Our personal best? The inspiration of a nation
“ The task of promoting the London Olympics is probably the biggest assignment in the history of UK marketing…” Financial Times, Wednesday 29th April 2009
INTRODUCTION McCann Worldgroup was appointed because we realised that being an advertising agency was just not enough. From the very beginning, we understood that continuity of narrative and answering the requirements of a complex stakeholder structure would unlock success. So our taskforce was made up of six McCann Worldgroup companies, with the genuine integration and depth of skill to deliver the job‌ ‌at the end of the day, brilliant as those other ad agencies were, they were just ad agencies.
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Introduction
Advertising
Brand Identity and Design
Media Planning and Buying Specialists
Sports and Entertainment Marketing
Customer Management
Experiential Marketing and Events
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The Challenge – Thinking & Strategy
THE CHALLENGE “2 012 was an extraordinary year. It began in 2008” Nick Sykes, CEO FutureBrand London In 2008, the world was a very different place. For example, back in ‘those days’ there were only 300,000 tweets a day. Now, there are almost half a billion. There were only 100 million Facebook users. Today, there are nine times as many. In 2008, the Beijing Games cost £45 billion*. The London Olympics and Paralympics cost just £9.3 billion*.
*Source: LOCOG State of the Nation Report, Sept 2012
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A very different set of economic and social conditions meant that the London Games were marketed to and funded by the private sector. We built only nine new venues.There was zero waste-to-landfill. 98% of all waste was recycled*. 2008 informed our strategy. Just as our cohesive approach to marketing London 2012 will inform the strategists in Rio.
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The Challenge – Thinking & Strategy
“...accountable, sustainable, affordable, collaborative, inclusive… they were not just words, they were goals”
The Olympic Games has always been a triumphal celebration of human endeavour. The epitome of sporting achievement. But would a celebration, however glorious, be enough for the London of 2012? Everyone involved with the organisation and marketing of the Olympic Games was determined that out of the spectacle of ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’, should come tangible benefits for the whole nation. Funding would be provided on a commercial basis. Britain’s leading arenas and historic sites would provide the backdrop for much of the Games, making them more affordable.
Monies would be accounted for and invested, rather than merely spent. The results of the investment would prove sustainable advantages far into the future: new venues would enhance sporting legacy, London would be projected on the world stage as never before, a generation of young Britons would be inspired by sport. And – perhaps most important of all – the whole nation would collaborate, and be included, in the success of London 201 2.
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The Challenge – Thinking & Strategy
“ How do you get 50 clients to all agree? Lock them in a room for four days.” Nick Sykes, CEO FutureBrand London First step in the process of marketing an undertaking as vastly amorphous as the Olympic Games? Recognise that the Games is a brand. First step in marketing a brand? Realise a narrative that will strike a core truth within the hearts of all stakeholders, from brand owners to consumers. For London 2012, we created what we named ‘The Golden Thread’.This was the central narrative that would inspire literally thousands of disparate individuals to collaborate in producing ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’. Stakeholders from different functional disciplines – ranging from architecture to finance, broadcast to HR – came together to examine the key ambitions and find a way of expressing them, a phrase, that would motivate everyone connected to the Games. Seldom have such a small handful of words seemed so difficult to grasp. After four days of intense examination… we found we were back at the beginning.
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The original, founding principle of winning the bid had been to connect young people to sport. And our 50 ‘clients’ from the 44 different functional areas agreed on one thing: the common motivating factor that drove all Olympic and Paralympic athletes was the determination to achieve more than they ever had before. So, the phrase to ‘push beyond our personal best’ was born. It would go on to inspire Britain’s youngsters, and give every individual stakeholder a personal goal.
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The Challenge – Thinking & Strategy
“ Push beyond our personal best” Stakeholders, London 2012. A single thought, expressed in just five words. But it became the mantra for thousands of participants in the London Olympic and Paralympic Games. Not just athletes. Not just the organisers, the officials and the stakeholders. The idea of pushing beyond a personal best inspired a nation to become involved in creating an extraordinary festival of human endeavour.
