Oakley's Green Frame Olympic Branding Strategy

The 2014 Winter Olympics were full of amazing stories of victory and defeat. From the underdogs to the favored champions, the Sochi Olympics did not disappoint. 

Seize the Moment - Oakley's Gold Medal

With million of eyeballs watching, companies try to use creative marketing techniques to seize the moment. Oakley did it perfectly—it started with green. 

Branding in the Olympics - The Green Frame

The Olympics has many rules against marketing and branding. Logos have to be a certain size. Olympians can't have stickers and patches all over their apparel. Signs along side the venues only promote the host city's Olympic logo and graphics. 

Companies spend millions of dollars to be the sponsored apparel for athletes in each discipline. Oakley used a green frame product placement strategy to unite its athletes during the Olympics. In every discipline you saw the green Oakley frames. 

Why the Green Oakley Frames in the Olympics?

Simple—it was genius. Like any great marketing strategy Oakley's product placement strategy started with a why. The why helped carry their story and the why helped explain their cause. Oakley said, "Oakley introduced its first goggles in 1980. The green color honors a heritage of innovation as one of our first goggle colors. During Sochi, green will unite athletes from competing nations."

Their strategy was brilliant. Oakley put a stake in the ground—the best athletes around the world wear Oakley and unified they will accomplish big things. 

Check out some of the great pictures of the green frames. 

Three Reasons Oakley Wins Olympic Branding

1. The Why - Using green goggles and frames Oakley drove product awareness & branding around a cause—unify top athletes around the world. 

2. Bright Green - Brands are built on color. Oakley used a bright green color to stand out. The color's purpose was to celebrate 34 years of Oakley innovation supporting top athletes around the world.

3. Eyeballs - Millions of people watched as Oakley green goggles and frames stood out and were noticed. Announcers even commented about the cause and reason for green frames.

Each Olympics I watch for innovative marketers to take a different approach to marketing and branding. This year, Oakley was the clear winner. 

Nice work Oakley marketing.

A brand is summed up by every touch point and an Olympic touchpoint is gold.

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 How Sol Republic Stole the Show in the London Games

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Surround Yourself with Believers Part 2 of 2

Blog post two of the series, "Surround Yourself with Believers". You can read my first blog post in the series here. 

Our Life Mission

Our mission in life should be to discover our talents. Each of us have been given a unique set of talents and skills. Our personality combined with our talents make each of us unique. The combination makes each of us great. After we discover our talents we need to align them with our passions. Our talents aligned with our passions will guide our life, give us fulfillment, and help each of us live our life mission. 

The next important step—surround ourselves with believers. Those who know our skills, our talents, and who we will become if we are patient, work hard, and believe.

Henrik, You Got This

A prefect example of this occurred behind the scenes at the 2013 X Games in Aspen Colorado between Tanner Hall and Henrik Harlaut.

Let me set the stage. Henrik was in first place at X Game Big Air competition. As he walks up to do one of his final jumps he gets a pep talk from Tanner Hall. Tanner understands Henrik talents and skills. The result was powerful. 

Watch the clip to see how important it was for Henrik to surround himself with a believer—Tanner Hall. 

But I Can Win Without It.

To me one of the most game changing lines was when Henrik says, "yeah, but I can still win without doing it." Tanner's response,  "I know you can do this, you got this! Believe in yourself, believe in your skill. You know exactly what your are doing. Let's put it in the history books. Let's take skiing to the next level!" The right response from a believer.

The Power

As you watch the video, you can see the words start to have an impact on Henrik. He even smiles back at Tanner. As Henrik gets ready to take his run you hear Tanner say, "You got this son!" 

Henrik skis down and does the world's first ever Nose Butter Triple Cork 1620 and claims the gold medal. I watched this live on TV and it was incredible. To listen to the words of Tanner to Henrik minutes before the trick was inspirational.

