Our Ideas

So with much fanfare (and remarkably tight security!) VANOC unveiled this week their trio (or is it a foursome?) of mascots for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Quatchi, Miga and Sumi join a tradition of fun, friendly and misunderstood mascots from most of the games from the last century. From a Brand Communication perspective, what’s been interesting about the public response is the apparent misunderstanding of the mascots’ role.

They aren’t intended to appeal to everyone; they’re designed to engage children, and to lend a friendly, approachable persona to the games that young people can appreciate. VANOC’s team, and the mascots’ designers, clearly understood that great communication (whatever the medium) won’t appeal to everyone. By focusing on one audience, professional communicators are bound to turn off another. Often, in fact, the degree to which you turn off an audience can inversely correlate with the success of a campaign: The more people you turn off, the more successful the campaign might be. Great marketers and brand-builders have a clear understanding of what their audiences want, and focus on giving it to them, whatever everyone else thinks.

In media coverage this week, there has been a notable difference between the mascots’ reception by adults, and the far more favourable reception by kids. I’m sure it won’t be long until plush mascots are flying off The Bay’s shelves!