• by Danielle Oster , July 10, 2024

Delta’s campaign highlighting its status as the official airline of Team USA for the Paris Olympic Games  took off today, with ads featuring athletic stars of various sports, running across NBCU digital and TV channels throughout the summer games. Each ad brings Delta’s “Keep Climbing” tagline and messaging to the Olympic stage, focused on the theme of resilience and perseverance that first appeared during the brand's 2022 Beijing Olympics campaign.

Ads focus on different stages of the athletic journey with “Before,” “Time,” “One on None” and “You Get You There” highlighting the hours of preparation necessary to make it to the games. “Going Somewhere” shows the experiences of newcomers to Team USA, and sports making their first Olympic appearance – such as breaking (commonly known as “breakdancing”) and Team USA breaking star Victor Montalvo.

Additional Team USA partners highlighted in the campaign include track and field icon Gabby Thomas, beach volleyball players Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng, and an athlete who seems an especially natural fit for the “Keep Climbing’ message: climber Brooke Raboutou.

"Climbing has always given me a foothold in life -- even through some of the toughest seasons -- and it’s been the momentum and movement that drives me to my goals,” Raboutou said in a release..

The campaign also highlights Team USA stars competing in the Paralympics, which begins August 28, with para basketball star Trevon Kenifer taking center stage for “One on None.”

 "These spots capture the joys, challenges and unrelenting ambition it takes to keep climbing – because no one gets to the top by staying still," Delta CMO Alicia Tillman said in a statement.

Additionally, the campaign includes a series of OOH ads -- billboards, digital OOH activations, and signage -- created in-house, which will run across the U.S. in key markets including in Delta Terminals and surrounding areas in Seattle, Boston, New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. 

The airline will also spotlight each of the Team USA athletes it sponsors within in-flight entertainment. A social media component will feature short video content starring four Team USA athletes – Derek Loccident, Kaleo Maclay, Victor Montalvo and Ashleigh Johnson – and inviting people to “chart their own journeys’ and share it with their followers through a digital experience.