Held after every Summer Olympics since London 2012, the Inspiration Awards are presented to Australian Olympic Team Partners who achieve success through the innovative and effective use of their Olympic Team sponsorship across any or all aspects of their business.

In a highly competitive field, GoDaddy’s ‘Dream It. Build It’ campaign earned the top of the podium, ahead of Speedo’s ‘Made for Aussies, worn by Olympians’ and Woolworths’ ‘Aussie Heroes’ campaign tied as runners up, with Jockey’s “Behind Them All” campaign awarded the Supplier category award.

The judging panel has a wealth of Olympic and marketing experience, featuring Olympic gold medallist Steve Hooker, Olympic sailor Angela Farrell, Creative Director of Channel 7 Graham Donald and Head of Partnerships & Marketing at The Careers Department Janine Wood.

AOC CEO Matt Carroll congratulated the winners on their award.

“Congratulations and thank you to tonight’s winners, not just on tonight’s accolade but your ongoing support of the Australian Olympic Team,” Mr Carroll said.

“The Olympic dreams of our athletes simply cannot be realised without the incredible support of our Australian Olympic Team Partners.

“The AOC is proud to present the 2021 Inspiration Awards, to highlight and reward how our Partners have promoted the Olympic spirit, using engaging and innovative campaigns to share athletes’ stories, the Olympic values and the power of the Olympic movement with millions of Australians.”

Tapping into research that showed a quarter of Australians have a dream to start their own business or side hustle but haven’t yet taken the leap, GoDaddy’s ‘Dream It. Build It’ campaign highlighted the similarities between entrepreneurs and elite athletes to inspire a nation to take the plunge.

Working with four-time Olympian and Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist diver Melissa Wu, who also runs multiple small businesses on top of being an elite athlete, GoDaddy ran a screen-led integrated marketing campaign across display, print media and transit, amplified through PR, social and customer care channels.

The judging panel spoke highly of GoDaddy’s campaign, particularly on how they brought Olympians’ sporting and non-sporting dreams together to inspire Australians.

Olympic champion and judging panel member Steve Hooker said the campaigns highlighted the creativity and success off the partner family’s connection to the Olympics.

“There were so many great campaigns and it was a really tough decision to find a winner,” Hooker said.

“The GoDaddy campaign stood out in how it highlighted that there is more to Olympians than just their sport and as such it created a connection between the athlete, in this case Melissa Wu, and their customer.

“The objectives of their campaign were really clear and the campaign resulted in a huge business outcome that has carried on beyond the end of the Games. Congratulations to GoDaddy on their well-deserved win.”

GoDaddy Australia Managing Director Tamara Oppen said everyone at GoDaddy Australia is humbled and excited by this honour.

“Being part of the AOC Olympic family as the Official Website Building sponsor of Team Australia continues to be an absolute privilege. So to be recognised amongst so many worthy, impactful and memorable campaigns is extremely special to us.

“From the very beginning of our involvement with Team Australia, we wanted to ensure our campaign was meaningful and gave back to the Australian athletes who made us so proud in Tokyo. By demonstrating the inherent link between athletes and entrepreneurs, we wanted to encourage Aussies to bring their dreams to life. As Australia’s athletes proved, dreams are there to be chased.

“In the AOC, Melissa Wu and the entire Team Australia family, we could not have asked for a more engaging partner, ambassador and community."

With their incredible ‘Aussie Heroes’ sticker program, TVCs and multi-channel campaign, Woolworths brought Olympian and Paralympian stories to life for millions of Australians, not only building excitement for the Games but inspiring kids to eat healthy through ‘Pick Fresh, Play Fresh’.

Speedo’s campaign built consumer engagement highlighting that Speedos are for everyone, from everyday Aussies to Olympic champions. Leveraging the AOC’s ‘Have a Go’ campaign, Speedo’s integrated campaign leveraged their Olympic ambassadors and fantastic results in the Tokyo pool to achieve great campaign outcomes.

In the supplier category, Jockey’s ‘Behind Them All’ campaign took us behind the scenes into quarantine hotel rooms to home lockdowns, highlighting how athletes were striving for their Olympic goals. The campaign featured Olympians including Jess Fox, Alex Winwood and Alessandra Ho, as well as Paralympians including Ellie Cole and Ma Lin, highlighting Jockey supplying Australian Team uniforms worn every day in all conditions by athletes striving for Tokyo.

The reported results from the sponsor family were incredible, highlighting the success of Olympic-led campaigns, from sales, consumer consideration, digital and social engagement and even staff engagement all receiving big lifts.

Judge Janine Wood, Head of Partnerships & Marketing at The Careers Department, also has experience in Olympic marketing, having run campaigns for APN during Rio 2016.

“This was a fantastic group of Olympic campaigns,” Wood said. “The results across the board show that Olympic marketing leads to great outcomes.

“The variety and range of campaigns highlighted how the Olympic sponsor family could creatively leverage their partnerships.

“Congratulations to GoDaddy, the campaign successfully captured an extra dimension of our Olympic athletes – using the ‘side hustle’ of Olympians to create a campaign that worked before, during and lives on after the Games.”