Lessons from the Olympics: The power of branding in times of crisis.
This week is the 19th anniversary of the Salt Lake Winter Olympic Games’ opening ceremony and I am feeling a bit nostalgic. Watching the snow fall from my home office window in Salt Lake City reminds me of the moment during the opening ceremony when light crystalline flurries fell over the stadium. The snow began falling at the end of the ceremony, right after the flag from 9/11 was carried in. Together, all of us, the organizers and spectators, breathed a collective sigh of relief. It was a moment of hope.
Of course, we’d been hoping for snow. The sky had been dry for more than three weeks and while snowmaking was underway, we needed more. But mostly we’d been hoping for healing. Our Games would be the first global event to be carried out after 9/11 on US soil. As organizers we all sensed the weight of the responsibility. And there, in the magic of the Salt Lake winter night, snow brought us a clear sign that these Games would indeed help us all “Light the Fire Within.” Our Olympic motto suddenly came to life as the cauldron, burning brightly with the same flame that had started the modern Olympics in 1896, wavered cheerily.
This is not just a story about the power of the human spirit to live through darkness. It’s also about the power of rituals and design, and how they can ignite us towards hope and peace. It’s a story about stepping into the moment with clarity of your purpose as an organization. It’s essentially a story about the power of branding in times of crisis.
I was a young woman in the creative industry then. Although I had extensive experience in the world of print and broadcast journalism, my work on the Olympics global brand would transform my understanding entirely.
It all started with the Branding Style Guide that our branding agency Landor, had created. I had not seen a style guide before. It was presented in a custom binder with a gorgeous custom case featuring our color palette, logo typography and secondary patterns. It not only presented our brand but also set the stage for it to grow beyond the logomark. In the next four years we would continue to build upon it with: pictograms, uniforms, branded photography, Olympic motto, large scale environmental graphics, campaigns, branded videos, the Olympic medals, the Olympic Torch, website (yes even in 2002!), countless guides, legacy books, merchandise, Olympic posters, Olympic Ceremonies…
Our little team of four grew to 150 (including translators) and began partnering with creative agencies. Axiom (later to be known as Struck, and my employer since 2003) was hired to design the Olympic Medals in collaboration with OC Tanner. We were so pleased with the results that we then asked Struck to design the Olympic Torch, Olympic Medals and Olympic Poster. We also had partners in video production, an entire internal Environmental Design team dedicated to the large scale and venue graphics with another internal team dedicated to Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and a team of photographers dedicated to our legacy photo book. Adding to the work of these professionals, 36,000 volunteers proudly embodied our brand. I’m sure I‘m forgetting some… but you get the point. It was a group effort to say the least.
As I look back I am obviously proud of the work we accomplished together, but what is most interesting to me is the fact that the brand carried us all. The Olympic brand was the foundation that every effort was built upon. It also provided the raw material from which the uniqueness of the Salt Lake Games could be chiseled (as perfectly illustrated by the Olympic poster and medals that Struck designed).
The raw material for a brand can vary from years of history to just a spark, an idea. In our case, we were contending with a legacy thousands of years in the making. The resulting archive of graphic design and architecture, grew to include influences from our own state, city, and community, and of course, our history, culture and stunning landscapes. We also drew from the power of the athletes and the spirit of competition, perseverance, unity and sportsmanship — So much energy, so much history, so much power. And to boot, this brand would live only in the public eye for two weeks — and in those short two weeks change the face of Utah and Salt Lake City.
Imagine us all, heads down, augmenting the brand style guide, continuously crafting the brand. And then 9/11 happened. I distinctly remember the fear and shock of that day, but our sense of purpose, of heightened and renewed responsibility to the world and our community quickly overshadowed that fear. Our brand took on another layer perfectly encapsulated in our motto “Light The Fire Within”. This was the path forward for all of us then inspiring the selection of this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson as a prelude to our tagline:
“What lies behind you, and what lies in front of you, pales before what lies inside of you”
It is often said that a brand is so much more than a logo. In the end, it is the space that you occupy in your customers’ hearts and minds. How do you carve that space? Well, you start with the raw matter and chisel it down to its essence. And from that essence everything springs. The brand essence is the foundation that allows you to meet the challenge of the unexpected.
As we at Struck are turning a quarter of a century I realize that this is what we’ve been doing for 25 years. Chiseling to uncover the core essence, and then building upon that foundation in a way that helps our clients’ brand occupy the right space in their customers’ hearts and minds. So, when the un-expected inevitably happens, these brands are not lost, but guided by their north star.
I will always cherish my incredible experience at the Olympics and the 20-year love affair with branding it ignited. In so many ways, I still return again and again, to the fire within.
