---
title: "London 2012 brand launch – the aftermath"
url: https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2007/06/04/london-2012-brand-launch-the-aftermath/
description: "Consultant and fractional COO for scale-up businesses. I help founders, leaders and investors in scaling businesses create sustainably high performing organisations."
published: 2007-06-04T21:26:18+00:00
modified: 2026-04-11T16:25:16+00:00
author: Simon Wakeman
---
# London 2012 brand launch – the aftermath

## London 2012 brand launch – the aftermath

It’s been an interesting day – having been at the launch of the London 2012 brand this morning and then getting home this evening to read the reaction to the new logo online.

Thanks to decent wifi at the [Roundhouse](http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/) and a handy table, I managed to get a [picture of the logo](https://www.simonwakeman.com/2007/06/04/so-here-it-is-the-new-london-2012-logo/) up as the presentation was continuing. and then followed up with my [initial reactions](https://www.simonwakeman.com/2007/06/04/first-thoughts-on-the-new-london-2012-brand/) a bit later on.

![launch2](https://www.simonwakeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/launch2.jpg)

I’ve not live blogged like that before, but it was certainly an exciting experience blogging and racing to be quick to post my thoughts. As a result today’s the busiest day by a fair margin that I’ve had since launching this blog.

To call the reaction so far to the logo (not brand) mixed would probably be a charitable interpretation. Comments posted on the [BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/06/04/2012_new_logo_feature.shtml) and [Guardian](http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/06/04/londons_new_brand_of_bother.html) websites seem overwhelmingly negative.

Meanwhile in the blogosphere [Ellee](http://elleeseymour.com/2007/06/04/is-the-olympics-2012-brand-a-winner/) thinks it might grow on her, while Jon reports a [mixed reaction](http://www.lewis360.com/2007/06/london_olympics.html) from the team at Lewis 360. [Johnnie](http://www.johnniemoore.com/blog/archives/001775.php) focusses on the launch and some of the hyperbole that went with it, while [Heather](http://greenbanana.wordpress.com/2007/06/04/london-2012-say-nothing-at-all/) is along the same lines as she questions the wisdom of using public relations to promote what’s effectively a marketing device.

![launch](https://www.simonwakeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/launch.jpg)

Personally I can’t say I love it or hate the logo. I stand by what I [wrote earlier](https://www.simonwakeman.com/2007/06/04/first-thoughts-on-the-new-london-2012-brand/) and commend the organisers for being courageous enough to do something different with the visual identity, rather than playing safe with a bland or predictable option.

But really whether people love it or hate it now isn’t really relevant. The identity is only a small part of the overall brand. To see whether the identity works we’ll need to see it applied to websites, merchandise, documents etc.

What will really matter is whether the organisers can bring their brand to life in reality, away from the glitzy high budget launches and instead on the streets, playing fields and running tracks of Great Britain.

If their actions over the next five years are true to the values of the brand they announced today, then a fuss over the logo today will seem an irrelevance.

In the long term the value of a brand will come more from what the organisation does, rather than what it looks like, but the big reveal today has served to focus attention (too much) on the identity to the detriment of the other messages that were talked about today.

I hope the people at LOCOG have the confidence in their convictions to ride out the negative headlines and stick with their bold new identity.

On a related note with [Edelman](http://www.edelman.co.uk) running media relations and online PR for the launch, it’ll be interesting to see how the organisers plan to use social media in their communications over the coming years.

It was a bit of shame to not see a social media press release today to kick things off on the social media front, especially as presumably they had the [Storycrafter tool](http://www.edelman.com/news/storycrafter/EdelmanNews.aspx?hid=171) at their disposal.

More launch images [available on Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonwakeman/tags/london2012/).