The Olympic brand – a window to the world! 

No.3: July 2024 
Guest author: Terrence Burns 

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Terrence Burns has a long history in Olympic marketing and international sports communications as a sponsor with Delta Air Lines for the Atlanta 1996 Games, senior executive for the IOC’s marketing agency Meridian Management SA and as a consultant with his own firm T. Burns Sports Group. He served as the brand and strategic consultant for 14 Olympic bids (six successful – Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, Los Angeles 2028 and Salt Lake City-Utah 2034).  

In his role at Meridian, he managed the day-to-day marketing relationships with the IOC’s global TOP Partners. He also instigated and helped manage the first-ever global assessment of the Olympic brand, resulting in the IOC’s first brand image campaign, “Celebrate Humanity”. 

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For making the world seem smaller, less threatening, more accessible and more universal, the Olympic brand is JTA Communicator of the Month.

The Olympic brand. Where does one begin? Like everything in sport and entertainment, the answer is: “It’s generational.” But I think that’s too simplistic an answer for something as profound as the Olympic brand.  

I grew up watching both editions of the Olympic Games together, once every four years. As an American kid, we mostly focused on American football, baseball or basketball (sorry ice hockey, I am from the south). That meant the overwhelming majority of Olympic sports were not sports that we played in the backyard. 

But there was something undeniably fascinating, alluring even, about the Olympic Games. In the Cold War years, we marvelled at seeing “real Russians”, for example. I was astounded that Russians looked just like us. A revelation for a 10-year-old steeped in Cold War fear. But even as kids, we knew that talking to people we were afraid of was better than silence.  

Every four years, the Olympic Games brought the athletes of the world into our homes, gathered together in some far-off place at a time when international travel was unimaginable. The Games were our window to the world.  

The Games have always made the world seem smaller, less threatening, more accessible and more universal. I believe that is their secret: the Olympics are not only about sport, but they are also about the universal values embodied in sport. That is a subtle but very profound difference compared to other global sporting events. And that is one of the most fundamental reasons why people love the Olympic Games, often without even realising it.  

The marketing of the Olympic Games has been the focus of most of my professional life. It wasn’t planned, but it was a gift. In 1993, I was handed the reigns to manage Delta Air Lines’ sponsorship of the Atlanta 1996 Games. I had no idea what an indelible impact the Olympic brand would have on the rest of my life. 

What began as a strategic business assignment became a very personal, almost religious conversion to the values embedded in the Olympic brand. Cliché or not, the Olympic brand changed my life as I have seen it do to countless others over the years. 

The Olympic brand is the most powerful communicator in the world of sport. Perhaps it would surprise you to learn that in the global Olympic brand research we conducted back in 1998/9, many consumers said, “I’m not really a sports fan, but I love watching the Olympics.” That is unique in the world of global sports. Consumers, as usual, proved that they knew more about the Olympic brand than we did and they told us what it meant. Their insights have become the bedrock of Olympic marketing campaigns ever since.  

Every culture on earth shares a set of global universal values and although they may be expressed differently, the emotional consequence is the same. The Olympics are steeped in these values.  

Every human being understands the concept of “hope”.  Every parent wants their child to learn the concepts of “friendship and fair play”. And every society strives for the principles of “joy” and “dreams and inspiration” for their citizens. These are not complex, arcane human frameworks; rather, they define the essence of our common humanity. They are why we are all similar, not different.  

One of the greatest examples of the Olympic brand in action today is the IOC Refugee Olympic Team. In Paris, the team of 37 athletes represents over 100 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, and they are hosted by 15 National Olympic Committees around the world. These athletes enrich the Games and our world by their very presence – they embody “hope”. 

They also remind us of our collective responsibility to each other as human beings. Being stateless (and often homeless) doesn’t lesson the human desire for belonging. This programme created, financed and managed by the IOC, reaches far beyond the Olympic fields of play and directly into our hearts and minds. The IOC Refugee Olympic Team, perhaps like no other example, showcases the communications power of the Olympic brand and its core values. 

As the world watches Paris 2024 this summer, most people will intuitively understand that the Olympic brand is universal. It is profoundly emotional. And it represents the last and greatest thing that we do willingly and collectively as a species.  

It’s not just about sport, it’s about all of us. We all belong.  

The Olympic brand is my communicator of the month, the year, the decade … the last 130 years.  

Picture credit: JTA