It connected a generation of young people to sport and sporting values. It proved to be the background narrative to personal stories of determination and triumph.
As brand architects, the ‘personal best’ challenge for FutureBrand was to create a complete brand experience. We needed to devise a single, dramatic Look that would unite the whole of London 2012.Yet differentiate the individual sports, and their venues, from each other.
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The Look would also have to be impactful, meaningful and memorable. It had to present the host city and the Games to the world, in a way that had never been achieved before. It was, after all, only the biggest assignment in the history of UK marketing.
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The Challenge – Building one brand
Building one brand “ Quite simply, the Games are the biggest opportunity sport this country has ever had. It is one we must not squander.” Lord Coe. Chairman, LOCOG. From Wolff Olins came a superb logo. Not a geographical motif or national symbol, but a deconstructed 2012 that formed an over-arching standard for the brand. From McCann Worldgroup/FutureBrand stakeholder sessions came the internal ‘personal best’ Golden Thread, and the ‘Inspire a Generation’ brand message. From the earliest discussions between McCann Worldgroup and the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games came guiding principles that would help inform the brand strategy.
We were determined to: Create a single Look for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Apply the Look with a lightness of touch. Communicate, not just decorate. Leave a lasting legacy through design. These fundamental elements formed the backbone to the London 2012 campaign that changed the way a nation perceived sport, and the way host cities would market their Games in the future.
Lightness of touch
Sustainability
Communicate not just decorate
Transition between Olympics and Paralympics 14 – 15
Legacy
Making the complex‌
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The Challenge – Building one brand
…simple The most complicated problems are usually solved with the simplest answers. The Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games each required their own identities, but in a first for the Games, needed to be inextricably linked. 26 different sports had to be represented, and 23 individual venues. Miles of streets, transport hubs and fleets of cars would require dressing. Gateways, banners, posters, tickets, medals, ribbons, wayfinding systems, uniforms, rostrums – an almost limitless list of items – had to be designed. Retail outlets, milestone advertising campaigns and any number of Olympic and Paralympic sponsors had to be incorporated into the London 2012 identity.
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With hindsight, the solutions seem easy: A brand phrase – 'Inspire a Generation' – that would galvanise a nation. A single logo with the ability to carry either the Olympic Rings or the Paralympic Agitos emblems. An identity that would be unmistakably London 2012; regardless of its colour, shape or application. Simple.
The world is coming...
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...to the United Kingdom and to London...
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...to the athlete on the field of play
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The Challenge – Building one brand
Flash of inspiration Bursts of energy “ We had to be different… daring, provocative, energetic, young, unconventional and, above all, flexible.” Matt Buckhurst. Creative Director, FutureBrand. The 2012 logo is at the centre of the London Games. And pumping out of the heart are bursts of pure energy. By extending every leading edge of the logo, FutureBrand’s designers created the lay lines that would become an all-informing, dynamic grid. Everything – everyone – could be connected and energised by the grid. It would form the shaping force for all design, from the patterns on the concourse outside the Olympic Stadium to the seating within.
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The grid enabled us to tell a single visual story. A Look that would become part of every touch point for athletes, spectators and audiences, participants, officials and members of the media throughout the entire Games. The most important deliverable of all had been achieved. The way the world perceived the London 2012 Games would be defined by a single, all-encompassing Look.
The graphic system The dynamic grid – bursts of energy radiating from the heart of the 2012 logo – created a halo of shard shapes. By filling the shards, we established patterns and textures repeating to infinity. It was a Look that could be made to fit any framework and carry the combination of colours that represented individual venues. It could even be three-dimensional and still relate back to its central focal point; the logo.
