Episode Transcript
Don Mock 0:20
Alright episode 118 Rob
Rob Broadfoot 0:22
118 I don’t have anything witty to say.
Don Mock 0:26
no anecdotes about 118?
Rob Broadfoot 0:28
No it’s just one before 119
Don Mock 0:30
Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
All right, no preamble. Let’s jump into today’s topic.
Here’s What I was thinking we talked about. Yeah, I love it. You’re gonna keep it going? Okay. Yeah, the Olympics. For those that aren’t familiar with the classic, I’m gonna guess it’s NBC, the NBC Olympic tune. Yeah, the Olympics. The Olympics are coming, everybody or maybe by the time you’re listening to this the Olympics have arrived or not I don’t know. I’m not sure you know. But the Olympics always an exciting time. But the question is, and anyway, so like, there’s news articles, the Olympics are coming all this good stuff. It’s in Paris, the Summer Olympics, right? Kind of got me thinking like the Olympics matter anymore? Like, and specifically from a marketing advertising perspective. Of course, the Olympics matter, like the pursuit of athletic excellence is amazing. You know, the swimmers
Rob Broadfoot 1:27
Bringing the world together, uniting the world through sport.
Don Mock 1:30
Yeah, this isn’t I’m not saying it’s anti Olympics, like, you know, f the Olympics, you know, it’s just, but you know, historically, it’s been like, Oh, my God, NBC paid like
Rob Broadfoot 1:39
$8 million
Don Mock 1:40
all the monies, you know, and, you know, they are the viewership has declined. And I don’t know if you saw any of these anecdotes, and I’m going to screw all this up, but they are mixing up the broadcast teams, and they are trying to bring in a bunch of celebs to you know, to make the Olympics more relevant. Right. Like, I think Snoop Dogg is going to Paris as correspondent, you know, and he’s, and he and Martha Stewart or something. Like, there’s a whole bunch of random people that you would not, you know,
Rob Broadfoot 2:10
it makes perfect sense in this day and age that they’re doing that
Don Mock 2:12
Yeah, yeah. Like, let’s bring in people that you know, different walks of life have interest, right to try to get get people to watch, you know, the 100 meter, whatever dash or something
Rob Broadfoot 2:23
Didn’t Snoop Dogg? Didn’t he broadcast for something? What did he do with Kevin Hart or something? They did a thing together. They did a guest broadcast I’m trying to remember What it was. I don’t think it was a football game, but it was something Yeah. Anyway. Yeah.
So like,
Don Mock 2:39
you
I mean, again, we’ve we’ve frequently dated ourselves on the podcast, but back in the day, it’s like, Oh, my God, you won the gold medal. You’re, you’re amazing. You’re Mary Lou Retton, like you’re on the cover of Wheaties, like, you got all the sponsorships, you got all that? Like, you know, Bruce Jenner. There you go, you know, all the good stuff, right? You know, we have the great example of Dan versus Dave, right? The Reebok thing. And then they didn’t call it that. There’s a lot of great marketing sort of stories. We don’t need to re litigate all those things, because a lot of great marketing stories around the Olympics right. Now. It’s like, the Olympics really matter I guess from a marketing perspective?
Rob Broadfoot 3:12
You know, I think the in my opinion, the Olympics aren’t What they used to be. Just as an event in general, right. It used to be this global thing. And it was truly the pinnacle of sport, which it still is, by definition, but it just felt more grandiose, I think, as an event than it did. And maybe more of a globally unifying event. I feel like
Don Mock 3:38
oh, and you have the you have the opening ceremonies and It’s like a, that’s like a four hour TV show. Yeah, of like, you know, interpretive dance. And God knows What is happening on that thing and the Parade of Nations, I mean, that’s the whole deal. Right? Yeah. I would agree with you that they it’s lost. Its grandioseness, and it’s lost its relevancy or whatever, that but What has anything taken I have thoughts on this, but has anything surpass the Olympics or has anything more relevant than the Olympics from a global perspective? On that level
Rob Broadfoot 4:09
in terms of sport in general?
