Games and logos

The Olympic Games are not only the largest sporting event, but also an important social, cultural and economic phenomenon. Marketing is a very important element of this phenomenon – all the Olympics are currently financed from advertising revenues.

The IOC takes a very restrictive approach to the marketing of the Games. It set a long-term marketing strategy, common to all events, by creating the TOP Program in 1985 (through Seoul and Calgary). Centralization of activities and at the same time diversification of the sponsorship program are the basis of its success – revenues from this source are still growing (it is estimated that during the Olympics in Turin they amounted to over $348 million, in Vancouver about $688 million, and forecasts for Sochi speak of $1,300 million).

Strong emotions accompany the Games not only during their duration. Cities compete with great fierceness for the opportunity to organize the Olympics. It is no wonder – the direct “profitability” of this event is questioned by many, but it is certainly an invaluable promotion for the entire region. Candidates take the matter very seriously.

Already at the stage of submitting candidacies, the graphic design of the event is created – the candidate logo for the future Olympics is most often selected through a competition, in which both beginners and experienced designers can participate. In recent years, a pattern has been repeated – at the election stage, a safe (conservative) approach dominated. After the host city was selected, its proposal changed completely – modern, even risky forms appeared (an example of which is the criticized evolution of the London 2012 logo). This pattern is broken by Rio, which already at the elimination stage presented a rather bold proposal (which then changed into a very interesting logo, reflecting the spirit of Brazil and providing great opportunities for the development of communication).

The role of the visual identification of the Games is increasing (increasingly elaborate and attractive souvenirs are sold in millions). The increasing emphasis on attractive designs and references to design trends is visible in the signs and other image elements.

This is very clearly visible in the example of the logos and mascots of the Winter Olympic Games, which have been held over the last three decades.

The common element of all the logos is five intertwined circles – this is the symbol of the Olympic flag, which is more recognizable in the world than the Nike logo or the Red Cross symbol (the flag is celebrating its 100th birthday this year – it was designed in 1914 by the initiator of the revival of the idea of ​​the Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin). It is commonly believed that the five-colored circles symbolize the continents – another theory, however, says that the inspiration for the creator of this symbol were the flags flying in the arena in Stockholm in 1912 (the first Olympics to feature teams from all continents). He noticed that the flags mainly feature 6 colours – blue, green, yellow, red, black and white.

In addition, the symbols of the individual Games have evolved over the years. The first three (Calgary, Albertville and Lillehammer) have a similar structure – these are vertical symbols that combine the name of the town with the abbreviated date (’88) and a graphic element referring to the symbols or winter motifs characteristic of the region. In the case of Calgary, it is an intricate combination of a graphic interpretation of the maple leaf (the symbol of Canada) with the shape of a snowflake – this is one of the better thought-out and executed Olympic logos. The symbol of the Games in Albertville is not as interesting – it refers to the shape of the Olympic flame. In Lillehammer, instead of typical references to the colours of the flag and other national symbols, a symbol with the motif of the aurora borealis was created.

In a sense, the Nagano project was groundbreaking – the composition remained standard, but the joyful colours and dynamics defied the stereotype of the Cold Games. The inspiration for the sign was the Olympics itself (its competitions) and not winter and national symbols. The next three signs (Salt Lake City, Turin and Vancouver) are visually different, but there is a similar story behind them. These are designs created by modern designers, in which seemingly abstract symbols have their own meaning. The refined composition of Salt Lake is created by a monochromatic base, on which a symbol resembling a snowflake on one side, and the Olympic torch on the other (thanks to the orange colour). The Italians proved that they are masters of design – the sign from Turin stands out with its elegance, which has nothing to do with traditionalism. One can only guess what it symbolises – it is said to be a reference to snow sparkling on a sunny slope. The logo of the next Olympics in Canada also evokes strange associations. Its shape is explained by the fact that the designers were inspired by the traditional sculpture of the indigenous people – the Inuit.

However, it was the logo of this year’s Olympics in Sochi (designed by Interbrand) that turned out to be a total revolution. First of all, it has a completely different structure – arranged more horizontally, it does not have any graphic element. All the impressions are provided by a specially designed font, the arrangement of which is supposed to reflect the peaks of the Caucasus and the Black Sea(?). Additionally, for the first time in the history of the Games, the logo contains an internet address and refers to the modern – multimedia generation.

The Sochi Olympics are being promoted on a grand scale – the organizers are using unusual means and tools. For example, machines that count squats and hand out public transport tickets have appeared in the Moscow metro. To get a free ticket, you have to do 30 squats in two minutes (the machines promote the Games and a healthy lifestyle at the same time). Sochi is also changing the lives of the Olympic mascots.

The first mascot appeared in 1968 at the Winter Olympics in Grenoble. Since then, mascots have most often been animals characteristic of a given region. It was first used on a larger scale to promote another Olympics in Russia (in 1980 in Moscow, the bear Misha appeared in an animated film and became an element of official commercial products). Then the mascots were: nice bears from Calgary, a strange star/snowman from Albertville, Viking children from Lillehammer, not-so-pretty owls from Nagano and a group of forest friends from Salt Lake City (a bear, a wolf and a hare). It is not known what the mascots from Turin are. In Vancouver, a group of original creatures inspired by the legends of this region appeared – it was the first attempt to build a story around mascots and elevate them to the rank of characters from animated fairy tales. In Sochi, it was 100% successful. A whole world of characters was created at the level of a Disney fairy tale.