Submitted by OgilvyAgency IPI Score 95/100

I Belong Here

Content Creation

A cross-office Ogilvy platform that welcomed Gen Z to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, pairing an athlete-led film with an interactive fan hub on the Olympics' website.

About the campaign

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics had been pushed back a year by the pandemic, and Coca-Cola and the IOC needed to introduce a new generation, Gen Z, to a Games most of them had no fixed relationship with. Anticipation for the Games was at an all-time high after the postponement, yet many young people did not see the Olympics as a space that included them. Ogilvy's insight was that Gen Z would engage if the Games were presented as an inclusive space where everyone is welcome, whatever their origin, appearance, sexuality or personal history.

I Belong Here was built as a single platform declaring that everyone belongs at the Olympics, delivered as borderless work across Ogilvy's UK, Mexico and Colombia offices. A film featuring Olympians Ysaora Thibus and Andreas Onea ran alongside an interactive hub on the Olympics' own website, offering a ten-question personalised flag quiz, a social fan feed and live voting in seven languages throughout the July 2021 Games.

The platform worked by anchoring a sponsorship in a shared value that travelled across markets and offices, and by turning message into experience through a quiz that output each fan's own flag tied to an Olympic value. It ran as an online film plus an owned web hub on the Olympics' site. No performance metrics were published; delivery is documented by Ogilvy, its hub technology partner Telescope and the film's director, but reach, participation and brand impact remain unknown.

Case in 60 seconds

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics had been pushed back a year by the pandemic, and Coca-Cola and the IOC needed to introduce a new generation, Gen Z, to a Games most of them had no fixed relationship with.

Gen Z would engage with the Olympics if it was presented as an inclusive space where everyone is welcome, whatever their origin, appearance, sexuality or personal history.

I Belong Here, a single platform declaring that everyone belongs at the Olympics, delivered as borderless creativity across three Ogilvy offices, disciplines, platforms, influencers, athletes, clients and partners.

A film featuring Olympians Ysaora Thibus and Andreas Onea ran alongside an interactive hub on the Olympics' website, offering a ten-question personalised flag quiz, a social fan feed and live voting in seven languages throughout the July 2021 Games.

No performance figures were published. Delivery is documented by Ogilvy, by hub technology partner Telescope, and by the film's director, but reach and effect remain unknown.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

Gen Z fans worldwide who were new to the Olympics. The hub served users in seven languages, so the audience was explicitly global rather than single-market.
After a year's postponement, anticipation for the Games was at an all-time high and the world was ready to come together again, yet many young people did not see the Olympics as a space that included them.
Based on the available evidence, the challenge for an Olympic sponsor was to be more than a logo on the broadcast. Coca-Cola needed an active role in the fan experience while the Games were live.
Coca-Cola, alongside the IOC, acted as host of belonging, the partner that made the Games feel open to everyone rather than reserved for elite athletes and existing fans.
People engage when a message becomes personal. A quiz that turns your own answers into a unique flag tied to an Olympic value makes belonging something you hold, not something you are told.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Campaign film featuring Olympians Ysaora Thibus and Andreas Onea
  • I Belong Here digital hub on the Olympics' Tokyo 2020 website
  • My Flag Belongs Here personalised quiz (Telescope InQuizator)
  • Social Fan Feed of user content
  • Category Vote experience

Partners

  • Coca-Cola
  • The Olympics (IOC)
  • Telescope (engagement technology)
  • LANDIA (film production)
  • CUT+RUN (edit)

Participation mechanic

  • Ten-question quiz matching each user to an Olympic value, revealed as a unique personalised flag
  • Fan voting
  • User-generated content feed

Creator role

  • Olympians Ysaora Thibus (France) and Andreas Onea (Austria) fronted the campaign film
  • Influencers and athletes were involved across the platform, though sources do not specify individual roles

Why Ogilvy's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Anchoring a sponsorship in a value, belonging, gave Coca-Cola and the IOC one shared story that travelled across markets and offices.

  2. 2

    Personalisation turned message into experience: a quiz that outputs each fan's own flag tied to an Olympic value made inclusion concrete.

  3. 3

    Placing the hub on the Olympics' own website put participation where fans already were during the live Games.

  4. 4

    Multilingual, multi-office delivery, seven languages from a UK, Mexico and Colombia team, matched the shape of a global event.

  5. 5

    Without published results, third-party credits from the technology vendor and film director confirm the work happened but not what it achieved.

Related Case studies