Tell us about the early design brief
At London 2012, Team GB and Paralympics GB were set to compete as the single largest, most diverse, best-prepared and most ambitious team ever to represent GB and NI. This was Our Greatest Team.
Working closely in partnership with the British Olympic Association (BOA), we created and developed the campaign strategy, plan and creative identity for Our Greatest Team.
It was a campaign of unprecedented scale and scope, with a clear objective to build the best support for a British team ever. It was comprised of 900 athletes and was 60 million strong, with the support of the whole nation behind them. The campaign was designed to maximize home advantage, create long-term value and build an inspirational brand.
Through Our Greatest Team, we needed to inform, involve and inspire a nation to create the ultimate British Team – 900 athletes, 60 million strong – and inspire the feeling that everyone has a stake in Team GB! Our Greatest Team aimed to transform Team GB, a team of successful but largely unknown athletes, to Team GB, a recognised and celebrated sports brand.
Our Greatest Team…
- 35 million people engaged with #TeamGB or #OurGreatestTeam on Twitter
- 3.6 million fans took direct action to join Our Greatest Team
What inspired your design concept?
The campaign concept of Our Greatest Team needed to be brought to life using an impactful, visual identity that was scalable, flexible, inclusive and British!
The creative execution was inspired by a modern British style and British street art, reflecting Team GB’s aim to make their mark on London and assert the historic, territorial and moral right to ‘own’ the Olympic venues at London 2012. Working alongside the in-house Brand team at the BOA, we developed a graphic style using large stencils of Team GB Olympic heroes from different sports, superimposed onto the iconic venues of London 2012, to create a series of graphics used throughout the campaign.
What challenges did you face along the way?
Working within the constraints of the Olympic brand and sports sponsorship was a challenge with so many rules to observe and stringent approval processes. Designs had to be distinctive, bold and dramatic, while meeting complex criteria to obtain the approval of many different bodies and individuals, and all within a limited budget.
The graphic system needed to be flexible to incorporate logos, colours, background patterns, photography and typography that could be adapted to a host of different situations, quickly but consistently: everything from large-scale wall graphics at Team GB House to social media pages.
How did it feel to be involved in such a large and important British project?
There were so many moments when we experienced the thrill of seeing our work as the backdrop to an incredible chapter in British sporting history:
- on television, athletes were interviewed against the backdrop of our campaign imagery
- Team GB House became a focal point for the whole team and the nation
- Over 2.5 million people took direct action to join Our Greatest Team
We are a small agency based in Leamington Spa and had the unique opportunity to work with the BOA on this historical project. We are living proof that work from the Olympics did not always go to big companies based in London!