Olympic Games

August 23, 2012

Can Kenya Make a Run for Economic Gold?

Did you notice Kenya’s surprising performance at the 2012 London Olympics? Take a look at this New York Times infographic of the final medal standings in London – there’s Kenya standing tall as the leading medal-winner on the African continent and even ahead of other nations – like Mexico or Turkey or India or Argentina – that we typically consider to be among the world's next great emerging markets. Including Beijing, Kenya's top athletes have now taken home 25 medals from the past two Olympic Games - and that might just foreshadow the rise of Kenya as a new economic innovator on the world stage.

Dominic Basulto, Kenya, Olympic Games, economy, entrepreneurship, progress

August 13, 2012

Who from the Olympics Are Good Role Models for Marketers?

I guess this is a general posting and not specific to the 50-plus.

You could say that all of the competitors, let alone the medal winners, are role models for marketers, and everybody else come to that. Dedicated to become the best in the world, disciplined and willing to keep learning. Not a bad set of qualities.

Olympic Games, Dick Stroud, success

August 10, 2012

More Customer Experience Lessons from the Olympics

Can you handle one more post about the many lessons learned from the Olympics?

Personally, I love it. I'm glad that so many people are inspired by the athletes; the discipline needed to qualify, compete, and achieve their goals; their performances, and the Olympics overall.

Here's my final contribution to lessons learned from the Olympics. It is by no means an exhaustive list.

Olympic Games, Annette Franz Gleneicki, customer experiences

August 6, 2012

Seven Ways Twitter Is Ruining the Olympics

You may have heard that the 2012 London Games are the first “Social Olympics,” as if adding the word “social” to anything makes it different (I think adding “in between the sheets” at the end of a fortune pulled from a Chinese cookie is far more insightful).

So how exactly is Twitter changing the Olympics? I can see at least 7 ways it’s ruining the Games:

Jonathan Salem Baskin, Twitter, Olympic Games, social media

August 2, 2012

Jakob Nielsen Dissects the Olympics Web and iPad Designs

I regularly feature Mr Nielsen’s opinions. He really does know what he is talking about and he writes in an engaging and direct manner.

So what does he think about the Olympics? Read it here.

Dick Stroud, Olympic Games, mobile, apps, digital, Jakob Nielsen

March 17, 2010

Going for the Gold

I’ve finally made it through all of the hours of Olympics coverage which I DVR’d because I had been unable to watch most of the Games live. Since I already knew the result of many of the competitions, I was interested in watching mostly for the profiles of the athletes and stories behind and nuances of their achievements. I gleaned a few insights that seem to have relevance for companies who are competing in the game of business.

Denise Lee Yohn, strategy, tactics, Olympic Games, competitiveness, success

February 5, 2010

An Overdose of the Olympics

NBC has embraced a novel twist on the user-generated content phenomenon: it plans to broadcast more than a month's worth of athlete generated content, or "AGC," via Vancouver Olympics programming over its cable stations and web sites.

Jonathan Salem Baskin, NBC, Olympic Games, TV

October 16, 2008

An Olympian Hangover

by: Jonathan Salem Baskin

Revelers who were at the quadrennial branding bacchanal otherwise known as the Olympics are already waking up to what I'd expect are gold medal-winning hangovers.

advertising, Olympic Games, McDonald's, Jonathan Salem Baskin, marketing strategy, branding

August 16, 2008

I want My Olympics 2.0-style

by: danah boyd

Last night, I went to bed watching girls' gymnastics. I found myself very irritated. There were 24 girls in the finals, but NBC focused only on those that they thought would medal. The result is that there was tremendous downtime that the announcers filled with speculation, gossip, and historical reminiscing. I was quite irritated because what I wanted was to see more gymnastics. Anyone who is at the Olympics has to be fascinating to watch - why only focus on those who are likely to medal?