The Tray Way: Does the Olympic "Brand" Mean Something New?

With the ringing of a 27-ton bell, a Chariots of Fire reenactment, an array of literacy characters and dancing teenagers (and lets not forget a parachuting queen), the 30th Summer Olympics kicked off in London this week.

When you think of the Olympics (or at least the Olympic athlete), you think of fulfilling a dream and believing in ones self. You think of a young boy or girl, watching past Olympians compete, and longing to achieve that same level of success. You think of hardwork, dedication, perseverance, all in the name of vying to be the best, representing your country, and having that medal put around your neck.

That is the Olympics that athletes and spectators alike have known for the past 29 summer games. But, like most other things in the athletic community, the Olympics is a business, and according to some, it is the second most valuable brand in the world, which has lead to unprecedented efforts to keep that value safe.

In one of the most aggressive brand monitoring campaigns ever seen, efforts have been taken to insure that no use of the Olympic name is being used for promotional purposes without consent (and sponsorship dollars). This is obviously being done to protect the major sponsors like Visa Europe, McDonalds, Dow Chemicals and others, all of whom invested around $100 million to be a major sponsor of the games, and in return, have been catered to and given sole rights to signage, advertising and even food.

We know as well as any that a brand must be protected, and perhaps in this age of communications and social media, this is the new best practice on how to do it. At an estimated $47.5 billion, there are certain efforts that have to be taken or the inherent value of a brand like the Olympics can be severely diminished (which will go on to hurt potential revenue streams at future events). However, is it a step too far in the case of the Olympics? The Olympics were meant to bring people together in one place in the spirit of competition. It was meant to be an open venue for people from different countries to meet in one of the only truly safe environments left in the world. While this feeling of welcome and positivity will continue to be viewed this way in London (and likely in Brazil four years from now), are we inching down a slippery slope of hurting the "openness" of the Olympic brand by creating an "us" and "them" attitude?






The Tray PML Way is the blog for Tray, experts in the printing, mailing, logistics and promotional products. You can learn more about our capabilities by visiting our website, as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages. For information about the company and its successes, visit www.traypml.com