The Key

In life each of us will have naysayers. There will be those who don't care to understand our skills, our potential,  or what we will become. Don't waste your time with them. Discover your talents, align them to your passions, and surround yourself with believers. We are all meant to do great things.   

"You got this son!"

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Focus

During the first week of February, the world's best mogul skiers came to Deer Valley. I grabbed my camera and tried to capture the essence of this event. Here was the end product, a short ski film called "FOCUS".

Video of the Week

A week later, a friend emailed me and told me to check out mogulskiing.net. To my surprise, "FOCUS" was the video of the week. I was honored and pumped that they highlighted my work.

Tips to Perform Under Pressure

Interview with Olympic Medalist, Bryon Wilson

A few weeks ago, while skiing at Deer Valley, I met up with 2010 Olympic Medalist, Bryon Wilson. I thought it would be the perfect time to ask him a few questions. How did Bryon do it? How did Bryon perform at near perfection under such intense Olympic pressure?

Bryon Wilson Story

Bryon Wilson has a story that most kids dream about. In 2010, after skiing moguls at the top of his game, he was given a World Cup start. He made the best of his opportunity and landed two 2nd place finishes and a spot on the 2010 US Freestyle Olympic Team. He took this momentum and his confidence to the Olympics where he laid down the run of his life and took home the bronze medal.

Q/A - Tips to Perform Under Pressure

While on the ski lift, between training runs, I asked him a few questions.

Q: What was it like to like to walk into the Olympic Stadium?

A: "As I stood in line to go in, I could hear what sounded like thunder. I was overwhelmed with excitement when I walked into the stadium of 80,000 fans. It was louder than I expected. It was more than I could ever imagine. I just took in every moment. It was something I dreamed about since I was little and it was real, I was at the Olympics"

Q: How did you treat your Olympic run?

A: "I know this sounds lame, but just like any other World Cup. I wanted to lay down my best run."

Q: For real, take me through what you were really thinking and feeling before your finals run?

A: "I knew I had trained 10 years for this moment and trusted in my training. I visualized my run and had confidence in my abilities. I let the nerves go."

Q: What three tips you could give others who have to perform under intense pressure in sports, at work, or in life?

A: "I would tell them...

1. "Believe in your abilities - when pressure mounts you have to believe in what got you to that point, believe in your skills."

2. "Visualize success - I saw myself finishing my run, the best run I had ever had."

3. "Take a deep breath - this will help calm your nerves, than charge the course or life challenge with confidence."

Q: Walk me through what you felt when you finished your run.

A: "I skied across the line and felt the biggest adrenaline rush. I put my hands in the air, grabbed the American flag, and just enjoyed every moment. When I finally got to my parents, I felt like I was on top of the world. They had believed in me and sacrificed a lot for my ski career. That moment was a moment I will never forget."

As we got off the ski lift, he said, "Thanks Burke, let's go rip!"

Bryon Wilson and his Olympic story should help each of us believe a little more in ourselves and our abilities. When the intense pressure of life comes upon us remember what Bryon says, "Take a deep breath and believe!."

Resonator #1 - Snogression

The "Resonator" blog series highlights companies who build products or services that resonate. Learn the 3 rules to developing a resontator here. This week I am highlighting a new start up called Snogression.

Company Overview

Snogression was built to solve one of the big problems skiers and snowboarders have, how do I learn new tricks in a safe and controlled environment without risking injury? With powder days few and far between and water ramps open only a few months, Snogression has developed Utah's first training faculty open year round where skiers and snowboarders can perfect their tricks before going to snow.

Resonator Test

1. Urgent: For skiers and snowboarders there is not a safe and fast way to learn new tricks. Powder days are not enough and water ramps are not very realistic. There needs to be a faster and safer way.

2. Pervasive: It is important that competitive skiers and snowboarders learn bigger tricks each year. If they don't, others will push for their spots on the podium. The more training, the more confidence, the bigger the tricks, and better the results.

3 Willing to Buy: With a price tag of $15 dollars for a two hour session. Snowboarders and skiers from all over are flocking to Snogression to dial in their tricks before the snow falls.