Don Mock 4:12
in general, I guess. I mean, I would argue that the World Cup has surpassed it in terms of sport, right. But I may be biased on that opinion.
Rob Broadfoot 4:22
I was gonna say it’s hard to it’s hard to tell. I mean, certainly for I think for both of us. It has. Has it for the general public? maybe. I don’t know.
Don Mock 4:33
I think TV numbers
Rob Broadfoot 4:34
TV numbers would probably tell the tale. Well, and there’s I mean, the problem, not the problem. But the challenge with the Olympics is there are a lot of events that only a very small number of people care to watch, not a lot of people want to watch water polo.
Don Mock 4:51
I didn’t do any prep for this, but I think there’s some new events like breakdancing isn’t that in the Olympics now?
Rob Broadfoot 5:00
breakdancing? I don’t know.
Don Mock 5:01
Yeah, there’s something like, I could have completely just made that up.
Rob Broadfoot 5:05
Yeah. They’re always bringing in, you know, like BMX now or whatever, whatever it is. They’re always bringing in new, new stuff. Yeah. I don’t know. I mean, my, you know, marketing for the Olympics for me just goes back to when we had it in Atlanta. Right. Yeah. And just that whole experience of living in a city and following it from, you know, Billy Payne putting together the team to go out and try and get the Olympics all the way through the city of Atlanta award and then through. Okay, now we’re developing the logos and the What’s it? we can come back to that. But but, you know, the marketing in the city, and then not just that, but the I think to truly understand the scale of it, because of all the construction in buildings going up. And then, you know, and then unfortunately, in Atlanta, you had the Richard jewel in the bombing. And that just added a whole nother horribly depressing storyline to it as well. So it was it was an interesting experience from marketing standpoint and prospective to be in a city, a host city Some good some bad. I mean, you know, I think for a lot of people that put Atlanta on the map
Don Mock 6:22
100%
Rob Broadfoot 6:23
you know, and help market the city, right, and help grow the city for sure.
Don Mock 6:27
Now, let me ask you this. And I don’t even know if you remember this, and I’m totally putting you on the spot we might have to edit this. There was pushback on the opening ceremonies, right? When all the dancers and the illumination or whatever it spelled out the word y’all do you remember this?
Rob Broadfoot 6:45
I don’t remember that.
Don Mock 6:46
Okay. See, I put you on the spot. And here we got like, you know, oh,
Rob Broadfoot 6:49
why?
Don Mock 6:50
Because it’s, you know, uniquely southern or playing
Rob Broadfoot 6:53
redneck. Rednecks?
Don Mock 6:54
Yeah. Yeah. Like, you know, it’s like, welcome Y’all said something like that, you know, they threw y’all in there. And it was like, Oh, my God, here come the hillbillies. You know What I mean? okay, so it’s another…
Rob Broadfoot 7:06
Well, I think a lot of people outside of probably the southeast. Kind of lump Atlanta in with Georgia and Mississippi and our neighboring states. But I think that helped potentially dispel some of that, that a city like Atlanta could host
Don Mock 7:28
but there’s no doubt that it put Atlanta on the map And, you know, the population growth of which I am one of those people. You know, post-Olympics, the growth of the airport, you know, being the busiest airport in the world. All that good stuff. Right. Quick interlude because I looked it up. Yeah, breaking. Breaking is What it’s called
Rob Broadfoot 7:48
now break dance is breaking?
Don Mock 7:49
the five new sports. For this, for the Paris 2024 Olympics, skateboarding
90
Rob Broadfoot 7:56
Wait a minute skating has been in the Olympics
Don Mock 7:58
but we’re tying it we got to compete against the X Games. You know What I mean? Like skateboarding,
Rob Broadfoot 8:03
but I feel like skateboarding is…
Don Mock 8:04
Hold on. Hold on. Okay. Wait, wait for it, surfing, breaking, and sport climbing. Whatever that is like rock climbing.
Rob Broadfoot 8:12
It’s like I think that’s the speed rock climbing.
Don Mock 8:16
That feels like an American Ninja Warrior thing. How fast can you parkour up this…
Rob Broadfoot 8:20
I feel like skateboarding has been in the Olympics skating?
Don Mock 8:24
I don’t know, did Tony Hawk win a gold medal? Because if he hasn’t then that’s ridiculous.
Well,
Rob Broadfoot 8:28
Well, because snowboarding has been in the Olympics forever the Winter Olympics because Shaun White and again, like all the gold medals and things
Don Mock 8:37
show prep, you know, did a lot of work on this one, but but but I guess back to the topic at hand, you know, is it worth, If you’re a brand, you know, and a you’re an advertiser right, the unit levers you know, are all the Procter and Gamble’s Of course, they’re going to sign as part of their upfront and multiple commercials, but you know, and we’re gonna get some good tear jerking behind the scenes, you know, like, Oh, my God, like little Katie went on, you know, all that kind of stuff. Right? But I guess, you know, Is it worth it? I guess if you’re a brand or if you’re an athlete, you know What I mean? Like, are you getting sponsorship? Like and you know, like, like, does it have the same panache? I’m going to say no, you know, I’m gonna say it really doesn’t like, I don’t think that it’s necessarily worth the money.
Rob Broadfoot 9:16
I think it depends on how you do it. And I think that if it’s just traditional, Alright, I’m gonna go out and buy media during the track and field events, you know? Then, you know, not unlike the Super Bowl, you’re just buying massive eyeballs. that’s it, that’s all you’re buying. And maybe there’s some value in that depending on the company, right? Budweiser, you know, big, big brands like Coca Cola, of course, they’re gonna,
Don Mock 9:44
of course, they’re gonna be they’re gonna be all over it.
Rob Broadfoot 9:46
But I think there are ways to infiltrate potentially not on a global scale, but to do things in and around the events that could gain some impact and be successful on a smaller I guess basis intentionally. Like in Atlanta. You know, there were so many events surrounding that you don’t really see or hear about right being in the city. It’s like, oh, you have this, these thing, all of these things happening. And I think those are cool opportunities for local companies to get involved but globally, yeah, I don’t know. I mean, it’s and how long does the Olympics last? Sounds like a dumb question, but I don’t know the answer to it. It’s a few weeks?
Don Mock 10:33
I’m gonna say it’s a couple of weeks. It’s two weeks, but there’s gonna be some some finagling. Dang, you know What I mean? Like, Oh, we did this event early. We did that. You know, it’s gonna be maybe more than a solid 14 days, you know? But on TV, you know
it’s
Rob Broadfoot 10:48
now Do they still because again, I go back to Atlanta, because it’s What I know, but yeah, they have the what I would call a terrible logo. The What’s it?
Don Mock 10:59
Well, you mean the mascot?
Rob Broadfoot 11:00
Yeah. The mascot
Don Mock 11:01
Do they still have mascots? I don’t know the answer to that.
Rob Broadfoot 11:03
Do they still do mascots to the Olympics?
Don Mock 11:05
I’m gonna I’m gonna guess yes. I’m gonna guess that they still have mascots of some sort to some degree.
Rob Broadfoot 11:10
Because that was horrible.
Don Mock 11:11
Yeah, well the Atlanta logo too like, I feel like there was the launch logo. And then everyone decided that logo was terrible, which was the do you remember the A’s that made it a star? And then it was.. No, no. And so then they did the column that had the fire on top right. And the column because it was the 100 Olympics or anniversary or whatever. It had like the one
Rob Broadfoot 11:33
The Centennial,
Don Mock 11:34
the centennial, you know, like, yeah, it had a really compressed typeface of 100 that kind of made a Doric or ionic column that had the fire and little star on top, you know, and then I think what’s it came from that because there was like, a little star sort of thing away. What is it or whatever it’s called, you know, what’s that?
Rob Broadfoot 11:51
Yeah that Died quick, it was alive for about two weeks. And then it was just
Don Mock 11:56
Yeah, but um, well, there’s no need for that thing after
Rob Broadfoot 11:58
I mean, I think it was universally panned as this just weird gimmicky
Don Mock 12:03
Yeah. I don’t think I think there’s still some type of mascot component to it. But I don’t I don’t feel like it’s like as prevalent or utilized. I think it’s kind of like over there… So do you have a favorite Olympic event?
Rob Broadfoot 12:17
I always like track and field stuff just because to me, it’s like, that’s just such a classic Olympic event like the four by 100 relay that’s just amazing. So I kind of like the track and field stuff. The swimming is always really good to watch.
Don Mock 12:33
I’s exciting. Super.
Rob Broadfoot 12:34
I mean, the Michael Phelps era was just pure dominance.
Don Mock 12:37
Yeah, yeah. Well, and you’re getting down to like, 1/100 of a second like, and these crazy touch pads and like, Oh, his his foot size. Remember the torpedo? Right. It’s like other guy has giant feet. You know, and Phelps has a long torso so he could could butterfly you know, like, you get into this really weird. Yeah, kind of strange aspects to the athletes, you know. So. Yeah, I’m a purist. For Olympics. I prefer the summer over the winter, because I’m a big fan of just sort of faster, stronger, higher long. You know What I mean? Like that type of thing. I don’t really. I’m in the minority on that side. Absolutely. Recognize this. I’m not into the judging aspect of any of any sport. Like, whenever there’s a judge involved.
Rob Broadfoot 13:19
Yeah. You either straight up win loss.
Don Mock 13:21
Yeah, yeah. You versus your opponent, or you versus the clock. You know, so it’s like, I threw this shotput it’s probably not even the right term. But like it is I chucked to this Javelin farther than you did. You know, I triple jumped farther. I ran this faster, you know, I pull vaulted higher. I you know, I like whatever new interpretation. Yeah, yeah, the ball and, you know, whatever, Garland routine of the floor thing of this gym. Like, is that better than the other one? I mean, sure. And like, hey, you know, I know, it kills a lot of the gymnastic stuff because it’s like, hey, this pole vault versus that balance beam routine. And I understand. I mean, I’m not an idiot. I understand like, degree of difficulty and… But to me that just you like
Rob Broadfoot 14:04
You’re a simpleton. You are like, I beat you.
Don Mock 14:06
It’s just too Yeah, you know, the score was two to one, you know, like, but done here, you know, that type of thing. So, yeah, I don’t know, the Olympics. To me. I think the World Cup has overtaken it in terms of sport, you know, yeah, the Olympics are still absolutely relevant. You know, I just, you know, it seems like every Olympics we’ve had, maybe, I don’t want to say since Atlanta, but like recently, it’s just maybe COVID killed the Olympics. I don’t know. Like, everything’s just kind of we’ve lost interest. And then also the world’s a different place, and we have a lot more varied interests.
Rob Broadfoot 14:42
I was gonna say, yeah, and then you have countries not participating like you got that whole political aspect.
Don Mock 14:48
Yeah, we don’t need to go into that But politics have always been part of it And now more so than ever, where it’s just okay. We’re gonna let the Russians in, but they they’re going to be under a non Russian flag Like What? Like, yeah, it’s it’s maybe more polarizing than it has been in the past. Although I shouldn’t say that.
Rob Broadfoot 15:08
When do the Olympics start?
Don Mock 15:11
Well, if 96′ was the centennial
Rob Broadfoot 15:14
Yeah, no, no. When do they start? When did the upcoming Olympics start? Do you know?
Don Mock 15:20
Well, we’re on a podcast that may or may not play at any certain time. I want to say, I don’t know. I don’t know. It’s summer, summer Olympics. You know, I don’t know.
Rob Broadfoot 15:34
May-ish You know, so?
Don Mock 15:38
I don’t know. Start talking and I’ll look it up. Yeah, it’s it’s, uh, Olympics.
Rob Broadfoot 15:43
I mean, I haven’t really seen any promo. I haven’t seen anything yet. I’m not seeing any promos or anything for it yet.
Don Mock 15:50
Okay, July 26 to August 11.
Rob Broadfoot 15:54
Really?
Don Mock 15:55
so we still got some time, my friend.
