With less than two weeks to go before the Summer Games kick off, London Olympics organizers have suddenly discovered that they’ve got a major problem on their hands: Security. And rain. A backlash to the so-called "brand police." And what to do with thousands of tetchy journalists?

Post-Cool Brittania, We Stand on Guard for Thee

After spending years prepping to make the Olympics a shining moment in the city’s history that should help make its brand shine, London is hurting for security help. Nick Buckles, the head of the firm that is providing what security will exist, G4S, admits that the whole thing has been a “humiliating shambles,” according to the Guardian. Even so, London city officials are hoping that somehow they can turn things around quickly in hopes of rescuing the city’s brand.Continue reading...

The Economist opined in April that the earthquake and tsunami had battered Japan's image, quoting a Western diplomat complaining, "People buy 'brand Japan' because it implies a premium—that the quality will be better, or the product is more reliable—and now they don't have that." Interbrand Japan noted in a post-crisis report that the impact on "Brand Japan" and "the effects of the disaster on perceptions differ greatly by country and by category."

Without a doubt, having been battered physically, economically and emotionally country, the nation is still rebuilding from the brutal earthquake on March 11 — which makes it high time to evolve the Cool Japan nation-branding campaign, which the Japanese government is ready to do following a logo search. “To say we’re going to rebuild doesn’t simply mean we should go back to the way things were,” said 46-year-old winning designer Kashiwa Sato to the Wall Street Journal.

Sata, the award-winning designer who created the distinctive logo for Uniqlo and designs for other Japanese brands including Honda, saw his design selected out of 99 submissions to represent “Cool Japan,” a government effort that pre-dated this year's natural disaster to help the rest of the world understand modern Japan.Continue reading...