If you’re undergoing big internal changes, experiencing a shift in your audience, or have an outdated visual identity, it might be time for a brand refresh. This blog, infused with a little Olympic flair, will help to get your cogs turning and ensure you focus on what matters most to achieve that winning formula.
With the Paris 2024 Olympics in full swing, I can’t help but feel a little (or very) nostalgic about when it was our turn in 2012. The build-up, the excitement, the athletes, the medals, the atmosphere of the whole country. But, that logo? Back then, the London 2012 logo certainly managed to get everyone talking. . .
Within hours of the initial unveiling, there were petitions for the logo to be scrapped. The harshest opinions compared it to a broken swastika and a complete artistic flop. Despite everyone putting in their tuppence worth with their negative logo opinions before the games, I bet you can’t find many people who didn’t think the 2012 Olympics weren’t a massive success.
We all know that it’s not the logo that made the games what it was. Everything that took place, all the incredible events, the celebrations and sense of togetherness, and dare we say it, patriotism, is what stirs our feel-good memories of London 2012 (which was obviously the best Olympics ever). The logo did its job and did it well. It’s jagged edges and bold colours are completely different from anything that came before and it’s instantly recognisable and synonymous with the experience of the London games. I certainly look back at this logo with fondness and respect now compared to my initial thoughts when it was first rolled out.
The point of this being, a logo is entirely subjective – it can even be divisive – but it needs a life and a story before it can be fully judged. Focus groups are all very well and good, but if the brand hasn’t been given a chance to work at this point, how can a logo possibly give you the full picture? A logo is the consistent, unifying part of the bigger picture – a brand.
Before you start on the rebrand journey, make sure your foundations are strong, you know what you stand for, who your audience is and that you’re telling your authentic story.
With this in place you can set to work on establishing your brand. This will be how you’d want people to think of your brand, after the games. What sets you apart, what are your values, what experience are your consumers going to have, what’s your personality and tone of voice?
As brand experts, there are many things we establish at this point that will help build your brand’s identity and shape how you want to be recognised by your audience.
When it comes to business and refreshing or creating a corporate logo, we’ve found that clients often aren’t sure of what they want – which is exactly why they reach out for our help in the first place. Our job is to listen hard to all that you stand for as a business, translate this into a visual format and give you a consistent structure for your messaging. Quite simply, we think you do actually know what you want to be and what you want your brand to represent, it just needs a spotlight shone on it and encapsulated with a visual mark that you believe in and really like. Everything else will slot into place if you can uphold the integrity of your brand.
Having brand consistency is utterly crucial for constructing successful marketing campaigns as the integrity of a brand hangs so delicately in the balance – one wrong move and it can all crumble. Think of a once-adored celebrity; if they make one controversial comment or get photographed doing something they shouldn’t, it damages their reputation beyond repair. By mere association it destroys the integrity of the brands they represent, which is why we’ve seen Kanye dropped by Adidas and Gap, Kate Moss dropped by Chanel, Burberry and H&M, and Tiger Woods dropped by Gillette and many more – I bet you haven’t forgotten the reasons why.
Now, I’m not saying you (or your colleagues) are about to run off on a hedonistic rampage to destroy your reputation, but I am saying that a controversial logo like the London 2012 Olympics can still be a thing of greatness if you can strongly uphold the values and identity of your brand. Be confident and proud of what your logo and brand represent, keep working hard to maintain that trust with your customers and you’ll be on to a winner.
