Context

As players from across the world continue clinching medals in the smorgasbord of competitive sporting events at the Tokyo Olympics, brands are battling to win viewers' attention. The 16-day-long sporting spectacle offers a myriad of opportunities for companies to nestle ads among feel-good, inspiring, and pageantry tales of athletes overcoming adversities.
Entropik reviews the top 10 Olympics commercials released before event; here’s what to expect from the report.

• Entropik's emotion metrics highlights by the dips and peaks in the emotions graph, viewers are both excited and surprised to witness the world's biggest sports festival, the Olympics. In fact, whenever the Olympics tagline and logo appear on the screen, the engagement score records the all time high
• According to Entropik's emotion insights, viewers emote higher emotional responses to advertisements with strong human-centered stories narratives as the world gets together for the Olympics during a very trying time
• Tokyo Olympics commercials featuring Paralympics Athletes managed to garner a decent Affect Lab score between 42 and 41. Viewers particularly liked the parts where the Paralympics players shared their stories. Thus, including more snippets featuring these personalities in the ads could have generated added interest and involvement from the viewers
• Ads that have relevant and resonant stories or products being used by Athletes have more stimulating engagement and emotional response from consumers than advertisements that only showcase products.  
• Viewers particularly like ads where athletes' real-life stories is the connecting thread of the entire ad instead of brand product/messaging. Ads such as like the Ralph Lauren ad, which garnered a solid AffectLab score compared to the other ads
   

Olympics is known for recording strong viewership and higher consumer engagement over the years, evoking feelings of pride, patriotism, hope, and inspiration. That's why every brand, from Coca-Cola to Ralph Lauren, is pining for customer attention by running innovative power-packed ad campaigns.
So, without further ado, let’s look at the Top 10 Ads from the Tokyo Olympics that striked the right chord with audiences’ emotion.

Bridgestone Tires | US Olympic Athlete | Allyson Felix
Bridgestone has prepared for the mega carnival of advertising with a campaign featuring one of the US' most decorated track and field sprinter, Allyson Felix.
The Japanese multinational giant visualizes a relation between Allyson Felix as a track and field star and as a mother. And the 33-second-long commercial concludes that just like Bridgestone's DriveGuard tires, Allyson is also prepared for everything. Be it unexpected and dangerous road conditions or racing to stop her kid from dropping her mobile in the toilet, they perform when it matters.
Bridgestone Tires | US Olympic Athlete | Allyson Felix

Entropik's emotion-driven insights indicate that the attention and engagement levels remained strong at 64.31 and 27.85. The commercial amasses an AL score of 42.88. However, positive emotions remained on the lower end at 4.42, and negative emotions peaked at 10.24. At the 19th-20th second of the commercial, there is a sudden spike in the emotion metric of Fear, recording 6.8 to 6.5. This is when the child is about to throw the athlete's phone into the toilet.  

Later, it is observed at 21st -24th second that there is an overall rise of happy emotions when Allyson successfully saves her phone and carries her child in the background. That's when the Bridgestone analyst comes into the frame and reinstates the analogy of Allyson multitasking her way to medals being a mother and athlete with Bridgestone's smooth yet dependable tires, which shield passengers from sudden road mishaps.

Emotion Spread for Bridgestone Tires - US Olympic Athlete | Allyson Felix
Here, the positive emotions and engagement levels witness an uplift from the 23rd second, and negative emotions dip from the 21st second, and happiness spikes till the Olympics summit announcement is made.

Start Your Impossible | Upstream | Toyota
Creativity is in storytelling and executing it right, and Toyota understands this. As Paralympics champion Jessica Long heads back to the Games for the 5th time backed by Toyota, the automotive manufacturer has aired another thoughtful ad. With over a million views on YouTube alone and more than 9.3K likes, the minute-long creative has everyone wiping tears and feeling inspired.
2021 Toyota Big Game Commercial: Jessica Long's Story | Upstream

Toyota's messaging that "there is hope and strength in all of us" resonates well with audiences. The spot narrates 13-time Paralympic gold medalist Jessica Long's journey from being adopted to her countless wins worldwide as she swims away.


Emotion Spread for Toyota – Start your Impossible | Jessica Long’s Story
The creative, conveying triumph, courage, and optimism in the face of adversity amassed a solid attention score of 64.80. The engagement score remained at 25.26. The artful cinematography collects high negative emotions at 10.89 and low positive emotions at 4.17. The ad chalks up an Affect Lab score of 42.25.
Entropik’s emotion insights report indicates that the audience exhibited equal amounts of sad and happy emotions at the 6th second when Jessica Long dives under deep water.

As per the insights, the engagement graph witnesses a peak from the 21st second. That's because the viewers could connect with Jessica Long's story and her mother's heartwarming response to the phone call and the Tokyo Olympics appearance on screen.


Positive and negative emotions peak from the 21st second as viewers emote mixed emotions of happiness and sadness. It happens when the Paralympics star Jessica Long's mother says that her adopted daughter's journey will be "amazing," followed by Toyota's Olympics summit announcement.

Allianz |Behind You For What’s Ahead
The ad packed a zestful montage of several 'lucky' moments from people worldwide as the financial services company announced becoming the Worldwide Insurance Partner for the Games from 2021-2028. With the catchy song 'Lucky Lucky Lucky Me' blasting in the background, the ad is turning heads and grabbing eyeballs.  
Allianz – Behind You For What’s Ahead

According to Affect Lab's Emotion AI report, the commercial garnered a good attention level and an average engagement level of 64.02 and 24.75, respectively. The creative bags an Affect Lab score of 41.86.  
When the brand messaging 'behind you no matter what life brings' graces viewers' screens at the 6th-8th seconds, the emotions graph captures the highest happy emotions at 14.9. Despite low business relevance in the ad, the creative does an excellent job in packaging the upbeat narrative.  



Similarly, the video grabs a peak in the engagement score when the "Behind You For What's Ahead" tagline appears. That's when the viewers understand that this ad is about the Tokyo Olympics. Besides, the positive emotions rose to 5.84, and negative emotions remained at 10.05.

 
Emotion Spread for Allianz – Behind You for Whats Ahead
The positive emotions peak from the 21st second as respondents emote happiness and excitement when a person with disabilities strikes a goal. The emotion graph fluctuates when the video shows different sports personalities.

Air BnB | Host The World
Advertising the all-encompassing Olympian experiences, Air BnB dropped this 54-seconds long cheery commercial. An inclusive and hopeful voiceover captures the vacation rental company's aim to help cities host the Games, and local communities share their unique and exquisite experiences. Working on the Olympics and Paralympics Games is by far Air BnB's most prominent investment in sport.
Host the World | Olympic Games | Airbnb
The visually charged commercial has an AL score of 41.6. The ad secured engagement and attention scores of 25.02 and 64.38. Similar to the other advertisements on the list, negative emotions were higher than positive ones. However, negative emotions and positive emotions stayed at 9.67 at 3.04, respectively.  


Emotion Spread for Air B&B Ad: Host The World
The positive emotions witness uplift when the voiceover announces that Air BnB will host the Tokyo Olympics events. Moreover, the engagement score peaks when the ‘’Host the World‘’ tagline and Air BnB logo appears.



What’s more, from 41st-43rd seconds, sadness emotions peak recording 13.6 to 15.5, respectively. Here, at the 41st second, Air BnB's tagline 'Host the World' displays on the screen, followed by their CTA along with the Olympics logo.  


In this commercial, Air BnB has smartly plugged in how they started their company. When Air BnB commenced their operations, they became a hit after their convention in Denver City, where they welcomed 20k+ visitors who needed a place to stay or a host.
In this ad, they have followed the same recipe, combining it with this mega event. With its messaging "Host the World," Air BnB emphasizes what it essentially does and draws attention to hosting a diverse group of people visiting Tokyo.

Citigroup Meet Team Citi Tokyo 2020
From the Polish Table Tennis star Natalia Partyka to Paralympic Athletics and Cycling record holder Kadeena Cox, to the US gold medalist Brad Snyder, to more and more Paralympics athletes, Citi's commercial is star-studded. The minute-long commercial introduces audiences to Team Citi and endeavors to build a more inclusive society by highlighting the Paralympics Movement worldwide.
Citi: Meet the Team Citi Para Athletes


Entropik's Emotion AI insights reveal that although the ad garnered a decent attention level at 64.45, it collected poor engagement at 24. Besides, it recorded the highest negative emotions at 10.96 and low positive emotions at 2. The ad bagged an AL score of 41.51.  

Emotion Spread for Citigroup – Meet Team Citi
When para-badminton star Manasi Joshi enters the frame, the emotions graph records all-time high sad emotions from seconds 11th -13th. Here, the viewers can empathize with the player and the visuals and exhibit a mix of emotions.  
Moreover, the engagement and emotion graph shows fluctuations as viewers emote excitement and happiness when various Paralympics stars introduce themselves in different languages and seek the audience's support during the event.

