Well, it has it’s plus points – it contains some relevant elements: it has the word London, it contains the Olympic rings, and it apparently makes up the figures in 2012, albeit in an artistic way.
You can argue about the design, and whether it’s attractive, accessible or modern/retro. I have my views. But as a brand, it’s not the logo that will make or break London 2012.
Good branding is about a vision that is shared by an organisation, its staff, stakeholders and audiences. This needs to be articulated clearly, and all parts of an organisation need to be aligned with that brand vision – not just the marketing and external communications, but the values the organisation actually lives by day-to-day, the internal communications, the HR policies, the products and services that are offered and the customer service delivery.
It’s a comprehensive view of a brand – and the only way a brand will build trust with all of its audiences is by being consistent across a whole range of internal and external factors. For example, if a hotel website boasts about quality and luxury, but when you check-in you have to wait 20 minutes, the receptionist is rude and the bathroom toiletries are from Superdrug (no disrespect intended), they have failed to live up to their brand promise.
But whatever you think of the logo itself, London 2012 has got one thing absolutely right – the main political and organisational leaders are all working from the same upbeat, supportive script – good branding cannot happen if the top brass don’t get behind it. Staff need to be inspired to deliver together, and audiences need to believe in the brand promise, or they won’t buy the product. So well done to the London 2012 communications team for that.
Of course, a great logo can help pull the different aspects of a brand together under a distinctive, inspirational banner. But as for the new 2012 logo…sorry Seb, it's really not very good.