The International Olympic Committee launches global ‘The First Effect’ campaign for Olympic + Paralympic Games Paris 2024 via Deloitte Digital

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.

Says Pia Devitre, global partnerships managing director, Deloitte Global: “The Olympic and Paralympic Games always provide an opportunity for a set of ‘firsts’. 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.”

Says Anne Aikman, IOC TMS vice-president of delivery and activation worldwide Olympic: ‘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.

Says Dan Wright, chief creative officer Deloitte Digital: “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.”

Adds 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.”

Visit the First Effect website here.

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

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