Direct-to-consumer healthcare apparel brand FIGS made Olympic Games history by becoming the first brand to put their marketing dollars behind healthcare professionals instead of the usual suspects of high-profile athletes. Over 250 of Team USA’s medical staff wore FIGS’ custom-made limited-edition Team USA Medical Staff jackets and Mock Neck Jogger Scrub Jumpsuits throughout both the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. These behind-the-scenes warriors rarely get their moment in the spotlight, but FIGS made it happen, putting doctors, nurses, and trainers stylishly front and center for the world to see.
“Our mission at FIGS is to celebrate, empower and serve those who serve others,” said Trina Spear, FIGS’ co-founder, in the company’s press materials. “By highlighting healthcare professionals who push the limits every day to support our nation’s greatest athletes, we aim to bring well-deserved recognition to their incredible passion, dedication and skill.”
It’s no small feat for a relatively young brand like FIGS to make such a massive impact, especially standing alongside Ralph Lauren, who has been designing Team USA’s Olympic athlete uniforms since 2008. Their decision to shine a light on the unsung heroes of the Games — the medical team — was a brilliant strategy that subtlety made the brand omnipresent without plastering arenas with their logo. As Silver recipients of our Marketing Winners of the 2024 Paris Olympics, let’s take a deeper look at how they did it.
The Anatomy of a Campaign I: The Team USA Limited-Edition Collection
“The practitioners who serve on the medical staff for Team USA bring expertise and passion to their work and provide outstanding care for Team USA athletes as they work toward their ultimate goal of representing the United States at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Through this collaboration with FIGS we are able to celebrate a group of exceptional healthcare professionals who set a gold standard across the medical field and take enormous pride in their commitment to helping athletes.” — Dr. Jonathan Finnoff, Chief Medical Officer, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, Team USA
The Team USA Collection by FIGS was a special, limited-edition apparel line created to dress Team USA’s healthcare workers during the Paris Olympics. The gear was also sold through FIGS’ online store and their Los Angeles Community Hub. Incorporating distinct Team USA Medical Staff emblems with red, white, and blue color schemes to align with Olympic branding, the medical team was easily identifiable throughout both the Olympic Village and broadcast screens.
Stylishly functional, the collection included the fan-favorite Team USA Red Mock Neck Jogger Scrub Jumpsuit and Stadium and Embossed Jackets. Made with durable mid-weight fabric light enough to be comfortable during long shifts, the material had a mechanical stretch for easy movement on an active day. FIGS also introduced three new bag styles—a backpack, a roll-up tool bag, and a belt bag— also made with durable materials and plenty of pockets for carrying essentials.
While the Team USA Limited-Edition Collection fashionably outfitted the medical staff, the real power of FIGS’ campaign came through storytelling. With launch of their Anatomy of a Champion film, FIGS presented the world a behind-the-scenes look at the unseen healthcare heroes behind every athlete’s success.
The Anatomy of a Campaign II: It Takes Heart To Build Bodies That Break Records
“I love helping people to achieve their dreams. When you see these athletes and know they have a specific goal, just being a small part of the puzzle that allows them to achieve that goal is incredible. My work is to not only empower their performances on the field but help transfer those skills into their everyday lives as regular human beings.” — Dr. Kweku Smith, PhD, LP, HSP, CMPC, Team USA
The Anatomy of a Champion film is arguably the heart of FIGS’ Paris Olympics campaign, embodying its tagline, “It takes heart to build bodies that break records.” Developed in the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, the film highlights over a dozen healthcare providers alongside six Olympic and Paralympic athletes, narratively blending their stories to illustrate the care, dedication, and expertise of how the medical team symbolically “builds” athletes’ bodies to perform.
With a modernized version of the classic nursery rhyme, “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” musically weaved in, the production juxtaposed the work of medical staff against a backdrop of athletic performance, allowing viewers to witness firsthand how the staff’s dedication directly contributes to ahtletes making it to the Olympic Games. In comparing the precision of medical care to the precision of athletic training, FIGS brought outside spectators into a world beyond campaigns like Nike’s “Just Do It.”
Yes, these athletes just do it, but it’s their healthcare team that helps them continue doing it over and over again. The Anatomy of a Champion film is a refreshing reminder of this often forgotten nuance.
