Grenoble 1968, Albertville 1992, and the Establishment of a Strategy to Protect and Market the Winter Olympic Emblems

Abstract

As president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Juan Antonio Samaranch ushered in many significant changes. Among the more noteworthy developments he oversaw during the 1980s were the opening to professional sportspeople and the marketing of the Olympic games. The latter became a welcome source of income while the cost of media coverage kept increasing. A comparison of two winter Olympics uncovers the marketing approaches that were already in place in the 1960s, traces their development in the 1980s and 1990s, and highlights the resulting legal aspects and the economic consequences for the budget of the games. Archival records from the IOC and the organizing committees of the Grenoble 1968 and Albertville 1992 Olympic Winter Games demonstrate the transformations related to the evolution of the IOC’s marketing strategy to include the Olympic emblems and highlight the innovations initiated by the local organizing committees. Unlike earlier successes in marketing and selling the television rights to the games, efforts to protect and market the Olympic emblems only became effective in the 1980s.