This pep rally sponsored by...

I'm a day late, but there was a good article in yesterday's New York Times about how marketers are targeting the population of high school athletes, which to my surprise, is 7.2 million strong. As a former high school athlete, this story is of great personal interest to me. My take-away from this story is the increased interest by large media corporations in the population called Millenials, Generation Y or baby boom babies. It was only a matter of time before CPG and the beverage industries also took an interest. The 80% growth figure over the past 35 years quoted isn't a surprise. With the popularity of women's soccer after the 1996 Summer Olympics, interest girls has grown in all sports.

I hope this all isn’t some preamble to corporate sponsorships of high school championship games. The Sprite 1-AAAAA Georgia High School Football Championships at SunTrust Field, anyone?

Cover your eyes, it's the 2012 logo

Having worked at the 1994, 1996 and 2000 Olympics, and been raised in Atlanta and lived through the fun that was (pre-Grey’s Anatomy) Izzy, I have a personal interest in Monday’s announcement of the logo for the 2012 Olympics in London. To say what was unveiled Monday has gotten a negative reaction would be an understatement. In just one day, thousands have signed a petition calling for the logo to be scrapped and an animated version of the logo was pulled Tuesday from the official website because of concerns that the footage’s flashing lights would cause epileptic seizures. Niiiiiiice….

I didn’t even realize the imagery represented the numeric 2012 date upon first glance. It’s been referred to as a swastika, and I don’t think that’s too far off. I think it’s a jigsaw puzzle piece gone awry.

On the left is a look at the old logo. As one BBC blog put it, this one doesn’t fit on cell phone as nicely, which is the medium of choice of the kids these days, which is apparently the audience organizers were targeting.

London 2012 organizing committee chairman Seb Coe says this logo "… will define the venues we build and the Games we hold and act as a reminder of our promise to use the Olympic spirit to inspire everyone and reach out to young people around the world.

"It is an invitation to take part and be involved. “

Yack. Someone needs to get this guy some training. Is that really how he speaks?

Seth Godin has already done a fine job of explaining the process of logo development and deployment. Creativity is subjective, but I think most are in agreement that what the London 2012 organizers put forth is atrocious.

What do you think of the logo?

Low Maintenance Messaging

Talk about a different approach! Atlanta-based WestWayne advertising has downsized its website to a single page resembling the classic “404 Page Not Found” page. This is how WestWayne’s page looks now.

Most agencies try to blind visitors to their website with Flashtastic effects that are pretty self-serving. This is a very different approach and I’d love to hear how it’s received by current and potential clients. In addition to offering simple insight from the get-go on consumer behavior, they added a humorous touch by playing off the 404 code and blending it with their phone number. (Pretty convenient that it’s also the area code for the city of Atlanta.) If you know how long since the site’s relaunch, please drop a comment here.

Give BearingPoint a Mulligan

I like Darren Rovell’s post today about the relevance of BearingPoint’s logo on Phil Mickelson’s visor. Well, maybe I should say “logic” instead of “relevance.” Having worked in marketing in the professional services space, I know that those products are really a relationship-based sell and not so much advertising driven. After reading in Rovell’s post the lack of awareness among golf fans for BearingPoint’s services, I thought, “duh.” Whoever made the decision at BearingPoint to make this buy must be a rabid golf junkie – or very interested in pleasing a superior who is.

Nike "Thanks" Imus

Leave it to Nike to use the Don Imus controversy as the source for an ad campaign. In this print ad that began running on April 15, the sports apparel company has taken the comments made by the ugliest man on radio and turned them into an opportunity “…to move the conversation forward,” according to Dean Stoyer, director of U.S. media relations for Nike.

Nike’s connection to the situation is that it has outfitted the men’s and women’s basketball teams at Rutgers for several years. In thanking Imus – without actually naming him – for “unintentionally moving women’s sport forward”, Nike has taken the high road. While most advertisers dropped the talk-show host like a bad habit, this ad put the focus back where it belonged, on Rutgers and the team’s accomplishments.

Side note to Nike: Give some thought to taking a small slice out of your advertising budget to put towards spell check. Even I know it’s not Rutger’s. It’s good that you caught this for subsequent buys, but you were a little quick on the trigger the first go-round. Doh.