Ten years ago, on August 5, I was at Maracanã Stadium for the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
But I wasn’t there just as a spectator.
I was leading a 35-person team from Textual, responsible for the communications of six clients directly involved in the Games. It all started with the Organising Committee itself, as part of a journey that had begun eight years earlier, when Textual served as the PR agency for the successful bid that brought the Olympic Games to South America for the first time.
From the moment Rio won the bid, we continued working on communications for the Organising Committee, through a journey filled with incredible milestones in the lead-up to the Games — from unveiling the Rio 2016 brand on Copacabana Beach during New Year’s Eve celebrations to launching the Olympic and Paralympic mascots.
Olympic Torch Relay: 17 Digital Channels
Along this journey, the Olympic Torch Relay was almost like staging another Games within the Games. We are incredibly proud to have developed its overarching narrative — The Best of Brazilians for Brazil and the World — and to have connected the Relay with messages that were both relevant and necessary, including diversity, the fight against violence against women, and sustainability. These themes were embodied by torchbearers nominated by the Rio 2016 communications team and Textual.
Operationally, Textual had a traveling team producing content throughout the Relay’s 95 days, covering 325 municipalities and nearly 13,000 torchbearers, while also organising more than 80 mini press conferences along the route. Back at our Rio headquarters, we managed 17 digital channels in three languages and coordinated relationships with the communications teams of governments, sponsors, and partners involved in the project.
At the same time, we were also responsible for PR for Coca-Cola Brazil, a sponsor of both the Torch Relay and the Games. The brand gained significant visibility through the stories we created around the Olympic flame and its journey across the country.
During the Games: Clients Across Different Sectors
During the Games themselves, we had the opportunity to approach communications from many different perspectives. Our clients also included the Brazilian Olympic Committee — including the Brazilian delegation and Casa Brasil — as well as Speedo International and Technogym, official suppliers, and Casa Italia, the Italian Olympic Committee’s hospitality and events venue.
Organisers, delegations, sponsors, and suppliers — each with their own objectives and challenges, which we transformed into opportunities for relevant content, meaningful conversations, and high-quality visibility.
And after all that came the Paralympic Games, which taught us remarkable lessons that went far beyond sport. From a communications perspective, they also gave us the opportunity to amplify conversations around diversity and inclusion through the extraordinary stories of athletes from Brazil and around the world.
A Unique Communications Experience
Rio 2016 was, therefore, a unique and intense experience for those of us at Textual who are passionate about communications — and one whose lessons and expertise we continue to renew and apply to everything we do.
We had already worked at the five previous editions of the Olympic Games. Through that experience, we had learned that working at major sporting events provides lessons that can be applied to communications in virtually any industry.
It’s as simple as this: you are operating at a moment when the entire world is watching, and events unfold at the speed of a stopwatch.
But doing all of this in your hometown — at an edition of the Games that you helped bring to the city — carries a unique meaning.
Especially because its legacy continues to this day. It can be seen, for example, in Rio’s stronger position as a destination for major events and tourism; in modern training centres serving athletes from across Brazil; in educational sports facilities filled with children and young people, created from temporary venues originally built in the Olympic Park; and in important improvements to the city’s transport infrastructure.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup Is Coming!
And the wheel keeps turning. Next year, another major global sporting event will come to Brazil for the very first time: the FIFA Women’s World Cup!
All the emotion of football, combined with the opportunity to build conversations around issues that move society forward and strengthen reputations.
Just the way we love to do it!
Carina Almeida, Managing Partner and President of Textual Comunicação
