World Athletics Championships Oregon22

Industries
Athletics & Events

The Challenge

Every two years, the World Athletics Championships brings together the planet’s greatest athletes to showcase their personal best and chase immortality. Previously held in such world cities as London, Tokyo, Rome, Athens and Beijing, the 2022 edition was hosted for the first time on U.S. soil in “Track Town USA” – Eugene, Oregon – on the hallowed grounds of a spectacularly reimagined Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus.

The local organizing committee, Oregon22, LLC, challenged AHM to efficiently and effectively develop a comprehensive brand strategy that would welcome the world and encourage event attendance while showcasing our state’s unique character and the unmissable excitement in store at the heart and home of American track and field.

Brand collage for Oregon22

The Solution

Working from a big idea of “glory” – of athletics competition, of Oregon, of Hayward Field’s unrivaled history – initial brand development culminated in a concise and memorable position line capable of uniting identity and campaigns across international, domestic and local audiences: “Hello, world. Meet Oregon.”

With positioning and messaging established, work shifted to designing a visual representation of place that provided a clear and cohesive connection to the existing World Athletics Championships brand. Once a wordmark and color palette were settled, attention turned to creating a unique visual language that would bring the brand to life across touchpoints of all shapes and sizes. Taking inspiration from Oregon’s diverse geography, AHM created a visual tapestry that celebrates our home state and the exhilaration of what it means to “Feel the Glory,” the event’s chosen brand theme. 

With a dizzying array of audience touchpoints both at the Championships and throughout the state, attention to detail and organization were critical. Working from a masterplan consisting of hundreds of individual items, AHM delivered a strategic, comprehensive “brandscape” worthy of the world’s attention.

Deliverables

Primary brand development
Secondary brand development
Visual strategy
Environmental graphic design including brand deployment and wayfinding
Digital ticketing strategies
Revolutionary gold, silver and bronze event medals
Statewide roadshow

    AHM Impact

    • 10 days of events
    • 40 countries’ fans represented
    • 50 states’ fans represented
    • 77 Oregon cities supported Oregon22 marketing program
    • 1,583 volunteers
    • 1,700 athletes
    • 3,486 workforce uniform kits
    • 8,000 World Wide Welcome Youth Relay participants
    • 34,000 WCH Oregon22 app downloads
    • 150,000 tickets sold
    • 13.7 million TV viewers
    Oregon22 was the most-attended track and field event in the history of Oregon and enjoyed over a billion total global viewers.
    With traditional and digital messaging from Interstate 5 to Europe, AHM generated millions (and millions) of impressions for this once-in-a-lifetime event.
    Oregon’s governor, World Athletics senior executives, key statewide stakeholders and international partners all praised AHM’s deliverables strategically, aesthetically and measurably exceeding all expectations.