Thread by @alexgarcia_atx

In 2012 Beats By Dre hacked the London Olympic Games to become the most visible brand.

And they didn't spend a single sponsor dollar.

But used the Olympic Games to increase headphone sales by 116%.

Here's how 🧵

1/ For context, there are 11 international brands that drop $100M each to be an official sponsor.

And athletes aren't allowed to participate in any marketing campaigns outside of those 11 brands.

But, Beats by Dre became the most visible brand w/o spending a sponsor dollar.

2/ Beats by Dre used an ambush marketing strategy to become the most visible brand.

It started with gifting select athletes with free Beats.

Beats by Dre chose 19 countries and created headphones wrapped in the nation's flag and gifted those headphones to select athletes.

3/ And medal-favorite Olympians were given the choice to wear different versions of the headphones.

Organically, Beats by Dre put themself on the biggest screen, on the biggest names, before the biggest moments.

4/ And instead of paying to play -- Beats by Dre just played.

It felt seamless.

It fit in.

Because instead of optimizing for promoted screen time, it optimizes for real moments.

And real moments influence real people.

5/ But not only did Beats by Dre take over the Olympic Games, but they also took over social media.

With their ambush marketing came a strategic approach to their social content.

6/ They asked fans to spot athletes, musicians, and celebrities rocking Beats, take a picture and share it by tagging @ beatsbydre and using the hashtag #BEATSSPOTTED.

This took Beats By Dre's ambush tactics and amplified them by spreading them throughout social media.

7/ Beat's social content broke down into two categories:

1. User-Generated Content
2. Relevant Creative Content

8/ Collectively this works together because the user-generated content gets others to talk about you.

And the relevant creative content injects your brand into the conversations already happening.

9/ And for Beats by Dre it worked.

During the London Olympic Games Beats by Dre saw:

- a 116% increase in in-store sales
- sport headphones sales increased by 42%
- general headphone sales increased by 19%

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Threads to come:

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- newsletter optimization

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