We stretched the Look along streets leading to venues. We built it into gantries at the entrances to the Olympic Park. We substituted the 2012 logo for the Olympic Rings and the Paralympic Agitos emblem, and still the integrity of the Look was maintained. The graphic system became synonymous with London 2012. Any photograph or video broadcast of any event, shown anywhere in the world, would be instantly recognisable as the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The Challenge – Building one brand
London 2012 Primary Level – Low-level hoarding on the field of play
London 2012 Secondary Level 1 – Mid-level hoarding with unifying dark blue
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Secondary Level 2 – High-level hoarding with unifying dark blue 26 – 27
London 2012
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The Execution The way the Look was applied
Having a single Look that embraced all aspects of both the Olympic and the Paralympic Games was hugely important to the success of London 2012. It achieved the marketing objectives of putting the Games on a sound commercial basis by reaching out and involving the people of the UK and audiences across the world. It also resulted in some hard, practical realities. The unified Look enabled a smooth transition from Olympic to Paralympic Games. It meant economies of scale to be employed across all materials and all host cities. It saved wastage and aided sustainability. It cost less, so more could be done within the budget. And it looked sensational.
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Ticketing Look guidelines
Get Set
Partner workshops
Field of play
Torch relay Merchandise
Cultural Olympiad
GLA relationship Prestige Ticketing
Torch Relay
Mascot guidelines Product design principles
Look Audit
Signage
Retail
Retail on park
Look Festival 2012
Strategy overview Pin Badge consultation
Volunteering Film Nation Field of play
Strategy overview
City Look
Unlimited
3D Pictograms Merchandise design principles
Countdown clock
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The Execution – One brand
The size of the task The number of deliverables The facts speak for themselves: Hundreds of miles of city streets were dressed in the Look. Transport hubs, tube and rail stations were given a wayfinding system that included primary direction signage and welcome suites, a directional signage kit of parts, maps and guides. 21 different venues were dressed for 650 different sporting events. Inside, the seating patterns were designed to follow the bursts of the energy grid. An online Look Book was created to coordinate the efforts of hundreds of individual organisations across the UK – simplifying the ordering and delivery of literally millions of individual pieces of promotional material. Major advertising and marketing campaigns were launched to sell Olympic and Paralympics tickets, recruit volunteers, inspire young people, promote the Torch Relay and recruit bearers. Campaigns also sold the shops, supported the Open Weekend and tied together the hundreds of cultural events that comprised the London 2012 Festival.
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But to gain a true idea of the size of the task, consider the smallest details. After in-depth briefings with photographers and broadcasters, logos and slogans were placed where they would be in shot and seen by millions of people across the world. On the inside of basketball hoops, for example, as well as the ball. On boxers’ head guards. On the floor of the weightlifters’ stage (for overhead shots) and on the shaft of canoeists’ paddles. Even standing in the sea at Weymouth. As an awareness campaign using innovative ‘point of sale’, London 2012 can have few equals.
Embedded in the city Few cities have as many landmark buildings as London. The objectives that governed the dressing of this splendid city were two-fold. To create a celebratory backdrop for an outstanding festival of sport, and to present London as the world had never seen it before. Using the lightest of touches, the London 2012 Look directed the gaze of the cameras onto the city’s iconic buildings and regal public spaces. The result was a month-long advertising campaign for visit London, with 85% of people interviewed rating the decoration of the city as ‘good’ or 'better'.*
*Source: LOCOG State of the Nation Report, Sept 2012
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
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The Execution – One brand
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
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The Execution – One brand
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The Execution – One brand
Embedded in the park Just as lines of energy burst from the 2012 logo to reach out across the world, they also drew visitors into the Olympic Park. Gardens planted in the repeating shapes of shards encircled the perimeter. As visitors drew closer to the Olympic Stadium, they found the pattern of shards embedded in the paving of the outer concourse. Crossing one of the five bridges – the Stadium was flanked on three sides by waterways – brought them to an inner concourse, with a denser pattern of shards symbolising the growing excitement felt by eager spectators as they neared the actual field of play.
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Throughout the Park, from transport hub gateways to venue entrances, the wayfinding system ensured tens of thousands of spectators intuitively found the right arenas. The colours of the tickets in their hands matching the banners, route dressing and, finally, the venues themselves.