I even spent a few days at Snogression. You have to see the product and service in action to truly see how powerful its benefits and why I am showcasing Snogression as my first product in the blog series, "Resonators".

You can learn more about Snogression here

Don't Give Up - The Mt Hood Story

You can't ever give up on life, even when the clouds and storms are raging. This is something I learned first hand while visiting Mt Hood, Oregon this summer. Mt Hood is almost open year round, making it the perfect training ground for the best skiers and snowboarders in the world.

Clouds, Rain

My visit to Mt Hood was 7 days long and a trip I will never forget. Life tends to teach you valuable lessons at the most opportune times and I would like to try to explain one that happened to me while at Mt Hood.

I arrived at the base of Mt Hood around 7 am. It was raining and cloudy. This is not the ideal conditions for summer training, but many times you have to brave the storms. I got on the lift in the pouring rain. The life ride was miserable. I was wet and cold and I wanted to give up and turn around. I got off the first lift and could not see 3 feet in front of me. I got on the second lift and it was raining and blowing even harder. Just when I was about to lose hope and give up I broke through the clouds into the blue sky. I could not believe it, I was above the storm. I was in the blue sky and the sun never felt better.

Above the Clouds

As the sun hit my wet face and I looked back upon the storm, I had a thought that made the experience even more meaningful. We all have storms, these storms many times rage in our lives and try to get us to give up on life or turnaround on our dreams. Remember one thing, the storm will pass, be patient, have faith because the sun and blue skies are waiting. Never Give Up.

Never Give Up

"I've learned that no matter what happens or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. You gain strength, courage, & confidence from every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face." - Anonymous

Video Featured on Utah Olympic Park Website

On December 18, 2009, the Utah Olympic Park (UOP) in Park City, Utah featured my video on their website. The Utah Olympic Park is home to Olympic hopefuls who come to train at their facilities. I spent an afternoon jumping on the aerial jumps at the park. The following video was featured on the UOP website. Click here to view the video

Practice, Practice, Practice, Perform

When I was 10 years old, I was in gymnastics. Everyday I practiced my gymnastic tricks at the gymnastics center. On the wall in the gym was this saying, "To perform like a champion, you must practice like one." Each day I would read this saying and I would practice, practice, practice. I quickly realized at gymnastics competitions that how I practiced during the weeks leading up to a competition was how I performed. Since 10 years old, this saying has been a big influence on how I approach life and my professional endeavors.

Burke Alder practicing throwing backflip iron crosses into the Utah Olympic Park pool. Watch the video here

The water ramps at the Utah Olympic Park (UOP) in Park City are the perfect place to practice ski air tricks. The water ramps allow for repetition of air tricks, which enhances performance. Like I mentioned above "To perform like a champion, you must practice like one." Below are three things I have learned that drive excellence and success whether you are water ramping in Park City, marketing, presenting to a group, running a business, or living life:

1. Have positive thoughts: If you can believe it, you can achieve it.

2. Don't doubt: Once you have committed, don't doubt, give it your all.

3. Practice, practice, practice like a champion: You will perform like a champion at the opportune moment.

Pushing the Creative Limits...

...on a trampoline at the Utah Olympic Park. Nothing like hanging out with the best freestyle athletes in the world at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City. During labor day this fall I headed to the Utah Olympic Park in Park City to hone my freestyle skiing skills on the trampoline before the snow flies. (Check out the video here)

Burke Alder doing a 1080 D Spin at the Utah Olympic Park

Excellence = Extra Effort

This is a picture of my last jump of the day at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City, UT late this fall. In life it is the extra effort that has made the biggest difference. Whether skiing at the US National Championships, practicing on the ramps at the Utah Olympic Park, presenting to Fortune executives, team building with my marketing team, or just hanging out with my loved ones - excellence is found with extra effort!

T. Alan Armstrong said, "Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months, and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character."