Where is the Speedo of these Winter Olympics?

Photo: Soaza the Schwartz from Shredoptics.com

Where are the equipment manufacturer breakout stars of these Winter Olympics? I haven't noticed anything. Yes, the alpine skiers dutifully take off the skis at the end of their run so we can see the manufacturer logo. But nothing really stands out. Certainly nothing to compare to the splash that Speedo made at the Beijing Olympics. Its LZR swimsuits were so dominant that swimmers wearing Nike and other competitive brands demanded the right to switch. If there are opportunities to make newsworthy innovations in swimsuits, surely there are more opportunities in winter sports?

It was a lot different back in the 1960 Squaw Olympics according to this Sports Illustrated archive article. In those days, the sport was still in its infancy and pioneers like Howard Head, Ed Scott and Anton Kästle were in the stands cheering on their equipment. Is it that, these days, the leading manufacturers have gotten so good at product development that innovations by one company are so quickly matched by the others that they create little advantage?

Perhaps the closest anyone has come to breaking out is Shred Optics, a company started by Olympic Gold Medalist and World Cup GS Champion Ted Ligety. Ted was 5th in the Super-Combined, sporting a Shred helmet and goggles. That gave his company a valuable publicity boost. Unfortunately, he didn't do so well in the GS, his favored event so he missed out on a second promotion opportunity. (The gold medal for successful use of personal endorsement of your own product must go to Li Ning in the Beijing Games. By becoming an important part of the Opening Ceremony, he successfully promoted his shoes, ambushing Adidas, the official Olympics sponsor.)

Or perhaps the breakout will be the Norwegian curling men team's argyle pants? Until the Vancouver games, these pants from Loudmouth Golf were only ever seen on golf courses. But, now that they've crossed over to curling, will they be this year's Crocs? So far, Loudmouth seems blissfully unaware that the Norwegians are making their pants famous. Their site makes no mention of them. Better these pants than anything from ice dancing.

Six of the Best: Olympics Edition

Photo: Olympics rings Vancouver by adrian8_8 on Flickr

A little sleep-deprived this week as I, too often, have had to stay up to the last minute of NBC's Olympics coverage to see if Julia, Shaun, Lindsey, Bode... were going to win a medal. What am I going to do next week when the curling competition heats up?

1) NBC's Olympics Coverage Infuriates Sports Fans From Coast To Coast: Yahoo! Finance
NBC is apparently losing $200 million on the Games and it's not gaining many fans with the way it's covering them. This Yahoo! article focuses on people's outrage at NBC's liberal use of tape delay and limited use of live streaming on the Internet. My irritation is with how NBC chops up events, putting all the best bits (finals and showdowns) on at the end of the night to try and get me to stay up and watch as many ads as possible. It's one time when a DVR really doesn't help much. I realize that NBC has to make money to cover what it paid for the rights but I figure it's not my fault that they paid too much so why are they making me suffer? In this race between the bottom line and customer satisfaction, the bottom line has won gold all too easily.

2) Why P&G Is Bringing 18 Brands Together for Olympics Push: AdvertisingAge
And speaking of ads, these Olympics provided the forum for P&G's first ever corporate TV ad in the U.S. The quintessential "house of brands" company has been gradually increasing its multibrand marketing efforts over the years culminating in this new "Thanks, Mom ad" from Wieden & Kennedy.



According to Global Brand-Building Officer Marc Pritchard this is the first of a growing wave of multi-brand ideas for P&G.

3) The Man Your Man could Smell Like: Old Spice



Meanwhile, here's one of the new Manmercials from Old Spice, a P&G brand that is still being given some separation from Olay and some of the feminine rest of the P&G portfolio so that it can do its own thing. This particular ad is already clocking in at over 2 million views on YouTube. An ad that people actually want to watch.

5) Winter Wonder Brand:The New York Times
If the Olympics are all about pomp and circumstance, how do you make them fit with a country that prefers a more low-key approach? Michael Ignatieff, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, talks here about how the Vancouver organizers have tried to imbue these games with Canadian values- a little less grandiosity and a little more modesty, please.

4) Vancouver's Twitter Lesson: HBR
Unfortunately, weather problems and a series of technical malfunctions led to some people referring to these games as the Glitch Games. This HBR post talks about how one tweet was able to mitigate the fallout from one of the first and most prominent glitches--the uncooperative leg of the opening ceremony's cauldron tower. His tweet: Don't fault us for not getting the torch up in time, Canadians invented insulin not viagra. #van2010 #olympics helped shift the conversation from a #fail direction to something more sarcastic and funny. Meanwhile The Guardian (in the UK) ought to be a little more careful when suggests that these games are the worst ever. The next Olympics are in London and the weather's not likely to be cooperative there either.

6) What to wear with your Three Wolf Moon T-shirt: Murketing

Photo: loud and proud by kennymatic (Flickr)

And, finally, back to curling. Not content with blazing new trails for sports, it's also launching new trends in fashion. Here Rob Walker talks about the Norwegian men curler's pants. Expect to see colorful diamonds, dots and squares in your neighborhood soon.

That's it! Back soon with more stories from the world of brand strategy (and vaguely related areas). More thoughts and comments also available on Twitter (@martinjbishop).

Run, brothers, your race, joyful, as a hero to victory

The Olympics are coming soon! (8.08.08) I'll be blogging about all the brand hoopla surrounding the event with Landor colleagues from around the world at: Beijing Brand Battle.

To celebrate, here's Beaker's rendition of Ode to Joy which is usually performed as part of the ceremonial processions of the opening ceremony (although not by him).


Links:
1) Speedo drowning its Olympic competition: Beijing Battle of the Brands