Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Images
- LVMH poured $163 million into the 2024 Paris Olympics, designing medals and outfitting France's athletes.
- Experts say that this investment is a major marketing boost for the company.
- LVMH could see a return in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games because the US is a major market, said one expert.
LVMH just turned the 2024 Paris Olympic Games into the ultimate luxury runway
As a "creative partner" of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the luxury giant poured 150 euros, or $163 million, into crafting many Olympic staples, such as Chaumet-crafted medals and the uniforms worn by French athletes, CNBC reported on August 11.
LVMH's involvement in the Paris Olympics was a "masterclass" in brand engagement, said Daniel Langer, the executive professor of luxury strategy at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School.
"The unprecedented sponsorship of the Olympics by LVMH took brand engagement to a completely different level," Langer told Business Insider.
The Paris-based luxury giant also enjoyed home-field advantage of the Olympic Games.
That gave LVMH the "opportunity to host their best clients and provide them with once-in-a-lifetime experiences and access other brands could not do," Langer said.
Guests at LVMH's Olympics pre-party last month included Anna Wintour, LeBron James, Zendaya, Serena Williams, and other sport and fashion celebrities.
LVMH did not respond to a request for comment.
Victor Boyko/Getty Images for LVMH x Vogue x NBC
A 'culturally relevant' city
LVMH wasn't alone in turning the Paris Games into a retail showcase. American mass-market brands like Glossier, Skims, and Lululemon looked to leverage Paris' cultural relevance and the return of large audiences post-pandemic, BI reported in July.
"Paris as a city is just so culturally relevant," Harry Poole, VP of marketing solutions for Excel Sports Management, told BI last month. "There's no question the market made a lot of sense for that."
But it wasn't just about Paris or the French brands. The Olympic Games also gave LVMH marketing leverage by literally putting the company's brands on a podium.
Making large marketing investments isn't new for LVMH. The luxury powerhouse spent 72 billion euros on advertising and promotional spending from 2010 to 2023 — 22 billion euros more than five of its competitors combined, Bloomberg reported in July.
"The focus is on the athletes, and by default, people will be looking at what they're wearing," Fflur Roberts, the global head of luxury at Euromonitor International, told BI in July.
LVMH's visibility from the Olympics could drive aspiring luxury buyers toward the company's brands, Milton Pedraza, the CEO of The Luxury Institute, told CNBC.
The Olympics arrived just after LVMH's revenue slumped by 1.3%, to 41.7 billion euros, in the first half of the year compared to last year. The luxury conglomerate's disappointing sales were dragged down by slowing luxury demand in China, and even by a sluggish market for Champagne.
Looking ahead, Langer, the Pepperdine professor, sees no reason LVMH shouldn't continue its Olympics strategy. The next Winter Olympics is set for world fashion capital Milan in 2026, while Los Angeles will host 2028's summer games.
"LVMH is a global company, and the USA is one of their main markets. Therefore, I could well imagine sponsoring future Olympics to be a long-term engagement," Langer said.