The NZOC targeted reach audiences and tweaked the nature of the campaign in response to the coronavirus pandemic and 12-month delay of the Olympic Games.

These are described as risks which paid off by NZOC brand manager Alex Cooper-Cuthbert.

"The New Zealand Team achieved our highest level of brand growth in our target audiences," said Cooper-Cuthbert.

"Ninety-two per cent of people believed that the campaign connected with who we are as New Zealanders, and what it means to be a New Zealand athlete, and New Zealand’s pride in the Team grew by eight per cent.

"Our top three channels for driving views were new for us. 

"TikTok delivered 26.7 million views, dynamic real-time digital billboards gained 13.5 millions views and Instagram Reels delivered 18.8 million views.

"These outstanding results reinforced that idea that fresh approaches to channel use are key to driving audience growth. 

"New Zealand Team athletes were pleased with the campaign, though some felt we could have been talking about Tokyo longer - an interesting area to balance between athlete confidence and public sentiment that we'll be interrogating with future campaign planning.

"A campaign theme rooted in team culture proved key to allowing us to tell an authentic story from the inside out."

New Zealand enjoyed a record-breaking Tokyo 2020 Olympics, winning 20 medals - more than at any other Games.

Seven of those medals were gold, with Lisa Carrington winning three in kayak events.

There were a further three rowing gold medals, while the women's rugby sevens team went one better than their Rio 2016 silver medal.

Moving forward, Cooper-Cuthbert insisted the NZOC is aware of the "need to continually show value to partners" but can meet those challenges with its campaigns for Beijing 2022, Paris 2024 and the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The "New Zealand Team brand will stay true to our culture of manaaki, our legacy and mana," Cooper-Cuthbert added.