Don't get caught out by the crazy rules on branding surrounding the Olympics

I originally posted this in July and had a lot of comments and response to it, so I thought I'd draw attention to it again. I've noticed a few companies starting to run Olympic challenges and competitions. It's not for me to interfere with the marketing promotions and plans of companies I don't know - I have to assume they know what they are doing. There's a document you can download: Click here to download (pdf)

The Olympics are not that far away and already we can see and feel the presence of major sponsors ramping up their advertising and promotional campaigns.

That said, any company who is not a major sponsor who tries to get into the 'flag waving' spirit is straight-jacketed into a set of rules and regulations that, quite honestly, if I'd not read the document I would never have believed it.

In short, any company who tries to associate its name or brand with anything to do with the Olympics could be liable for a hefty fine. So say for example you are a restaurant in Manchester, and you decide to do a special menu to celebrate the Olympics using the circle emblem and the word Olympic and 2012 on your menu- you could be in trouble because you are associating your restaurant brand with the Olympics.

If you created a local paper ad with your company's logo and the phrase, 'Supporting the London Games', you would also be in trouble. At a conference I attended last year run by the North West Development Agency, fines in the region of £20,000 were touted.

Anyway, I don't want to get too 'soap-boxy' about it - but how on earth the entire nation is expected to get behind the games and support it with all these restrictions, I don't know. I don't want any small businesses to fall foul of this. So if you were planning to do an 'Olympic special' product or do some kind of patriotic window display in your shop - stop and make sure you read the document from the link below before you spend any money.

Click here to download (pdf)

I'd love to know what you think of all this - so do leave a comment.