• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, July 5, 2024

With the Olympic Games in Paris just weeks away, brands are poised for the sprint. Omega, official timekeeper and a sponsor of the games since 1932, is rolling out new ads that reflect just how big a deal it is, with this year’s pole vaulters, high jumpers, break-dancers, fencers and gymnasts performing against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and other landmarks. And Glossier has signed on as the first-ever beauty sponsor for USA Basketball’s Women’s National Team.

Omega’s new creative uses optical illusions to transform Paris into an athletic playground and features an exclusive song created with SDM, the French rapper, set to “Born to be a Legend.”

Omega, owned by Swatch Group, has come a long way since one man, armed with a split-second stopwatch, timed the entire Los Angeles Olympics in 1932.

The company’s role in this month’s games encompasses all 329 Olympic events in 32 sports. It includes sophisticated equipment like electronic photocells, starting blocks, starting pistols, and a new Scan’O’Vision Ultimate photofinish camera, which the company says can record 40,000 images per second at the finish line of races.

Back in 2017, Omega extended its Olympic partnership to 2032, giving it a full century of timekeeping. Other new creative stars swimming legend Michael Phelps and French swimmer Léon Marchand.

Stateside, Glossier is also looking to make a splash, announcing a deal as the Official Beauty Partner of USA Basketball. It is the first beauty and USA Basketball partnership exclusive to the USA Women’s National Team program since 1996.

“It’s an important time for women’s basketball in our country,” says Briana Weiss, director of the Women’s National Team, in the announcement. “The USA Basketball-Glossier partnership is further proof of the growth of our sport and interest in our team.”

Glossier says the deal doesn’t just celebrate the rise of women’s basketball but challenges the idea that beauty and sports don’t mix. “This partnership underscores the fact that that’s simply not true,” says Kyle Leahy, Glossier’s chief executive officer, in the announcement. “The USA Women’s National Team is full of inspiring athletes with stories to tell both on and off the court. We are thrilled to shine a light on them.”

The agreement includes social media content, out-of-home advertising, and community engagement.

The USA Women’s National Team is practically Olympic royalty, competing for its 10^th gold medal in Paris. The team has medaled in every Olympics it has participated in, dating back to a silver medal in 1976. In total, the USA owns nine gold medals, seven consecutively, as well as one silver and one bronze.