4 Ways Brands Can Navigate the Tension between Olympic Sports and Subcultures

Growing up, skateboarding was a huge part of my life – that feeling of landing a trick after hours of trying is like nothing else. I really loved the culture and community which came with skateboarding too – it felt precious and I was proud to be part of it. As I grow older, while I might be more risk averse on the board, I still love to keep in touch with that culture as it evolves over time.

So, when the sport was introduced to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, I was fascinated that there was a backlash from the skateboarding fraternity.  

On online forums, purists ranted that skateboarding was a subculture and shouldn’t be turned into a mainstream event – a sport rooted in creative expression, shifted into the world of competition and official uniforms. On the flip (pardon the pun), there’s been a massive growth in the sport since, particularly in women’s skateboarding. According to a study last year by GOSKATE, 40% of new skaters are female.

It’s an interesting tension point. Like a lot of niche, underground or subcultural sports, skateboarding can feel quite cliquey – that if you're not cool enough to do it, you can't do it. On the other hand, the Olympics have given it a huge global platform to billions of viewers and made it feel accessible. And this growth has led to a boom in associated clothing and footwear brands, some of whom actually complained when it was made an Olympic sport. 

Diehards may still disagree, but skateboarding has proved it’s possible to hold on to its values in the subculture, while moving into the mainstream.

 

Of course, there’ll always be people who hate it when ‘their’ underground culture goes mainstream. For example, breaking (aka breakdancing) makes its Olympic debut this year and there’s been criticism that this is at odds with the very essence of breaking, an urban dance style with roots in hip-hop culture.

But there are big opportunities for brands if they target these newly-elevated subculture sports in the right way and navigate this tension. Fail, and the backlash can be huge.

Some brands have nailed it. Nike and Red Bull have both worked successfully with the skateboarding subculture and tapped into the right passion points – and both are now sponsoring breaking Olympic hopefuls this year. 

They’ve been successful because they have authentically engaged with those communities, rather than just use their engagement as a marketing strategy. It’s no good just trying to piggyback on something and slapping a logo on it.

There has to be a value exchange for the audience. You must invest in the culture and you have to start at the grassroots. Here are some steps to consider.

 

The first step is to get to know the audience on a genuine level before even considering whether your brand can work in that space. You need to spend time understanding what makes them tick, what they want and where you can help. For example, they might need funding to help keep small independent clubs alive.

But if your brand can't help, don’t get involved. There has to be a genuine opportunity for you to give to the community. Because if these audiences see you as being inauthentic, they'll run a million miles.

Equally, you need to consider whether the subculture is even right for your own growth – VF Corp famously bought streetwear brand Supreme for $2.1 billion in 2020, however last week it was announced it had sold it to Italian company EssilorLuxottica for $1.5 billion. They cited “limited synergies” between Supreme and their own brands so the sale was the “natural next step”. A huge financial loss on what was clearly forecast as a growth opportunity with new audiences.

The problem is, brands often don’t realise they’re not going to get immediate results, which can feel counterintuitive. It might take years. But it pays back in the long term, because then you're completely embedded in and inextricably linked with the culture. You have to play the long game – start in the background and build up your credibility.

The brands who are successful are those who don't feel the need to be shouted about initially. Those who get it wrong are the ones who haven’t earned the right to play in those spaces but parachute themselves in AND shout about it. 

Another aspect is that communities shouldn’t have to be a customer to reap the benefits of a brand’s involvement. Yes, it’s music, but Vodafone did it brilliantly at Glastonbury this year. It gave back by letting anyone charge their phones for free at the music festival. It demonstrated the brand was connecting people and making itself useful to the whole audience, not just its own customers.

A further important element is understanding the whole subculture community – it’s not just about focusing on gen z.  And realising that subcultures often have deep roots that cross demographics.

For example, the London Design Museum recently had an excellent exhibition on the history of skateboarding and the visitors who came were of all ages. Because much like with breaking (which has come of age alongside hip hop, which recently turned 50), skateboarding appeals across the generations. 

It’s not just the fans; one of Team GB’s skateboarding team is Andy Macdonald, who’s 50. You need to understand the participants, the people cheering for them, the tribes in the fandom, and what else they’re into. 

More niche sports will be debuting at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, including softball and lacrosse, and it will be interesting to see which brands get involved – not least because these sports are going to grow rapidly, because they've got a smaller fan base than many. It could be a big opportunity. If brands invest time to bed into these subcultures, they could see very quick growth themselves. If they get in early and do it genuinely, it will pay off. 

But brands must tread cautiously – sports fans are more savvy than ever and if they sniff inauthenticity, they’re going to shout about it across multiple platforms. Backlashes can be instantaneous on social. 

When brands do it well, growth is completely organic on those same platforms and fans end up doing the hard work for you. And it’ll be gold medals all round.