PanAm Games 2015

The 2015 Pan American Games were the first international games successfully won by Ontario since 1930. The Games hosted 6,132 athletes representing 41 nations in the Americas, marking the largest multi-sport event ever hosted in Canada, in terms of athletes competing, eclipsing the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Industry

— Government
— Media & entertainment

Branding to

— Articulate value
— Conquer new markets
— Be better understood

Services

— Marketing collateral design
— Brand identity & visual systems
— Direct marketing

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The Situation

Ontario had not won an international athletic bid since 1930. The GTA was competing against two Latin American bidders, Peru and Colombia who had the advantage of support from Spanish speaking countries who dominated the 46 voting nations.

 

Human catalyst

Athletes want to compete where their achievements will be recognized.

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Our Solution

Yield Branding created a brand strategy that positioned the bid with the line, “Your Moment is Here”, establishing Toronto as a cosmopolitan welcoming venue where athletes could perform at the highest level and be recognized on a world stage.

Yield designed and produced the 270-page Bid Book in four languages, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese taking only five months to deliver to each of the 46 Pan Am Games voting delegates.

Based on the positioning we designed the Bid Book using an extremely nimble and fluid production process to accommodate the constant changes in content and direction. We used a number of key design elements to enhance the quality of the book and maximize the impact with the delegates:

  • A raised gold medal was embossed on the cover of the book connecting Toronto with the success of the athletes.
  • A hard cover shell was selected to protect the contents of the book but also to connote permanence and quality of the bid.
  • The five cover athletes were selected to cover all the possible diversity types participating in the Games.
  • A raised acrylic flag for each delegate country was embedded into the inside front cover of the book.
  • The 19 sections were colour-coded to allow easy tabbing to access individual sports, the village, the candidate city, broadcast capability etc.
  • Each sport had a gatefold to show architectural drawings of the sport’s venue and the calendar for the competition days.
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The Yield

When the book was finally delivered, we knew the product was outstanding. However, independent games consultants unanimously agreed that the design and content of the Toronto 2015 Bid Book was among the best they had ever seen despite a timeframe of only 5 ½ months for completion. In Guadalajara, Toronto 2015 won the bid on the first ballot breaking a streak of disappointment dating back to 1930 for the GTHA! The bid books were delivered on time to all 46 delegate countries and Toronto was successful with their bid and hosted the Pan Am Games in 2015.