Olympic gold? Or a false start?

Wenlock and Mandeville - the mascots for the 2012 Olympics - have been unveiled to the world, and the Press has passed judgement. From a professional perspective it's surely a great honour to create a piece of history, with such a wide audience - but is that the problem? How can you create something that billions of people will like (especially the 50 million in the UK have contributed to the cost with their taxes)?



Well, there are some interesting comparisons to make. Look at Nike, Apple or even The Simpsons. Niche products, mass appeal, global brands. If you have a quality product, you can achieve mass appeal. It is possible... but can you apply those lessons to the Olympics? I don't know.

High profile projects like this, with all the associated internal politics that go with them, aren't generally renowned for great design (just take a look at the logo for the impending World Cup). So why not? Surely they can attract the best talent that the country has to offer? What's the problem?



I think the problem's simple - in one sense - and no different from any other design project. Who is your audience? Who are you trying to engage with? If you're a global event, you've got a global audience, with all the cultural conflicts and confusion that comes with that. You're committing the cardinal sin of any kind of communication strategy: trying to keep everyone happy. It won't work. It never will.

My obvious response would be; don't try and appeal to everyone. Do something different. Focus. Create something unique. But then I remembered the logo for the 2012 Olympics, which tried to achieve just that. They wanted to appeal to youth, so they used a visual language which the target audience could relate to... but they still got slated.




But what does this mean for YOUR business? What can you learn from the Olympics? I think the lesson here is; you can't make everybody happy, so don't try to. Identify the profile of your ideal customer - the one who brings the most money into your business - and focus on making them happy. Take time to understand what they need, then give it to them. Consistently. That's the way to achieve long-term success.

So what do you think? What are the lessons that Wenlock and Mandeville can teach us? What do you need to do to achieve mass appeal? And should you try?

If you've got questions about what your brand can do for your business, we'd be really interested to have a chat. Call us on 01392 248107 or email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk