the windfall of derivative products

Phryge mascot, t-shirt, ballpoint pen… Products derived from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games represent a considerable windfall for distributors who insist on the attention paid to the origin of these “goodies” and affordable prices.

One Saturday in early May, at the checkouts of a Carrefour Market in Paris, Marie Étienne, 44, queues with her trolley containing a blue water bottle decorated with the Games mascot for her 6-year-old son. “The water bottle at 6.90 euros is fine, but I find the soft toys a little expensive,” she regrets.

The red stuffed animals in the shape of a Phrygian cap cost 15 euros for a small one and 25 euros for a large one, the same price in some 15,000 official points of sale, including 6,000 Carrefour establishments.

There are also nine Paris-2024 stores, seven in Paris and two in Lyon, and one online, shop.olympics.com. Around twenty in total will be open before the Games, Édouard Bardon, director of the Paris 2024 license, told AFP, as well as 150 points of sale on the 40 competition sites.

From the four-color Bic to the Le Coq sportif track jacket, there is something for every budget at the official Les Halles store in central Paris. Renata, a 68-year-old American on vacation with her husband, chose a gray sweatshirt adorned with the Games emblem for 53 euros, as a souvenir of their stay.

The Paris 2024 license has three brands, products with the emblem, mascots and the French Olympic and Paralympic team brand, explains Edouard Bardon. And these are marketed by different distributors: “premium partners” (Carrefour) and “official” partners, such as Danone, Decathlon, FDJ or Le Coq sportif.

There are also “official supporters”, such as La Poste, and brands authorized to sell licensed products (Bic, Doudou et Compagnie – which manufactures some of the soft toys -, Kiabi, etc.).

The Games organizing committee (Cojo) aims to sell nearly 2 billion euros in derivative products, indicated Edouard Bardon at the end of 2021.

Pine trees, snow globes…

In official stores, sales are driven by soft toys, key rings and pens, the official poster and “low-priced souvenirs, such as stamps, pins and coins from the Paris Mint”, explains Édouard Bardon . “T-shirts and caps are more of interest to international customers.”

Some items are made in France: Eiffel Tower, snow globe, magnets and Le slip français products. In total, between 20% (for textiles) and 80% (for food) of the products in official stores are made in France, according to the licensing director, while the government had deplored, at the end of 2022, that the majority are made in China.

Decathlon also highlights references made in France, including socks and tote bags, which are among the best sellers, Isabelle Pintiaux, director of the partnership, told AFP.

At Carrefour, which offers around 400 derivative products “at affordable prices”, the mascot “in all its forms is the absolute best-seller”, tells AFP Ève Zuckerman, director of the group’s Paris 2024 partnership, who was distributor exclusive stuffed animals for a few months.

The turnover of derivative products “increased by 75% between February and March”, details Ève Zuckerman.

Counterfeiting also attempts to steal sales. The Minister for Public Accounts, Thomas Cazenave, announced on March 11 the seizure of 600 counterfeit toys, “bearing representations of mascots”, from a wholesaler in Aubervilliers, near Paris. But “the phenomenon remains quite limited,” Romain Voillemot, legal director of Cojo, told AFP. The latter trained 1,200 French customs officers to recognize official products.

We must also protect the “more than 70 Paris 2024 licensed companies, including many VSEs and SMEs, which have invested massively,” continues Romain Voillemot. He cites Doudou and company, which has “hired a lot of people to produce the mascots in France, one of the flagship products”.

Paris, May 22, 2024 (AFP) – by Julie Coste