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The Execution – One brand
Embedded in the arena With a 2012 logo at the heart of the field of play, the bursts of energy clearly indicated the seating patterns. The effect was to concentrate all eyes, all attention, on the centre of the arena, in which individual athletes would be pushing beyond their personal best. Shard patterns were highlighted in colours – chosen from the London 2012 palette – to represent the nature and energy of the individual sporting events taking place within the venue.
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
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The Execution – One brand
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The Execution – One brand Olympic Stadium
Aquatic Centre
Brand with a vision: venue colour strategy One of the major challenges of the London 2012 Look was to support as many as 36 Olympic and 21 Paralympic sports. Creating distinctive identities for each of the sports and venues was core to their successful branding. A pairing of two colours from the Look palette was selected – inspired by the action taking place within the venue, and its situation. For example, blue was used to denote water-based sports arenas. Heritage venues such as Lord’s and Wimbledon used regal purple. Magenta and orange were chosen to signify the energy of indoor venues and fast contact sports. Within the colour systems, dark background colours were given extra dynamism and interest by introducing richer, deeper tones.
Seating
Seating
Look colour scheme
Look colour scheme
Seating
Look Colour Scheme
Logo
Field of Play treatment
FoP treatment Athletics
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Pictograms
Logo
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FoP treatment Diving & Swimming
Logo
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Logo
Water Polo
Velodrome
Riverbank Arena
BMX Track
Basketball Arena
Copper Box
Seating
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Look colour scheme
Look colour scheme
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Look colour scheme
Look colour scheme
Look colour scheme
Logo
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FoP treatment Track Cycling
Logo
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Logo
Logo
Logo
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FoP treatment Hockey
Logo
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FoP treatment Basketball (wheelchair basketball & rugby)
Logo
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FoP treatment Handball
London 2012
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Logo
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FoP treatment BMX
Logo
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Pictograms
Modern Pentathlon (Fencing) London 2012
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FoP treatment Water Polo
Logo
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Pictograms
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Goalball (Para)
Logo
Dressing the venues Working closely with the architects, the dressing for each venue was individually designed in its given colours. The idea was to heighten levels of expectation amongst visitors nearing their venues, without compromising the architectural integrity of the buildings. Gigantic pictograms gave the architecture added presence and visual impact. Flowing banners in contrasting colours gave movement and an atmosphere of celebration. The venue dressing made bold statements about the drama and excitement of the events to be enacted inside.
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
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The Execution – One brand
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Dressing the arenas First and second level tier dressing, arena surrounds, entrances and apron surrounds all carried the 2012 branding within the venues’ colour identities. Great lengths were even taken to introduce the Emblem and elements of the Look onto the actual fields of play themselves, wherever possible. Again, the detail work was impressive. Over 200 different pieces of sports equipment carried the Look and it was evident everywhere within the venues – from the choice of carpets to the colour of the officials’ clipboards. A great deal of in-depth consultation with photographers and broadcasters ensured that the branding was strategically placed to be part of every shot. So, when moments of high action were captured and transmitted around the world, no-one would be in doubt that the time and place was London 2012. 46 – 47
The Execution – One brand
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
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The Execution – One brand
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
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The Execution – One brand
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
MILESTONE PROJECTS Stepping stones to success
In order to inspire a generation, and realise London 2012’s original goals of affordability and inclusivity, a whole series of hard commercial targets had to be met. Each one a milestone in its own right, and a stepping-stone towards the ultimate success of London 2012. The McCann Worldgroup and FutureBrand creative departments designed a series of vitally important marketing and communications campaigns that would co-exist under the London 2012 brand umbrella, but be individual in their messaging and appeal. Volunteering, Ticket Sales, Paralympics, Torch Relay, Cultural Olympiad, Open Weekend, and Supporting Team GB all had advertising and marketing initiatives that would achieve their own commercial and strategic objectives.
The volunteering campaign, for example, attracted an initial 16 million enquiries. The ticketing initiative sold 6 million. The mascots and the branded retail outlets became major revenue earners. The Torch Relay resulted in extensive daily coverage on all the major news networks and in national and local media. The Cultural Olympiad and the Open Weekend campaigns also reached out to the nation, and the excitement mounted. The nation began to fill with expectation. The Games were about to arrive.
