Editor’s note: This is John Reinan’s weekly marketing column for MinnPost.com. To see the original, go to http://bit.ly/acMqQu.  

By now, you’d have to be living in a cave to not know about Lindsey Vonn. The golden girl of the Winter Olympics, a Minnesota native, got the big pre-Games buildup and delivered a gold medal in the downhill, Alpine skiing’s signature event. 

Good for her. Yet Vonn didn’t need a gold medal to validate her career. She was already a two-time World Cup overall champion– meaning she finished as the world’s best skier over a long, grueling season. 

But to the average American, athletes in Olympic sports are invisible unless they win a medal, preferably a gold. After years of success at the highest level of sport, an athlete’s post-Olympic marketing potential– and millions of dollars in lifetime income– can be determined by the smallest margin of victory or defeat on a single day. 

Do you remember Dorothy Hamill? If you’re a Baby Boomer, of course you do. She was a world champion figure skater and won Olympic gold in 1976. Hamill’s bobbed hairstyle was widely copied and she still commands upwards of $25,000 for speaking engagements– more than 30 years after her Olympic win. 

Linda who?

But do you remember Linda Fratianne? A contemporary of Hamill’s, she had arguably a better career, winning the world figure skating championship twice to Hamill’s once. But at her only Olympics, 1980 in Lake Placid, she finished second. Nobody’s paying Linda Fratianne $25,000 to speak at their annual convention. 

Or Rosalynn Sumners, world figure skating champion in 1983 and Olympic silver medalist in 1984. Or Minnetonka native Jill Trenary, world champion in 1990 but fourth-place finisher– out of the medals– at the 1988 Olympics. 

The same dynamic is at work in the Summer Games. How many of you have heard of Allyson Felix? She’s one of the greatest sprinters in history, winning the 200 meter dash at the track and field world championships in 2005, 2007 and 2009. No other woman has won the event three times. 

But she couldn’t duplicate the feat at the Olympics, taking silver in the 200 meters in 2004 and 2008 (although she did win gold as part of a relay team). 

Yet people still remember “Flo-Jo:” Florence Griffith-Joyner, who never won a gold medal at the world championships but blew away the sprinting field in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. 

It helps that Flo-Jo was a flamboyant, memorable personality who competed in self-designed uniforms and extravagantly decorated fingernails. Look at the unassuming American skier Phil Mahre, who won three overall World Cup titles as well as Olympic gold, but isn’t much remembered outside of his sport. 

Meanwhile, the Italian Alberto Tomba– aka “La Bomba”– had similar success on the slopes, but parlayed his larger-than-life persona into millions of dollars in endorsements. 

The same athletes compete against each other in the same events every year, but somehow the competition only matters to America every fourth year. It’s as if the Twins were considered failures because their World Series titles came in 1987 and 1991 instead of 1988 and 1992. 

The marketing lesson of the Olympics is: gold leads to gold.

Olympic host cities face a difficult design challenge: they must capture the essence of their nation’s people, place and history, while simultaneously expressing openness and invitation to the entire world.  They must offer a few core elements of their culture and country without running the risk of possibly offending anyone.

The organizers of this Olympiad must try to please innumerable constituencies within Canada and around the world. This is design by committee on the world’s biggest stage.  The Vancouver organizers gave a nod to their native Arctic population in their logo.  While you can learn a interesting story about the Inukshuk, most people will only see a multicolored person–one with a less-than-Olympic physique.

Designers do best when they work with clear constraints and goals.  When they are forced to accomplish everything and please everyone, they default to vague shapes, multiple colors, and make no real statement. You get swooshes, stickmen and butterflies. The results are entirely forgettable.

This always  happens during the bidding process, as countries work overtime to please their backers at home and appeal to the highly political IOC selection committee.

Before we give up on this design challenge, let’s remember that new beginnings are part of the Olympic ideal. Sochi 2014 has a url in its logo, and I like what the London Organizers are doing for 2012.  After the grandeur and formality of the games in Beijing,  London is calling for a return to raw sporting fun in 2012.