When para-badminton star Manasi Joshi enters the frame, the emotions graph records all-time high sad emotions from seconds 11th -13th. Here, the viewers can empathize with the player and the visuals and exhibit a broader spectrum of sad emotion. Moreover, the engagement and emotion graph shows fluctuations as viewers emote excitement and happiness when various Paralympics stars introduce themselves in different languages and seek the audience's support during the event.

Coke The History Shakers
This minute-long commercial, titled #HistoryShakers, comes from Coca-Cola, a brand known for airing refreshing ad campaigns. The commercial features six African American leaders shaping modern history and changing the world in unique ways.  
History Shakers | Full
Starting with a striking shot of the Rio Olympics gold medalist Simone Manuel splashing and swimming away, the ad accommodates the tales of champions from varying fields.  

The ad features them all from community activist Terence Lester, opera singer Davóne Tines, robotics expert Ayanna Howard, food activist Champale Anderson Greene, and media producer Tony Weaver Jr. While extending a fitting tribute to Black History, Coca-Cola celebrates the brave, bold, beaming, and honors "history shakers."
Entropik's emotion report indicates that the engagement graph remains stable across the ad as viewers watch the stories of the "history shakers." The engagement peaks at 25.37 right at the beginning due to the direct visuals and a straightforward narrative starring Simone Manuel. The engagement levels also rise in the ad's last segment due to the motivational narrative.

Emotion Spread for Coke – #TheHistoryShakers

The creative collects a high score of attention and engagement at 64.56 and 24.09, respectively. Moreover, positive emotions are highest in the first two segments of the ad when the viewers glance at the several motivational stories shown.

The branding element in the advertisement was discovered very quickly and earned good attention from respondents. The majority of the viewers noticed Coke on the screen, and it drove an uptick in positive emotions as the brand associates with a strongly positive social message.

Visa Pay Like Simone
The second on this list is a 15-second-long commercial from #TeamVisa starring the gymnastics phenom from the USA, Simone Biles. When the cashier calls out her sandwich order, the Olympics medalist runs, hops, and front handsprings her way to the food counter and pays with her contactless VISA card. Through this ad, Visa urges audiences to "Pay Like Simone" with their Visa cards.
Pay Like Simone
The short ad amasses a good attention score of 64.81 and an above-average Affect Lab score of 41.1. Entropik's emotion insights report reveals that the ad's beginning records high engagement when the gymnast flawlessly performs her routine in the cafeteria.  

Emotion Spread for Visa – Pay like Simone| #PayitLikeOlympian

However, as the story progresses, respondents were unable to connect with the ad as much, attributing to the lack of a narrative and a motivational approach. Moreover, the increased emphasis on the Visa card did not fare well with the viewers as well.  


Here, the engagement level for the ad remained at 23.43. Furthermore, the positive sentiment peaks at the commercial's end up to 5.4 as the clever wordplay of "Pay like an Olympian" graces the screen, along with Visa's brand messaging. However, negative emotions witness a small spike when the visuals transition from Simone to the Visa's credit card and the card machine.  
An interesting thing to note is that this ad carried elements of Visa branding throughout the video. Among the multiple brand elements, including when Simone used the Visa card, the final branding had the quickest time of discovery, highest earned attention and positive emotions.

What's more, the Visa logo plug-in in the initial visuals was very subtle when compared to the striking presence of Simone Biles on the screen. Consequently, it wasn't seen by most respondents, and the time of discovery was higher.  

Alibaba Group Let Hope Shine, Brighter Together
This year, Alibaba Group has aired a quiet yet hopeful commercial in its ode to humanity's resilience during the pandemic. Featuring Speed Climbing Grand Slam Champion Qixin Zhong, the 30-seconds long ad portrays Olympics as the hope of rekindling light in the world filled with darkness. With over 330K views on YouTube alone, the ad aligns with the Chinese multinational e-commerce brand's messaging of inspiration, encouragement, and cheer amid the worldwide pandemic.
Let Hope Shine, Brighter Together
Moreover, apart from this commercial, the brand has also been vocally campaigning, highlighting, and promoting athletes' unflagging persistence and commitment for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. According to Entropik's report, the ad chalked up solid attention and AL scores of 64.49 and 40.74.
The ad's opening scenes portraying a somber note of hope record-high engagement along with positive and negative emotions. However, in the ad's mid-scenes, when athletes' hard work and struggle come on the screen, negative emotions soar high.