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Milestone Projects – Games Makers
Games Makers “ When we got off the train at Stratford, there were Games Makers everywhere in their uniforms. They were all smiling and waving us along with big hands and shouting ‘Welcome to the Games’ – whoever called them Games Makers was a genius, because they really did make the Games.” In fact, 83% of visitors rated the friendliness of the Games Makers and volunteers as ‘good’.* So where did we find so many willing and capable people? We used advertising to ask the Great British public if they ‘had what it takes’ to participate in the world’s greatest sporting festival. And 16 million of them responded.
“ We were swept along on a wave of cheerfulness” Rose du Toit,Visitor from South Africa.
*Source: LOCOG State of the Nation Report, Sept 2012
60m UK public 16m keen to take part 3.5m still interested unpaid 1.2m still interested after ‘full reality’ 240,000 applied 120,000 to be interviewed 70,000 selected for training 170,000 to be positively directed to other programmes and tickets
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Milestone Projects – Games Makers
Have you got what it takes? Not everyone can be unfailingly cheerful, helpful and enthusiastic for two whole weeks. So the McCann Worldgroup/FutureBrand volunteer campaign used bus shelters and transport hub posters to lay down the challenges, whilst highlighting the joy of taking part. The theme of ‘pushing beyond your personal best’ had arrived at street level. Inclusivity was one of the prime guiding objectives of the entire London 2012 operation. Nowhere was it more successfully achieved than with the volunteer Games Makers.
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Milestone Projects – Games Makers
“ I
congratulate, too, the organisers of the Games, as well as the thousands of volunteers who have epitomised the Olympic spirit through the warm welcome they have shown to the sporting teams and spectators from all around the world.” HM Queen Elizabeth II
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Milestone Projects – Inspiring a generation
Inspiring a generation The personal stories of individual athletes who had overcome overwhelming setbacks couldn’t fail to touch the youth of Great Britain. Especially the stories of competitors in the Paralympic Games. Young imaginations were ignited by thoughts of what they could achieve, regardless of their backgrounds and situations. The idea of being able to use sporting endeavour to push beyond their boundaries and improve themselves began to reconnect them to sport and the values of the Olympic and Paralympic movement.
*Source: LOCOG State of the Nation Report, Sept 2012
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Almost half of all 16-24 year olds interviewed said the Games had inspired them to take part in more sport or exercise.* And by designing an identity that was integral to the London 2012 logo, and promoting the Get Set network, we were able to help a generation of young people to take part at grass roots level and realise their ambitions
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The greatest tickets on Earth The strategy of selling the Olympic brand as a must-see, once-in-a-lifetime experience made all of the 6.6 million Games tickets eminently desirable – regardless of the sport. The tickets themselves captured the drama of the action. As well as carrying crucial event information, the tickets also steered spectators to their events by colour-corresponding to signage, banners and the dressing on the venue exterior. The greatest tickets on Earth also became the greatest sellers of all time. Sales exceeded all forecasts by raising £659 million – a record for any summer Olympics in the history of the Games.
Milestone Projects – Ticketing
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Milestone Projects – Ticketing
Selling tickets The excitement and emotion of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games was communicated by the campaign line and stunning action shots, juxtaposed against the venues. Sold online, every time a tranche of tickets was announced, it was gone.
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Milestone Projects – Advertising
Proud Partner
Sport like never before 70 – 71
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Milestone Projects – Advertising
Sport like never before Never before has the Paralympic Games been so identifiable with the Olympic Games. Never before have they shared a Look that included colour-coded tickets and venues. Never before have the world’s sports-goers been invited to witness such outrageous examples of people pushing beyond their personal boundaries, to achieve their best.
