Has the Olympics coming to the UK made a positive contribution to British business? It's an interesting question and one that is certainly not easily answered with a simple YES or a negative NO.
Our clients include those in both the public and private sector and we've noticed that marketing material has certainly taken on a more 'celebratory' or 'sporty' feel this year. This no doubt is due to the combined country-wide awareness of the Queen's Golden Jubilee and the London Olympics. Consultus Care and Nursing celebrate their 50th year in 2012 which saw us producing a suitable 'golden' mark, with a bumper Carer Times containing both Olympic and Jubilee content.
A direct benefit we've seen is the design of the torch relay map for Barking and Dagenham along with promotional material for their beach volleyball pitch and various sporting activities within the borough. Had the Olympics not been London-based we certainly wouldn't of had the opportunity to work on these projects. Designing an appropriate torch relay map and a few flyers aren't huge projects for Hansell and we deal with them efficiently, on-time and on-budget (much like the Games?!).
A larger legacy with our public sector clients is definitely beginning to show. Beginning with our development of a new 'Active' brand for Barking and Dagenham we've observed the council taking leisure and sporting activities far more seriously and promoting being 'More Active, More Often' to the public on a growing scale. The Active brand was first launched at the new Becontree Leisure centre for which we developed the wayfinding signage, children's play area, uniforms, sense of place and a whole host marketing material. It's pleasing to see that this work is having positive results. The new centre launched in April 2011 and set some impressive sign-up records, beating it's planned membership targets within half the time it had allotted.
So there is some indication that 'us Brit's' do want to live a more active lifestyle and if that brings new business to the leisure, food and drinks markets then us creatives over at Hansell certainly see the Olympics as making a positive impact!