The Olympics are an enormous undertaking. The different venues, throngs of athletes, and ticket sales are a few aspects that make it extremely challenging to pull together. Though I haven’t worked at an Olympics I have been fortunate to work on some large international events. Early in my engagement at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics I attended our Integrated Planning Team meeting. This brought together all 17 of our divisions to discuss what each division was doing to plan and execute the World’s. Approximately 55 people were at this meeting underscoring to me the level of complexity in pulling off this major track and field championship.

Having attended the recent Vancouver Olympics this level of complexity was brought up to me again just walking around town. Whether it was the numerous 2010 marked vehicles driving around or the multiple banners flying all over the city it’s difficult to comprehend how much detail goes into making an event of this size a success. I bring this up because it underscored how crucial those details are and how, from a marketing perspective, they can make or break an activity.

There are two examples that stood out for me in Vancouver. At the gold medal hockey game (yes, I was one of the very fortunate ones who was there live and in person) the atmosphere was amazing. A loud ocean of red spread inside and out of Canada Hockey Place but it was two little things that truly enhanced my experience.

• First was a simple countdown with five minutes prior to faceoff that led into a great, high energy video showing athletic accomplishments from all winter games sports.
• This was immediately followed by the Black Eyed Peas song “I’ve Got a Feeling”. Now whether you like or dislike the song, it was a perfect choice to keep the crowd on its feet, clapping in unison anticipating the arrival of Team Canada.

The second example was the other ocean that spread around Vancouver. This was one of blue clad volunteers who were located literally everywhere. If you were going to an event, they were directing you with megaphones. If you were on the Sky Train, they were there greeting you coming out of the station. If you were simply standing on the corner of Granville and Georgia they were there saying hi. The key though isn’t that they were there it’s that they were very helpful. In my time, it’s often difficult with a large pool of volunteers to ensure they’re fully trained but this group was amazing. Each volunteer was part information provider, ambassador and crowd motivator. The attention to detail to have these people not only blanketing the city but also fully trained was fantastic because it made the experience as a visitor much easier.

The events are what capture the attention at an Olympic Games but it’s the high attention to detail amidst the planning chaos that makes the difference. Those seemingly little things cap the experience and make it memorable. It could make it easier or more fun but it does something to enhance it. This is one detail good marketers know already.