19th seconds 23 seconds  

In a world longing for a ray of light and comfort, positive sentiments spike 19th second onward as the ad talks about ‘Hope Lights the way’ and contextualizing the spirit of togetherness emphasized with subtitle ‘Let Hope Shine Brighter Together’ at 23 seconds.  
Emotion Spread for Ali Baba Group Global | #Let Hope Shine, Brighter Together

Entropik's emotion-assisted insights also brought to light an exciting detail. While most of the viewers caught Alibaba Group's branding quickly, but when the Olympics Logo appears the happy emotion slips as it carried the viewers away from the hopeful narrative and the background music.
Furthermore, the brand element that emerges as the ad concludes is discovered immediately by the respondents. But that's not it! The commercial garnered an above-average engagement level at 22.57 and 62.3% of overall positive emotions.

Ralph Lauren, Our Team USA Ambassadors, Competing on a Global Stage
Ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics Games Tokyo 2020, the American fashion giant Ralph Lauren airs a chic yet emotionally-charged advertising campaign. Ralph Lauren has been outfitting Team USA for the seventh year in a row now.  
RALPH LAUREN | Our Team USA Ambassadors: Competing On A Global Stage
The minute-long commercial includes various athletes reflecting on their journey of competing globally and representing their country on a stage as big as the Games.  


10 secs Gif - happy emotion  
The creative recorded fairly consistent positive emotions throughout the commercial. Respondents initially emote high positive emotions and engagement when the female athlete talks at the 10th second and again when she continues sharing her experience at the 28th second.


Similarly, when she sets forth her first escapade at the Olympics at the 38th second, there's an uptick in positive emotions.  

The positive emotions remained uniformly high when another athlete talks about competing for the first time in Karate. By and large, according to the emotion insights, stories from female athletes generated higher engagement and positive emotions.
 

Emotion Spread for Ralph Lauren | Our Team USA
The engagement graph witnessed dips and fluctuations as athletes told their tales. The overall attention level reached up to 64.23, whereas the attention remained at 21.16. The commercial collected an AL score of 40.37.

Omega Seamaster Diver 300m Tokyo
Omega introduces Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Tokyo 2020; its special edition Olympics watch with this hit-and-miss creative. The 27-second long commercial from Omega fails to keep consumers emotionally engaged with a deafeningly mum musical track.
OMEGA Seamaster Diver 300M Tokyo 2020
This ad, focusing entirely on the product design, recorded the highest negative emotions at 11.34 owing to an apparent absence of a voiceover or stories to establish a human connect with the audience.

Gaze Map
However, positive emotions rise merely up to 2.55 when the Olympics logo becomes visible on the watch in the ad's opening scenes.  

Emotion Spread OMEGA Seamaster Diver | #OfficialTimeKeeper

The commercial garnered attention and engagement scores of 63.38 and 21.04. The Affect Lab score climbed up to 40.01.

The Emotion-Driven Verdict
This set of inspiring ads has set a much-needed momentum of hope and togetherness. Moreover, excitement for the Olympics has drawn viewers swiftly away from the chaotic terror of the pandemic. That's why the Games have become a battleground for striking a chord with viewers!

Overall Emotion Spread Recorded Negative Emotion on a higher side as spectators were experiencing ‘F-O-M-O' on magic moments at #Tokyo2020 in person.
Furthermore, Entropik's emotion report delivers critical revelations for marketing to audiences today. The emotion insights indicate that when the advertisements are engaging from an emotional standpoint, branding elements in the Ad's closing scenes fare much better than more minor elements peppered throughout the ad. The Emotion Report have recorded a spike in negative emotions superseding the positive emotion with 8%. This is due to micro negative emotions such as fear, anger, sadness expressed during the climax Olympic moments such as of victory, failure, struggle, fear and even nostalgia when viewers felt that they are missing out to witness this mega sports event in-person due to pandemic led restrictions.
No matter how big the brand is and whether the audiences are streaming the Olympics live or binging it on TV, emotions are the key to bringing onboard more customers. With Emotion AI solutions like Media Insights, brands can do just that! Brands can easily win gold by tapping onto audiences' subconscious with Emotion AI.

Marketers can deploy technologies such as Eye Tracking and Facial Coding to dive deep into the target audiences' subconscious. Advertisers will be equipped with actionable insights to create powerful, emotionally resonating ads and drive maximum ROI on ad campaigns across platforms using these emotion recognition technologies.  

Check out Entropik’s Emotion AI-enabled Media Insights solution now!