Milano-Cortina

2026 Winter Olympics

Spring 2023

This was a solo project I completed for my Global Sports Marketing class during my semester abroad. The plan includes a basic business plan, communication strategy, and media mix.

** The photo is the Milano Duomo which I had the opportunity to visit during my short trip to Milan**

**The photos are unavailable on Wix Mobile**

Purpose

My professor allowed students to choose from two options, from which I chose to analyze and create a plan for the 2026 Olympics. The professor assigned the class the basics of the project, which included the fundamental business plan/ model, target market, 6 month communication plan, an allocation of 1000 tokens to spend on communications, and set reasonable, measurable KPIs.

Image of an arch in the main square of Milan, Italia

Assignment Deliverables

Research Olympics business model and operations -

Research Olympics History and Analyze Patterns -

Create new Segmentation and Targeting analysis -

Develop a six-month communications plan and strategy -

Calculate and set KPIs -

Develop a media mix within the budget of 1000 tokens (fictional currency designed to help -

students learn to budget

Design and create a presentation -

Present findings to class -

** Taken in the Duomo Square in Milano**

Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics Marketing & Advertising Plan

Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics Presentation

Notes

Because this was a solo project, the whole project was entirely my work. I enjoyed this project and did very well on it, but I found it challenging as I had not ever worked with advertising before. I took a marketing approach to my business plan, but the communication plan and strategy, as well as the token allocation, were new concepts to me. Most of my classmates took the project at face value as the instructions were open to interpretation, but I wanted to apply my marketing knowledge to create a real strategy for the Milano-Cortina Olympics.

If I had more time, an aspect of the 2026 games I would have focused on and researched more is the sustainable foundation which is now becoming the norm for massive global events. Olympics can bring economic disaster as hotels, restaurants, and attractions are built for a total of one month's worth of tourism, then return to their normal levels which cannot sustain the new infrastructure, causing pressure on locals, increasing taxes, and generating mass amounts of waste. The 2026 games are spread across two regions and cities to help spread the tourism pressure, as well as limit the number of new buildings the host country must build. The majority of the games will be hosted in existing buildings which is great for both sustainability and decreasing the cost of the games which suggests increased profitability from past Olympics.

I set KPIs based on what I believed to be important, measurable aspects of the Olympics. My classmates took a different approach, measuring follower count on social platforms, which could have been more in line with the project assignment given the advertising and PR approach the project maintained. However, it was my first time setting quantitative KPIs and doing research and math to back up the statistics. Ultimately, I enjoyed the project and the business planning, as well as setting the KPIs- advertising isn't my favorite business activity, but I grew from the experience.