Canadian Olympic Mittens: Branding Genius

Wave those Maple Leaves Canada, and High-Five those Wonderful Mittens

I've been  enjoying watching the Sochi Olympic Games, and I am so excited that Canada is doing so well. Canadian national pride runs deep at the Winter Games, as these sports are just our 'cup of tea', and it's also a time to stir up the USA-Canada rivalry, and enjoy these events that we often find Canada excelling at, over the Americans who seem to get stronger and stronger at the summer Olympics and world sport in general.

One thing that's stood out for me as a spectator is how difficult it can be to identify athletes from the different countries. Now I full appreciate some of the more colourful and whimsical outfits like those from Germany and Russia in particular.  These are bright and bold and easily identified.

In general, yes,  the athletes wear their country's colours, but some countries wear the same colours.  And it's often not until they are turned to the side that you can identify the athlete by an arm patch or side of the helmet emblem. Some of the countries go for overall whites with their colours as an accent only making distinguishing marks harder to identify.

What's been wonderful about most of the Canadian athletes is that they are wearing the Hudson's Bay Olympic mittens or gloves and when they wave, as they most often do as soon as they are done competing or on the podiums or with the press, we get to identify them as 'Canadian' by the wonderful maple leaf on the underside.

Every time I see this, my pride-meter goes way up!  So wave those maple leaves Canada, and high-five those wonderful mittens  and we continue to cheer on our talented athletes.

You can own your own pair of Olympic Mittens:

“The Hudson’s Bay Company is proud to once again support Canada’s athletes with our fourth generation Olympic Mittens,” says Alison Coville, SVP Private Brand Design and Development. “The Mittens program is a way for Canadians to extend their national pride and ignite the Olympic spirit.  Proceeds from every mitten sold goes to support our Athletes in Sochi.”

Every purchase of the new special edition Canadian Olympic Mittens, the Hudson’s Bay Company makes a financial contribution to the Canadian Olympic Foundation to help Canadian athletes reach the podium through development, coaching and equipment. The new Canadian Olympic Mittens are available at The Bay and www.thebay.com.