard, with stronger Meaningfulness and Uniqueness. That suggests the brand has something distinctive to build from, but needs more consumers to know it well and feel confident choosing it. Budweiser has higher Familiarity and Regard, with lower Meaningfulness and Uniqueness. That points to a different challenge: re-establishing relevance and distinctiveness with consumers who already know the brand.
That is where BERA can help. The platform can identify the specific perceptions most likely to build stronger understanding, differentiation, and business impact. The strongest activations will use the Games to reinforce the perceptions most likely to drive brand equity, consideration, purchase, loyalty, or another business behavior.
The right fan value depends on the brand
BERA’s LA28 sponsorship research shows that athlete stories, support for underrepresented athletes, discounts, and exclusive offers can all strengthen how consumers respond to Olympic sponsorship. More than one-third of consumers said those types of sponsor actions would make the sponsorship more valuable to them, which gives marketers a clearer way to evaluate fan engagement than visibility alone.
The next question is which type of value makes the most sense for the brand. If consumers already see a brand as highly functional, the opportunity may be to build more emotional connection through athlete stories, community support, or shared pride. If a brand already has strong emotional associations, the opportunity may be to add practical value through access, offers, or customer experiences.
BERA.ai can help identify that path by connecting current brand perceptions to the perceptions consumers want the brand to strengthen. The goal is to design an activation that fits the brand’s existing equity, adds value to the fan experience, and moves the metrics most connected to business performance.
Utility turns attention into engagement
A powerful Olympic story can earn attention, and a useful fan experience can turn that attention into participation. For LA28 sponsors, the next step is measuring whether that participation is changing how consumers understand, consider, and choose the brand.
BERA.ai can help sponsors measure whether engagement is moving the brand in the right direction. Once the activation is in market, the data can show whether the experience strengthened the intended perceptions and whether those shifts are connected to consideration, purchase, loyalty, or share of wallet.
The takeaway for marketers is to treat fan engagement as a measurable brand-building opportunity. LA28 gives sponsors a chance to turn Olympic attention into action, and the strongest activations will give fans a clear reason to participate, remember, and choose the brand.
