Did you know that the Olympic rings logo is one of the most recognized brandmarks in the entire world?  If you think of it, every kid who can run, kick, throw, jump or swim has, at some point, cheered on an athlete or dreamed of being in the competition themselves.

Every couple of years when the Olympics are held, we see the sponsors, clothing designers and equipment manufacturers who have paid huge dollars to include the Olympic logo on their promotions.  Just mentioning that you’re involved with an athlete, team or event gives a brand a boost.

So, if the logo and the name are so powerful, why is the Olympic brand not on any of the “Most Valuable Brands” lists?  The answer lies behind the podium, outside of the competitions and into the boardrooms of the organization.  This sad story is an important lesson for every business.

With the eyes of the world on the competitions, the Olympic Games have been used as a stage for protests and political statements for many years.  There are so many to mention that you can find several lists of Olympic controversies online – even rankings.  Those are conversations for another blog…

As an organization, the International Olympic Committee, or IOC, is responsible for the reputation of the Games.  Until 2016, the opening ceremony of every Olympic Games featured one of the competing athletes reciting the Olympic Oath:

“In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams.”

 The real kicker to this was that throughout most of the modern Olympic era, the committee deciding where the Olympics would be held, organizing committees, officials and athletes were a collection of cheaters:  bribes for site selection, doping violations, athlete intimidation, judge tampering and the list goes on!  How can anyone really believe in the Olympics when they’re not doing what they ask their athletes to do?

When I talk to companies about their brand, it’s not a conversation about the colors in the logo or who should design it.  We talk about what the company is telling potential customers they can expect and whether the company can deliver consistently.  I describe a brand as having three elements:

• A brand promise
• A brand experience
• A visual representation of the brand (logo)

You might notice that the logo is just one of three elements and, to me, it’s the least important. (We will talk about logos for small businesses another time but suffice it to say that we spend a disproportionate amount of time considering the logo and not enough on the other two elements.)  What do you tell people they can expect from your product or service?  Do you deliver on that promise every single time?  Does every single person in your company know what you’re promising and what they are expected to deliver?

For example, if you promise fast, friendly service and your current team members are grouchy and slow, no one will believe your brand promise.  Your team is eroding any of the great work you’ve done to be fast and friendly in the past.  Especially now with social media providing instantaneous ratings on your ability to deliver, you have to build systems, processes and a culture that empowers and rewards people for delivering on your brand promise.

Think this is all a lot of touchy-feely marketing stuff?  It actually hits the bottom line.  Most entrepreneurs have days where they want to pack it all in and they sharpen their pencils to work out what their business would be worth to sell.  That line item we like to call “Sweat Equity” or “Goodwill” that will recognize all that you’ve done to build a strong reputation that a buyers will pay good money for – that’s the value of your brand.  If you have a reputation of overpromising and underdelivering, that number is $0 regardless of how much sweat you’ve put in.

So back to the Olympics.  They’re not as popular as they once were.  The X Games and similar sport-specific global competitions have eclipsed the popularity of the Olympics for fans.  The Super Bowl ads get a lot more hype and return for sponsors in USA.  The Olympics hasn’t delivered on their promise for years – it’s brand value (or goodwill) has almost disappeared as others have risen.

Is your business inking billion-dollar sponsorship deals?  Is your corporate management team mired in controversy over million-dollar bribes?  Probably not.  But you can take a page from the IOC’s playbook and think about what you promise customers and how you deliver it consistently.  Instead of the old Olympic motto “Higher. Stronger. Faster”, maybe the IOC could have used my branding motto for small businesses “Promise. Deliver. Repeat.”