I didn’t set out to study global media. I was on vacation.
By coincidence, my travel overlapped with this year’s Winter Olympics. I watched the opening events in the United States, flew overseas mid-Games and ended up catching the second half from England and France.
Same athletes. Same events. Same medals. But the way each country framed the Games was different.
America: The Hero’s Journey
Watching from home in the U.S., the Games felt big, cinematic and emotional.
Every athlete had a backstory. Every performance carried weight. You knew who had fought through injury, who had sacrificed everything, whose parents were watching from the stands.
It was less “Here’s a race” and more “Here’s our story.”
And when someone won? We could all feel that person’s achievement. As an American viewer, it’s natural. We love heroes. We love the idea that grit and belief bend the universe in your favor.
England: The Performance
Then I landed in England where it was a slightly different energy.
The tone felt calmer. More measured. The commentary was technical. Analysts discussed form, funding structures and training systems.
When British athletes medaled, there was of course pride, but it was quieter.
The spotlight wasn’t always on emotion. It was on execution. Instead of building a single hero, the coverage respected the sport itself. It felt less like spectacle and more like appreciation. At one point, a British athlete being interviewed even thanked the people of England for letting them come to the Games.
France: The Culture
France was different for one main reason: I don’t speak French. Which meant I wasn’t processing the commentary. I was watching everything else. Without language to guide me, other elements of the coverage stood out more.
I noticed coverage felt like a communal gathering — multiple hosts seated together around one central round table, talking across each other in an energetic but cohesive way. It felt social.
In the U.S., I’m used to a split format: anchors in a polished studio, correspondents on-site at the event. There’s a physical separation. In France, it felt more collective. One table. One space. A shared conversation.
Even without understanding the words, the energy was clear.
At one point, there was coverage involving Snoop Dogg and Bugs Bunny. I am sure this segment was available to most countries (likely online), but I thought it funny that it made prime time TV coverage in France. To me, the fact that the entire Snoop interview with Bugs made national TV showed that the French saw the Olympics as more than just sport. It was entertainment. Culture. Shared reference points.
Same Event. Different Lens.
If you muted the sound and just watched the events, you might not notice much difference. A downhill run is still a downhill run. A medal ceremony looks the same no matter the country broadcasting it. But the real shift wasn’t in the competition — it was in the narration around it. What stories were elevated. What moments were replayed. What the commentators discussed. The Olympics didn’t change. The lens did. I was watching three countries express themselves.
- The U.S. built heroes.
- England analyzed performance.
- France created atmosphere, something communal and cultural.
Watching half of the Winter Olympics abroad reminded me of something simple: There is no one way to tell a story. And how you tell that story shapes how the audience experiences it.
Does it align culturally?
Does it respect language?
Does it reflect the interests and expectations of the people receiving it?
The events themselves didn’t change from country to country. But the framing did. The tone did. The emphasis did. And because of that, the emotional experience changed too.
That’s true far beyond the Olympics.
In marketing, intent matters just as much as the message. It’s not enough to communicate, you have to communicate in a way that aligns with your audience’s lens. Their values. Their rhythm. Their expectations.
Otherwise, even a strong message can feel off-key. And when the tone is off, the experience suffers. The Games reminded me that storytelling isn’t just about what you say. It’s about how you choose to say it.
This blog is courtesy of MMC Account Manager Alex Diaz.