Official logo of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi

Despite reports to the contrary, this is the new, official logo of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

I am still taking this all in as the new Sochi 2014 logo has just been revealed to me. Here, I will write me thoughts on it as they come into my head (get ready for a bumpy ride in there):

> Unexpected
> More a wordmark than a logo
> Kinda 80’s
> Less iconic
> Different
> Domain name in the logo
> Not as bad as London’s logo
> Sometimes different is good
> Liked how they laid out the subtle crystal imagery in shoes, uniforms etc.
> Subtle
> Unique
> I could grow to like this

The blue and white Sochi2014.ru wordmark, which Interbrand created and Moscow introduced on Tuesday, is the first major international sports logo to include a website address. Sochi.ru appears reflected atop 2014 with the Olympic rings below .ru, the Internet code for Russia.

I think what makes the new logo work most for me is having the domain name in the mark. That recognizes where we are as a world and where we are going in a very profound way. More than branding, to me, that’s an important statement.

Not having an icon within the logo and instead using a crystal effect will require a stronger communication effort of the committee’s part.

I am not sure if they will create a mascot for these games, as has been done in the past. It’s possible organizer’s plan to use that mascot as part of the icon, but that’s just conjecture on my part.

Having personally really liked the Sochi 2014 bid logo, I was kinda hesitant with this word mark. But Russia is trying something very different and I think we have to respect that. It certainly does not evoke within me the complete distain I have for the London 2012 logo mark.

I’m not a fan of their national politics but the Olympics are not supposed to be about politics, in spite of the fact that the country is blatantly saying they are using this Olympics as a way to brand the new Russia. Honestly, that is one of the main reasons every country wants to host an Olympics ‘come see us, we’re not so bad, let’s stay friends after the Games are over, maybe we’ll do some business together.’ There not a hammer or sickle in sight (the icon of the USSR to which Russia is most often associated) and they only red in the logo is the red circle of the Olympic logo. Sometimes it’s what is omitted that sends the biggest message.

Or maybe I’m reading too much into it.

Now that I have totally skewed your opinion of all this, I hope you’ll still share your immediate thoughts on the new Sochi 2014 logo.

Tags: branding, commentary, logo design, marketing by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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2014 Winter Olympic logo (maybe)

If you’re looking for rumors or gossip, this is absolutely the wrong blog to visit. We don’t gossip or spread rumors here. Tisn’t nice and we’re a nice blog. So no rumors.

But we’re OK with idle chitchat.

So the idle chitchat we came across today involves one of our favorite topics – Olympic logos and the possible sighting of the new official logo for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. See that graphic up there…that’s supposedly it.

Official 2014 Sochi Olympic Bid logo

Now for their bid, Sochi submitted this logo which we here at voxmarketising were very fond of. But the new logo (if indeed it is the official logo) probably sets the correct tone for what this historic international competition should be: global, friendly and inviting. This would be likely positioning for the Games anywhere they were held and a valuable world branding opportunity for Mother Russia, whose legacy does not always evoke the warm and fuzzies in many places.

I will miss the Sochi bid logo (which clearly did its job well) but hold great hope for the 2014 Winter Games under their new logo (if in fact this is the final choice, as it’s only idle chitchat presently).

What do you think of the new/proposed logo?

Tags: branding, logo design, marketing by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Over the past four days I have had the specific opportunity to meet a variety of new people who may or may not again come across my professional radar. That’s a really long sentence to describe networking but I could tell your brain needed the workout; no extra charge.

When I decide these folks I have met are database worthy (and if one is not database worthy, he or she is still likely an excellent person mind you), I do two things:

1. I enter them in my database (duh!)
2. I send them a handwritten note

I have thereby doubled my workload. Now I have to do twice as much as I would if I just entered them into my database. And let me tell you, creating hand written notes with my writing sometimes requires a retake or three. That’s a lot of extra time or about 90 minutes yesterday.

And it was the most worthwhile 90 minutes I could ever spend. Recognizing people, acknowledging success, thanking them is memorable. All the Facebooks and Twitters of the world can never have the same personal impact.

Personalization takes time, writing by hand takes even more time and a computer program works faster and more efficiently…but not as effectively.

Tags: branding, commentary, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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It should not come as a surprise to you, gentle reader, that I love design and specifically advertising and marketing design. Visuals that must convey meaning and message in a short amount of time (usually) and birth an emotion and/or action within the viewer.

From a world wide perspective, there is no bigger brand in the world than Coca-Cola. My preference in cola leans directly toward Pepsi but business is bidnez and Coke is it. To wit:

With 450 brands operating in 200 countries, and 20,000 retailers selling 1.6 billion servings of Coke products per day — that’s 18,000 servings per second — it would be hard to find a bigger canvas on which to explore design as an enterprise function. (He) oversees a team of 50 designers within Coke and works with some 300 agencies worldwide.

With the curtain is pulled back on the recent design activities of the world’s largest brand, I think it’s worth a read.

And according to the story’s protagonist, the process may involve design but it isn’t about design – it’s about selling stuff.

Darn tootin’!

Tags: advertising, branding, commentary, commercials, logo design, marketing by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Just some quick eye candy for the logo aficionados out there as the Logos From Dreams Awards web site put together a series 85 logo types that I thought was kind of cool to study.

Interesting how similar some logo types are across brands and how truly different others are.

You won’t get back the two minutes of this day you’ll waste looking at these logos but I don’t think you’ll mind once your through either.

Tags: advertising, branding, commentary, logo design, marketing by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Yes, I have proclaimed my fervent interest in Olympic logos before and I shall again here. It’s international design, it’s so incredibly personal for the competing cities and some of the designs are way cool (some in comparison are not way cool). It’s a fun and artistic exercise for me. You may just want to wait for the TV show, that’s your call 🙂

First a brief story about how this post came about and some design blogs that you may want to subscribe to because I know I enjoy their stuff. Brand New is a logo design site that I have spoken of before and it always seems to show me new stuff before it hits mainstream. This proves I am not the only logo nut out there just probably the only one who can’t draw a straight line.

Well today, Brand New was talking about the rebranding of the kids cable channel Nickelodeon. It will include a new logo and I’ll try and address that debate in a future post as there seems to be no official word from the network (though many hints) on the final logo version. The point is that Brand New referenced another logo design site called idsgn, who was also blogging about the Nickelodeon change – but they also blogged about the 2016 Olympic Candidate Cities and their logos.

Their question for you to answer in their comments is: “If the decision (to pick the 2016 Olympic host city) were based solely on design, which candidate would win?”

The four cities are: Chicago, Madrid, Rio and Tokyo. Please go to idsgn.com and leave your vote in the comments

Now if you don’t want to be swayed by my opinion stop reading here because I am going to tell you my choices in order now.

Again, last chance, stop reading if you don’t want to know my votes.

OK, they’re gone so now we can chat.

If I went with my heart rather than my design eyes I would have to pick Chicago. I have walked through O’Hare and seen their huge banner promoting their cause as host city and just thought it would be awesome if they won.

But because I have to pick with my design goggles on: it’s Madrid. Then I would rank them: Tokyo, Chicago and then Rio. When you go to the idsgn site and read the stories behind the logos, I think the spirit of the Madrid logo as well as its design match perfectly with what I feel is the Olympic spirit.

P.S. Here is a great follow up post on Olympic logos and how they’ve changed from bid to final logos over the past few Olympics

Tags: branding, commentary, logo design, marketing by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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