Rob Broadfoot 15:56
Yeah but I’m a little surprised. We’re not hearing, they like to start planting the seeds of stories. Early. You know What I mean? Certain athletes start to circle out the stories
Don Mock 16:06
Absolutely.
Rob Broadfoot 16:08
I haven’t heard any. I haven’t heard any yet.
Don Mock 16:09
Yeah, I don’t know Sha’Carri Richardson, I guess is our big sprinter. You know, I mean, see I say I don’t belong to the Olympics. But then I don’t know. Just through sports center and through osmosis of sports, you know, you know enough to be dangerous. I don’t know that. We have the great swimmer. You know, I have no idea I haven’t been following up on that, we don’t have Phelps. I mean, he’s done
Rob Broadfoot 16:30
I tell you What to do like and I and probably will be more interested in it this year because my stepson is wrestling but Olympic wrestling. Yeah, the wrestling is super fun to watch as I don’t want to say odd
Don Mock 16:44
No. Like, it’s no more odd than like, I was gonna say ping pong, but what’s the table tennis. Yeah, table tennis. And those weird…Badminton? Is badminton? I think that’s the thing, right? Do they still do badminton?
Rob Broadfoot 16:56
shuttlecock?
Don Mock 16:57
Yeah. whacking the old shuttlecock. No, I mean, I don’t know there’s a bunch of strange niche sort of little little sports.
Rob Broadfoot 17:07
I’m a fan of the Olympics. Now. I will not watch. I’ll go ahead and admit it. I will not watch the opening ceremonies.
Don Mock 17:12
No, It’s too long.
Rob Broadfoot 17:13
It’s too long. And I just don’t have any interest in that
Don Mock 17:15
so long. Yeah,
I’m not
Yeah, I’m with you
Rob Broadfoot 17:18
I did go to some of the women’s soccer, Olympic soccer when it was here because they ended up in Athens. UGA.
Don Mock 17:25
Okay. Do you remember who you saw?
Rob Broadfoot 17:27
USA. So the women in the maybe it was this final match?
Don Mock 17:36
Okay. I wonder why it was in Athens versus being here? Well, I guess we didn’t have the big… And from What I recall, the Georgia Dome, wasn’t it parsed into multiple sports It was like on this side of the dome as this sport. And that’s it. Right? I mean, they they kind of cut it up? I think?
Rob Broadfoot 17:52
I think so. Yeah, I think so.
Don Mock 17:53
And they had World Congress Center hosted a bunch of weird stuff as well. Yeah. Yeah, I don’t know. Well, we’ve kind of gotten off track from a marketing perspective, I guess. But yeah, it’s, it’s, I think, an interesting challenge from a global perspective. And we’ve worked on global clients, right, where I’m thinking about our old educational client, right? Where language can sometimes be difficult, right? So you know, you get those interesting international ads that don’t really have a voiceover do you know what I mean, messy dribbling at soccer ball on the beat. You know, like those types of interesting things, you know? And it’ll be interesting to see What kind of What as you mentioned, What the big players do What the Budweiser is the Cokes, the Procter and Gamble’s I mean, they’ll they’ll, you know, the tides, they’ll always be those interesting, sort of, you know, behind the scenes stories, you know, What I mean of Olympians, which I think will be cool. But beyond that, you know, eh,
Rob Broadfoot 18:48
Yeah the Super Bowl is pretty much taken over as the the Olympics of advertising, I will say
Don Mock 18:53
domestically 100%, domestically 100% So. Yeah. Any other final thoughts?
on?
Rob Broadfoot 19:00
I don’t think so. I mean, Olympics was so not on my radar until you brought it up. So I’ll tune in. I’m excited. It’s gonna be awesome.
Don Mock 19:10
Hurray. All right. Where can people tune in to mocktheagency Rob?
Rob Broadfoot 19:14
Yeah, you can tune in to us on the interwebs of course www.mocktheagency.com or find us on the socials @mocktheagency I’ll let our fans figure out how to find us there. it’s not difficult
Don Mock 19:27
Hilarious.
Rob Broadfoot 19:27
we will holler at you for 119
Don Mock 19:30
All right, thanks everybody.
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