*Source: LOCOG State of the Nation Report, Sept 2012
The result was unparalleled in the history of the Games. A record 2.1 million Paralympic tickets were sold – before the Paralympic Games had even started. But, most important of all, surveys found a 25% increase in the number of people who believed that London 2012 showed the world how to treat disabled people with respect and equality.*
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Give the 8,000 most inspirational lon
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The Challenge – Touch Relay
london2012.com/OlympicTorchRelay
london2012.com/OlympicTorchRelay
Giving people their moment to shine! The Torch Relay took the Olympic Flame on an epic 70-day journey that would bring it to within an hour’s travelling time of 95% of the UK’s population. It was a procession that would bring the arrival of London 2012 home to everyone, and raise anticipation to a new pitch. It would also require over 8,000 Torchbearers. The nation-wide, community-based advertising campaign encouraged everyone to nominate the most deserving local individuals for the honour of carrying the Torch.
people in the UK their moment to shine ndon2012.com/OlympicTorchRelay 6–7
The Relay itself was a triumph. Hundreds of thousands of people turned out to watch it. It generated huge amounts of news coverage. The Look adopted gold and yellow – reflecting the warmth of the Flame – as the colours for vehicle livery, official uniforms and stage dressing at live events. The Torchbearers alone wore white, to highlight their position at the centre of the procession. Taking place between the Olympics and the Paralympics, the Paralympic Torch Relay maintained excitement in the period between the two sets of Games.
Milestone Projects – Tourch Relay
Moment to shine
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Moment to shine
Moment to shine
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Milestone Projects – Cultural Olympiad
Reaching beyond sport The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad was the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic movements. Its culmination was a Festival designed to include everyone and inspire creativity in all its forms – especially among young people. Calling it the London 2012 Festival made it much more accessible and appealing to a wider audience. As a curtain-raiser to London 2012, the Festival’s 12,000 plus events generated an atmosphere of celebratory excitement, even amongst non-sports fans.
London 2012 Festival’s advertising – created by FutureBrand – used a bold graphic derived from the logo’s bursts of energy. A magenta, shard-like ribbon appeared across print and digital communications, embracing cities and landscapes. The ribbon also transformed itself into free-standing, three-dimensional displays at the entrances to events, that ranged from pop to film, from visual arts and fashion to theatre, from circus to carnival, from opera to digital innovation.
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Using London 2012’s magenta gave clear and distinctive standout amongst the competing arts and culture communications. The bold and instantly recognisable silhouette of the logo gave the Festival an unmistakable London 2012 identity.
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Milestone Projects – Cultural Olympiad
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
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Milestone Projects – Cultural Olympiad
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Milestone Projects – Open Weekend
The London 2012 Open Weekend programme The Open Weekend programme – part of the Cultural Olympiad – was an annual event. It was specifically designed to encourage people who may have previously felt excluded, to become involved in the Games and surrounding activities.
FutureBrand's high profile poster campaign used a central character to urge everyone to take up a new challenge. Up to 2011, over two million people had accepted.
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Milestone Projects – Team GB
Supporting Team GB The shards of the London 2012 Look and the triangles of the Union Jack conveniently came together in FutureBrand’s design overhaul of the Team 2012 branding. Especially in the GB lion’s mane! An unmistakably British character, the team mascot was clad in white, giving it great standout against the blue of the GB athletes’ tracksuits.
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The re-imaged Union Jack went on to tie together the Team 2012 and major sponsor’s logos, with celebratory streamers linking together various components of the website.
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
GENERATING PARTNERSHIPS Driving the Look
Commercial sponsors and partners were integral to making the Games affordable. Heathrow Airport was the Host Airport for London 2012. Around 80 per cent of all Games athletes, officials, marketing partners and media visitors passed through Heathrow, and they were met by some of a fleet of over 4,000 vehicles branded with the London 2012 livery.
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Sponsor Partnerships – BMW
As Official Sponsors of London 2012, BMW transported athletes, officials and dignitaries from the airport to their accommodation, events and meetings along specially designated Games Lanes. BMW even drove onto the field of play, with a remote controlled, scaled down version of their Mini that was used to collect and deliver sports equipment. Cars were not the only sponsored transportation available. In keeping with London 2012’s policy of making the Games the most sustainable and greenest to date, BMW also supplied a fleet of bicycles painted in different colours to denote the various venues.
