The International Olympic Committee and Deloitte launch global ‘The First Effect’ campaign for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024

17 May 2024:  Deloitte and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have launched ‘The First Effect’, a co-branded campaign which sets out to create a new metric for success beyond the podium – measuring the transformative impact of humanity’s firsts on the world’s greatest stage.

‘The First Effect’ launch marked 100 days until the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. The campaign will be showcased in Deloitte’s key global markets and through IOC digital media channels, Meta, TikTok and X through to and during the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024.

In the lead-up to Paris 2024, the campaign will focus on the stories of five trail-blazing athletes from around the world. They include Great Britain’s Nicola Adams, who at the Olympic Games London 2012, became the first ever female Olympic boxing champion. Adams’ ground-breaking victory led to skyrocketing interest in boxing from women and girls in Great Britain, dramatically increasing the visibility and representation of the sport. A stark contrast from 1998 when female professional boxing was first legalized in Great Britain.

In addition to Adams, ‘The First Effect’ features Sarah Attar, the first female to represent Saudi Arabia in athletics at the Olympic Games; South African swimmer Natalie Du Toit, the first amputee swimmer to qualify for the Olympic Games; Algerian 1,500-metre runner Abdellatif Baka, the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games gold medallist who became the first Paralympian to beat the winning time of the Olympic champion in the same event; and Rose Lokonyen, originally from South Sudan, who was flag bearer for the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team at the Olympic Games Rio 2016.

The campaign also showcases other transformative firsts from the Olympic and Paralympic Games, such as the Olympic Games Paris 1900 where female athletes competed for the first time, and the first live global broadcast at the Olympic Games Tokyo 1964.

“The Olympic and Paralympic Games always provide an opportunity for a set of ‘firsts’,” explains Pia Devitre, Global Partnerships Managing Director, Deloitte Global. “Paris 2024 will be no exception, with the first time that the Opening Ceremony will happen outside a stadium, and the first time that we will see equal numbers of male and female athletes participating. The anticipation of the ‘firsts’ to come – the human ambition and what the athletes themselves might deliver for the first time. This is what we are excited to see and feel the impact of.”

Anne Aikman, IOC TMS Vice-President of Delivery and Activation Worldwide Olympic said: 'The First Effect’ campaign epitomises the spirit of pioneering excellence that defines the Olympic and Paralympic Games. As we look forward to the start of Paris 2024, this campaign highlights the IOC and Deloitte’s belief in the transformative power of sport.

Dan Wright, Chief Creative Officer Deloitte Digital said: "Seeing something done helps us believe we could do it. It’s such a simple human insight, but now we can measure the seismic effect it has had (and will have) on humanity’s progress. This work has seen a hugely-diverse range of talent – from creative storytellers to analytical economists – come together to give weight to a feeling, and shape a whole new category of achievement at the Olympics”.

Added Adrian Mills, Partner Creative Brand and Advertising at Deloitte Digital: “We deservedly celebrate medal winners at the Olympics and Paralympics. But we often overlook the progress the Olympics and Paralympics stimulate in host countries and the world at large. By combining Deloitte’s deep insights and understanding of innovation with our creative capabilities, this campaign shines a new light on the incredible value created beyond the podium and gives new meaning to the notion of ‘first’ in the context of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

View the Firsts launch film: https://vimeo.com/934783492

Visit the First Effect website: https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/about/ioc/the-first-effect.html

Credits:

Client: International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee and Deloitte

Creative: Deloitte Digital Australia & New Zealand

Creative Partners: Dan Wright & Matt Lawson

Brand & Strategy Partners: Adrian Mills & Ahmad Salim

Deloitte Access Economics Partner: John O’Mahoney

Executive Creative Director: Thomas Darlow

Creative Director: Gustavo Vampre Franco

Art Director: Harry Skelton

Copywriter: Erin Mattingly, Emily Smibert @ Deloitte Global

Design Principal: Daniel Cheong-See

Design Lead: Matt Caminiti

Designer: Ruby Brown

Artworker: Jazz Torralba @ Deloitte Global

Producers: Claire Crawford & Marlese Byfield

Editors: Rob Weir & Jake Doherty

Animation: James Guerrero

Managing Director: Paige Prettyman 

Group Account Director: Britt Rigoni

Account Directors: Oliver Smith & Alex Weston

Economists: Jack Crooks & Ashleigh Hanna

Post Production:

Online Editor: Alex Evans

Sound Studio: Sonar Music

Sound Engineer: Timothy Bridge

Sound Producer: Louis Moore

Voice Over: Rupert Degas

Music: Danielle Ponder, Some of us are brave

Colourist: Dan Stonehouse @ Crayon

Athlete Strategy & Management:

Allied Sports

Stock footage: 

Getty Images