Rio’s Brand Is Its Own Competition
Some of the biggest questions leading up to the Summer Olympics haven’t been about how well the athletes will perform in Rio. They have been about Rio itself.
Rio is bipolar. On one side, there are the romantic images of the annual Carnival and the Samba Parade, the Brazilian music and endless procession of smiling dancers in dazzling costumes of bright colors, jewels and huge feather headdresses. The other side, played out in increasingly numerous articles and televised reports over the past few months by the news media, is frightening and repulsive. Traffic jams. Pollution. Filth. Viral water and garbage-laden venues. Slums. Neighborhoods destroyed and residents displaced to make room for huge Olympic facilities. Robberies. Kidnappings. Murders.
Fingers are pointing at the International Olympic Committee, and the IOC brand is taking quite a beating. The committee, in turn, is blaming Rio and its Brazilian organizers. The IOC Executive Board has held public meetings and press conferences trying to answer questions that the 100 IOC members probably wish had never been asked.
And what are the six million residents of Rio doing? Shrugging 12 million collective shoulders. American news media tour the city and have no trouble capturing disgusting images dangerous conditions that Rio has done little to hide. Why is the world surprised, Rio asks? Our city didn’t get this way overnight. These conditions were here before the Olympics and will be here long after the world heads back home. Take the good with the bad, Rio says. The statue of Christ the Redeemer has no problem looking down and seeing both. Why should you?
Whether it belongs to a product, a city or an international organization, a brand can create images and perceptions – and it can fall victim to them. The difference takes considerable effort and ingenuity. Rio could have done more to clean up its act, literally, but it seemingly saw no reason. The IOC, Rio says, should have known what it was getting into. Meanwhile, instead of acknowledging its faults, IOC leadership is repeating the message that we knew Rio had issues, but we were assured they would be addressed.
What happens in the next 16 days will be crucial to two major brands: Rio de Janeiro and the IOC. Rio could have gone beyond fishing garbage out of its polluted waterways and done something to bring the fish back to those waters by investing in sewage treatment facilities. Rio could have opened its eyes to the rampant crime and corruption and taken steps to eliminate it permanently. Either would have done more than benefit the 10,000 visiting Olympic athletes. It would have been a lasting benefit for the people of Rio – and the city’s image.
The Olympic medals the athletes take home are sure to shine brightly. But Rio’s brand, and that of the IOC, have already been tarnished.