Living Organism

Source: London 2012

Today marks a new chapter in the London 2012 branding roll out with the introduction of Wenlock and Mandeville, the shiniest and perhaps most tech savvy (Olympic) mascots to date.

The dynamic duo were introduced in an animated short film written by acclaimed children’s author, Michael Morpurgo. While I’m not crazy about the animation style, (it lacks the polish of the overall brand), the mascots have a charming back story and their design is sleek, dynamic and exciting, inspired by different aspects of their host city (i.e. London’s Black taxi fleet, the steel used to build the Olympic Stadium).

Wenlock and Mandeville are gender neutral characters acting as universal symbols of the games. They are infused with Olympic and British sporting history alike. Wenlock is the official mascot for the London 2012 Olympics, named for the birthplace of the modern olympic movement: the town of Much Wenlock in Shropshire. Mandeville is the official mascot for the London 2012 Paralympics, named for Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, the birthplace of the Paralympic Games.

This kind of detail in concept and execution is to be expected, (especially after 40+ focus groups) but what really struck me was their eye(s). Why? The eye acts as a “camera lens, capturing everything I see as I go.” I love this notion as a way to integrate and share their travels and experiences with the burgeoning online community that surrounds them. While Olympic mascots have historically been geared towards a youth audience, these mascots have evolved with the times. They tweet (Wenlock, Mandeville), blog, have Facebook pages (Wenlock, Mandeville), and even aggregate all of their content on their community site. They speak to today’s youth in such plain language. This will be critical in the push to raise funds through merchandising, awareness, and ticket sales. The targeting of the youth audience feels like a sure fire way to bring the parents into the fold and get them as excited about the games as their children are.

This level of engagement from a mascot on a peer-to-peer level is revolutionary considering the global scale. It’s hard to imagine a mascot more in-tune with the times. And yes, we’ve seen our fair share of companies with Twitter accounts and Facebook pages, but this is different. These characters exist to give children a connection beyond sports. These mascots give children a connection to the Olympics. I’m not saying the sole purpose of Wenlock and Mandeville is to indoctrinate the world’s youth to get them to buy into the Olympic Games. But I’m not saying it isn’t either. There’s a very fine ethical line that corporations walk when marketing towards children. Where the corporations’ TV spokespeople/mascots have left off and been deemed no longer relevant, they have suddenly found new life, online. These new mediums allow them unprecedented access to minds, hearts, and ultimately your wallet.

At the end of the day, this is not only a test of this new Olympic brand, but more globally a true test of the efficacy of marketing to the youth demographic via social media. How do you think Wenlock and Mandeville will fare? Will they capture the hearts and minds of young people everywhere? Or will they go unnoticed, buried by the deluge of tweets, posts, pokes and photos we rummage through daily?