This initiative, which distinguished us from other sponsors of the Games, stemmed from a bold idea: having an Olympic champion surf in the heart of Paris on a wave-less river, set up in under 36 hours.
Three days after winning his Olympic medal on Tahiti’s legendary Teahupo’o wave, Accor, premium partner of Paris 2024 and sponsor of Kauli Vaast, enabled him to realize his dream by surfing the Seine in front of the Eiffel Tower.
This extraordinary experience allowed the surfing champion to fully immerse himself in the Paris 2024 Games and feel the event’s pulse in the capital’s heart, despite winning his medal thousands of kilometers away from Paris’s excitement.
This experience embodies the brand promise for the Games: ‘Crafting treasured memories,’ enabling Accor to showcase its hospitality during the Games and position itself as a leader in the hospitality industry with its loyalty program: ALL.
The stunt was organized in few hours by requisitioning boats and privatizing the Seine after the Olympic “Open Water Swimming” event, with support from the Olympic Games committee and the Paris Police Prefecture. We invited key media outlets less than 24 hours in advance to cover the event in the morning.
The images of this incredible surfing session were picked up by all major French media (France TV, TF1, M6) and broadcast internationally (BBC, CNN, Brazilian TV…), achieving nearly 900 million impressions and a reach of 120 million. Highly engaging, with 1.9 million interactions, for less than €100K and almost no paid media!
