Is Olympic Brand Protection Doing More Harm Than Good?

With Vancouver's 2010 winter events concluded, sports fans are looking forward to the London summer Olympics. However, a paradox has popped up in the attempt to promote the 2012 Games: The very rules put in place to protect the Olympic brand are preventing travel agents from promoting the Olympic brand.

In an effort to protect the reputation of the games, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and the Metropolitan Police are cooperating to warn travel agents about the consequences of breaking trademark and copyright laws. Several agents have already been reprimanded. “It will be tricky for travel firms to benefit from the games if they can’t say 'Go to London for the Olympics,'" said the chairman of the Prevention of Fraud in Travel Group. No kidding

As is the norm with Olympic events, tight restrictions exist to assure that only official Olympic sponsors use terms such as "London 2012," "London 2012.com" or the term "Olympic" or "Olympics." Of course, the Olympic rings logo is also reserved only for official partners and cannot be used by any other organizations in any promotions or advertising materials.

On its website, Visit Britain presents a number of hints for businesses looking for safe ways to capitalize on the Olympics. We would list an example of a suggestion here but the link to the PDF does not work. The organization has also posted a gallery of "sporting" images business may utilize, "but remember you shouldn't add any words or text which could suggest you have an association with the Games."

Clearly, many agents are less than thrilled about what they see as overly strict trademark protection tactics. Some UK travel professionals have recognized that "big corporate sponsors need to be protected" but have implored authorities to see that "there’s a big difference between people posing as official partners and those who just want to make the most of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spice up their marketing and give their businesses a much-needed boost."

Yet, while agents (and other businesses) may see the authorities' actions as unnecessarily heavy handed, they should understand that ambush marketing is a serious threat for sponsors of athletic events such as the Olympics or the World Cup. Despite serious efforts at the Vancouver Games, ambush marketing still reared its head, probably directly resulting in the London 2012 organizers' current effort to tighten the screws.