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Sponsor Partnerships – British Airways
The Firefly
The arrival of the Olympic Flame on British soil was undoubtedly a special moment for the nation. As the national carrier British Airways was the most obvious choice to become Official Sponsors.
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The Look once again proved its all-embracing flexibility as it incorporated the British Airways branding, and was applied – with the gold and yellow colours of the Torch Relay – to the plane bringing the Flame to London’s Heathrow International Airport.
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Sponsor Partnerships – Omega
The Countdown Clock
Sponsored by Omega, the Countdown Clock was a tangible realisation that the Games were arriving and, as the seconds ticked away, the excitement mounted. FutureBrand took the bursts of energy into a three-dimensional context when designing the Clock and – at 6.5 metres high and weighing around four tons – it was one of the first solid manifestations of the Look to be presented to the public.
Fittingly, it stood in Trafalgar Square; one of London’s most recognisable landmarks and scene of great celebrations when London won the bid.
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
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Sponsor Partnerships – Prestige Ticketing
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Sponsor Partnerships – Prestige Ticketing
The first Olympic and Paralympic Games with prestige areas
Commercial sponsorship and corporate entertainment make a considerable contribution to the economic viability of all major sporting events these days. To help the London 2012 Games achieve one of the key objectives of being affordable, corporate clients were invited to enjoy the hospitality of a dedicated entertainment facility – another first for the Olympic Games.
The design of the centre was informed by shards created by the logo’s bursts of energy, whilst rich and vibrant colours were chosen from the Look palette. Over the course of London 2012, thousands of clients and their guests were thrilled by the action on the field of play, whilst indulging in fine dining.
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London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
THE RESULTS
The result for the country was a resounding success. The best of London and the UK was presented to the peoples of the world in a new way. Surveys conducted soon after London 2012 showed that 64% of respondents thought the Games were well organised, 41% felt personally inspired and 75% agreed that London 2012 had made a positive difference to the UK.
There were 12,000 festival events. Ticket applications topped 20 million for a total of 650 different events. 70,000 Games Makers and 8,000 Torch Bearers took part. 61% of people interviewed in September 2012 agreed that the Olympics had been a ‘Games for Everyone’. London 2012 certainly achieved its aims of being inclusive and inspiring a generation.*
36% of people interviewed overseas were more likely to visit the UK in the near future and 35% said the Olympics made the UK a more tempting place to study or do business.
“ These were happy and glorious Games” Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee.
*Source: LOCOG State of the Nation Report, Sept 2012
2,500,000 tickets sold
ÂŁ500,000,000 worth of merchandise sold
4,000,000 attendees
15,000,000,000 100 –101
viewers across the World
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
From 2012 onwards London 2012 redefined the way in which the Olympic and Paralympic Games were marketed; high-level commercial imperatives; increased unity between the two Games; greater national and international participation – and the inspiration of a generation. They were all achieved by the creation of a stimulating, bold and innovative brand campaign, produced by a multi-disciplined McCann Worldgroup team. It is for Rio de Janeiro’s marketing teams to build on the marketing foundation laid by London 2012. The experience and insight of the organisation that led ‘probably the biggest assignment in the history of UK marketing’, will continue to be harnessed to empower the marketing of multinational brands and corporations.
“ These were Happy and Glorious Games” Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee
Contact details Hallie Johnston Vice President, Corporate Communications, Europe Chief of Staff 7-11 Herbrand Street London WC1N 1EX United Kingdom T +44 (0)207 961 2056 E hallie.johnston@mccann.com
Nick Sykes CEO FutureBrand London 2 Waterhouse Square 140 Holborn London EC1N 2AE United Kingdom T +44 (0)207 067 0010 E nsykes@futurebrand.com
McCann Worldgroup 7-11 Herbrand Street London WC1N 1EX United Kingdom