Blog

What role does brand management play in the Olympic Games?

Posted on by Knom

To manage a brand is to maintain its essence but also to promote its evolution.

Can you imagine showing your image on the streets all over the world and 9 out of 10 people recognizing you? Well, that’s exactly what happens with the Olympic Games rings.

A clear example of the impact of being coherent and consistent over time. And the fact is that this event, despite having 128 editions behind it and having been held in 42 different cities, has a philosophical foundation and values that remain as immutable as the Olympic rings designed by Pierre de Coubertin.

We are talking about the pursuit of excellence, the promotion of friendship and international cooperation, and the promotion of respect for others. Values that have guided the organization of the Games since Athens in 1896 and that, together with certain rites, such as the opening ceremony, the lighting of the flame or the torch relay, make up the identity of the event.

And yet, edition after edition, the Games are transformed by the personality of the host city, which adds its cultural touch, enriching the event with local traditions, music and artistic expressions. In addition, every Olympic Games, the medal and the torch are designed, a mascot is created and a distinctive emblem is created to accompany the Olympic rings.

Nor can we forget the rebranding of the visual universe that took place in 2022, which sought to propel the Olympic brand into the future by creating a comprehensive design system that balances consistency and flexibility through a vibrant and expanded palette based on Olympic colors, inspirational illustrations and bespoke typography.

Because good Olympic brand management must not only preserve the spirit of the Games but also continue to inspire and connect people of all generations and cultures around the world through sport.

Knom &. A few minutes with Josetxo Cerdán

Posted on by Knom

Josetxo Cerdán is a Professor of Communication at UC3M and was previously the director of Filmoteca Española, when we collaborated on the brand restyling of the institution. A symbol of the city of Madrid and national cinematic history, Filmoteca Española needed an update to remain relevant.

How to get visibility at the European Championship without a big budget?

Posted on by Knom

Connecting our brand assets with those of the event.
The European Championship has come to an end and, in our opinion, Spain is not the only winner of the competition. There are several brands that have won the medal in terms of reach and virality.

And we are not talking about the sponsoring brands but about those that, with more limited budgets, have managed to attract the attention of their audience either by emulating the forecasts of Paul the Octopus, or by using insights against our rivals or even by gamifying the refereeing of the matches in real time.

Taking advantage of the levers that connect them with their audience, avoiding opportunism and betting on what makes them different. Each one from its idiosyncrasy but always from coherence and self-knowledge.

Because in the end, it’s all about connecting the event with the assets of each brand: the fun tone of Worten, the support for what is ours in the case of RTVE or the playful attitude -and constant hack- of KFC.

Sharing the passions of our audience is, without a doubt, an opportunity to connect with them in a close and authentic way.

Knom &. A few minutes with Sergio Sancho

Posted on by Knom

Sergio Sancho is Director of UVNT Art Fair and CAN (Contemporary Art Now) and Executive Director of Urvanity Projects. Together with him, we talked about the importance of surprising and generating an icon to attract attention in a new market, but also about the weight of communication (and repetition) to achieve brand recognition.

Can a disruptive positioning be sustained over time?

Posted on by Knom


Challenging conventions with brand truth

There are many ways to be a disruptive brand. We can do it through the concept of our product or service, as in the case of Airbnb or Uber, or through the application of technological innovation, as Tesla, Peloton or GoPro do; we can also be disruptive in terms of the business model, production and distribution, like Zara, Ikea or Netflix; in terms of our commitment as a brand, like Patagonia; or even in terms of our target audience, as in the case of Happy Pills.

Disruptive positioning is based on breaking the rules of a category. It is about questioning cultural conventions and consumer expectations regarding a product or service. Good brand communication will help us to be relevant, to convey to the public that we are challenging the status quo. But if we want to last in the market, this disruption must be based on product truth.

In the end, it’s about standing out from the competition and offering the public something they didn’t have before. Differentiation and value.

Knom &. A few minutes with Íñigo San Baldomero

Posted on by Knom

Íñigo is the Marketing Manager of ESIC Corporate Education & ICEMD. With him, we have been developing the ICEMD brand for more than 6 years, as well as the audiovisual content platform ESIC PLAY.

In addition to laying the strategic and creative foundations of the brand, during this time, we have carried out brand guardianship work with the aim of ensuring the consistency and relevance of the brand in all its points of contact (events, outreach publications, etc.).

Why should brands respond to the zeitgeist?

Posted on by Knom

The cultural relevance of a brand is key to connecting with the consumer.

If we want a brand to be relevant, we have to make it permeate the intellectual and cultural climate of the moment. Not from opportunism or tacticism, but from a vocation to respond to contemporary concerns.

And responding to the current zeitgeist involves, among many other things, committing to our values and getting involved in social change, addressing a diverse public with complex motivations that no longer responds to demographic categories, or respecting an increasingly conscious and critical consumer in the way he or she consumes.

Whether we talk about mental health or decide to sell the selfie stick. A brand has to know when it is appropriate to launch a message or a product to the market, when its audience is ready to listen to what it wants to say or buy what it is offering.

It is about joining the debates and concerns of the moment while remaining true to ourselves, bringing our particular point of view as a brand. Capturing the user’s attention with a discourse that interests him and, above all, making him want our brand to be present in his life.

And understanding this is key to differentiate ourselves in a hypercompetitive global market. Because in terms of brand experience, consumers care about how they are made to feel now.

At the end of the day, success for survival lies in knowing how to adapt to the ecosystem, in our case the context in which the brand lives.

How will AI affect the creative industry?

Posted on by Knom

Artificial Intelligence, an opportunity also for branding.

The other day an email arrived in our inbox with a relentless headline: “90% of online content could be generated by Artificial Intelligence by 2026”.

A statement that makes it clear that we are facing a new era and that, from a branding perspective, we can only wonder how this technology will redefine the narrative development of brands and what its role in creativity will be. Because it is clear that it will.

In any case, although from now on we will dedicate our time differently, at KNOM we believe that human value is and will be indispensable in the creative industry. Because we need imagination, empathy and also human judgment.

AI is just another tool that, as the camera did in its time, will improve efficiency, accelerating processes and saving costs, and will help us to capture graphically and verbally what we have in our heads.

In this sense, the implementation of AI will most likely imply a revaluation of fields, such as brand strategy or art direction, where decision-making is a crucial element.

Decisions that, at the end of the day, are the basis for achieving distinctive and relevant brands for the user, the ultimate goal of branding.