The Anatomy of a Campaign III: Bridging Brand and Community
“People don’t look at most healthcare providers like they used to. There’s a major loss of respect in some cities. Our jobs are some of the most incredible jobs and I love what I do. Yes, I’d like to inspire more people to get into medicine, but I’d also like to inspire the community at large to respect healthcare professionals. This is what FIGS is doing every single day, and this latest partnership is amplifying their work!” — Dr. Gloria Beim, MD, Team USA
Through the Anatomy of a Champion film, FIGS enlightened a broader community by showcasing the invisible roles doctor and staff take in making the Olympics happen. FIGS then took their campaign from the screen to the real world by hosting events like the Opening Ceremony Fête and Celebration of Service to get the public engaged with their narrative.
The FIGS x Team USA Opening Ceremony Fête brought a slice of Paris to New York to kick-off the 2024 Paris Olympic Games with a live stream of the official Olympic Opening Ceremony. Held at the Washington Square Arch, in a nod to how this American arch was modeled after the Parisian Arc de Triomphe, the event featured live performances by the Northwell Health Nurse Choir and a local jazz trio, merchandise giveaways, and Parisian-style delicacies in a culinary nod to the Olympics host city.
A little over a week later, FIGS hosted the Celebration of Service event at the Team USA House in Paris’ Palais Brongniart to recognize 250+ healthcare professionals who worked behind the scenes to ensure athletes performed at their best.
The Anatomy of a Campaign’s ROI: Measuring Financial and Cultural Impact
“The FIGS x Team USA partnership is everything to me. I have loved my job as a Sports Medicine physician over the years. As an ex-athlete myself, I know how many people are necessary for an athlete’s success. The coaches, the nutritionist, the strength coach, the athletic trainers, and yes, very much the physicians. This partnership is a reminder that if we weren’t there to keep athletes safe and healthy, they wouldn’t be able to perform on an international stage. This partnership shows people that athletes are at their best because we perform at our best. It’s awesome.” — Dr. Julia Iafrate, DO, FIGS Ambassador
From sold-out products to increased brand engagement, FIGS’ 2024 Paris Olympics investment paid off handsomely in sales and long-term customer loyalty. Let’s calculate the ROI:
- Product Sellouts: The FIGS x Team USA collection sold out in record time to generate revenue during the campaign. Jackets were gone within 24 hours, with jumpsuits sold out in under four days. This immediate sellout reflects high demand born of strong brand recognition.
- Cultural Impact: The campaign sparked conversations about healthcare professionals and their role in high-performance sports with an emotive narrative centering around medical workers as the “builders of bodies that break records.” In doing so, FIGS has strengthened its affinity among the medical community to create lasting customer loyalty.
- Social Media and Celebrity Endorsements: FIGS gained traction through organic mentions by high-profile personalities wearing FIGS gear. Snoop Dogg made a surprise appearance in a FIGS’ TikTok video that received 2,184 likes and put FIGS in front of Snoop’s diverse followers. This unpaid endorsement spread the brand’s name beyond its healthcare audience.
- Future Campaign Opportunities: Their investment in the 2024 Paris Olympics will have a long-term payoff by maintaining visibility over several Olympic cycles. And in securing a multi-year sponsorship through the LA 2028 Olympic Games, FIGS will have an ever-present engagement with its core audience of healthcare professionals.
- Elevated Brand Perception and Long-term Customer Engagement: Sponsoring Team USA’s healthcare professionals put FIGS on the same playing field as other major Olympic sponsors, inherently boosting the brand’s status and prestige and establishing a foundation for continued growth. FIGS has gone beyond being a mere scrubs company into becoming a brand with cultural influence. This has the potential to translate into future sales, partnerships, and further brand recognition, extending the company’s ROI beyond anything immediately conceivable.
The Takeaway for CMOs: Making an Impact with a Subtle Presence
“The Olympics provide the perfect stage to spotlight our community of Awesome Humans. Through our campaign, we aim to inspire people everywhere to celebrate these extraordinary individuals. We hope its success will ignite a new generation to pursue careers in healthcare.” — Bené Eaton, FIGS Chief Marketing Officer
For CMOs watching from the sidelines, FIGS executed a subtly persuasive strategy by supporting an omnipresent but quietly visible group. The company understood its audience, building a campaign that spoke directly to healthcare champions and their discreet role in making the Olympics possible. FIGS reminded everyone watching the most relevant global event of every quinquennium that behind every glorified athlete is a healer keeping them in the sport. Without high profile athletes to tell their story, FIGS delivered a much more personal message for a medical community often taken for granted.
Full disclosure: my mother was a healthcare worker who made me aware of the amount of self-sacrifice that goes into the profession. She retired as a medical social worker for Grady Memorial Hospital at age 78. I can’t deny this personal meaning tipped the scale for my promoting FIGS in our Marketing Winners of the 2024 Paris Olympics series.
Up next in the third and final installment of our deeper dive, Snoop Dog and the power of nonchalance.