The logo took a lot of heat when it was released in 2007, but I applaud the designers for taking a chance.  The logo skips the pointless graphic element, sticks to two colors, and might even be in style by 2012.  Cheers to the London organizing team and designers at Wollf Olins for taking a chance.  What’s the risk?  Everyone already likes the logo that they remember.

So, what does this do to the Olympic superstar’s image and endorsements?  There have been differing opinions, including an article in the L.A. Times quoting Assoc. Professor Larry DeGaris, a sports marketing expert from the University of Indianapolis, who outlines an argument that this incident might help his image by showing him as a human being with flaws rather than a medal-winning robot. 

“He’s been tagged as an uber-nerd, so this might give him an edge to keep in the public eye,” DeGaris says. “Other than the eight gold medals, he’s a lot like many other young American men. And he’s humble enough to apologize when he makes a mistake, which might make him more trustworthy in the eyes of the public and, hence, a more effective product endorser.”

I respectfully disagree.   I guarantee that photo will cost Phelps a lot of money – both now and in the future.

The problem with this mistake and subsequent apology is that we’ve seen it before.  Phelps was arrested for DUI shortly after the Athens Games in 2004 and we heard him talk about the lessons he learned from it.  Well, did he?

This is not about debating how big of a deal marijuana is or where it falls in relation to other athlete transgressions.  It is about Phelps failing his sponsors for a second time and giving pause to others who might consider working with him in the years to come.

I’ve collaborated with clients on a number of celebrity endorsements.  I know the level of effort spent on background checks and character assessment.  In addition, a morals clause is routinely added to every contract – which allows the company to back out (and sometimes seek damages) if the endorser’s actions have the potential to portray the company in a negative light.

A few sponsors, including Speedo and Omega, have said they plan to stick by Phelps, but many others have not yet commented.  There are some difficult discussions going on around conference rooms and I expect Phelps will lose some support. And if one high-profile sponsor goes, others are sure to follow.  Ultimately, it depends on who your target consumer is and what your brand stands for, but if I’m a sponsor like Kellogg’s marketing to moms and families, it would be hard to justify putting his face on your cereal box or using him in a campaign right now. 

There is no doubt Phelps can recover from this – particularly with actions over time, not words.  However, as a current or potential sponsor, you’ll have to think long and hard about whether you can afford to be around for strike three.

I didn’t really care about the U.S. men’s basketball team (I see NBA stars excel against overmatched competition whenever they’re in town to play the Timberwolves), but I found myself riveted to the sports we only pay attention to every four years.  I was analyzing swimming, hanging on every point during volleyball matches and exulting like Bela Karolyi when U.S. gymnasts stuck their landings.

(AP Photos)

But now that the Olympic flame has been extinguished, so has the interest of millions of Americans.  Many won’t watch another second of diving or track & field until the world’s best athletes arrive in London in 2012.  So what does this mean for sports marketers looking to attach their brands to the hottest stars coming out of the 2008 Games?  And, who are the most marketable athletes to help engage U.S. consumers?

Because people won’t be paying close attention to upcoming events, marketers will need to strike quickly – building campaigns around the personalities and achievements of the athletes while the Beijing Olympics are still fresh in the minds of consumers.  It’s amazing how quickly the memories fade in most cases.  

My Top Five Most Marketable Olympians (not including those who regularly compete in professional leagues):

o Michael Phelps (eight gold medals) – No stunner here, Phelps is by far the most compelling story of these Olympics.  In fact, his performance should make him marketable for the next 30 years.  I was only a few months old when Mark Spitz won seven golds in 1972, but I have always known about his achievements and consider him one of the greatest Olympians of all time.  Phelps will be that person for a new generation. 

o Usain Bolt (three gold medals) – People are mesmerized by his speed and the ease with which he broke world records.  Plus, he has a cool name and a bit of a cocky attitude.  It’s easy to build a campaign around the fastest human on the planet, but it also comes with a risk.  We’re always one race away from seeing a new record holder and the sport is filled with constant speculation about performance-enhancing drugs.

o Shawn Johnson (four medals, one gold) – There’s just something about the 4’9″ Johnson and her permanent smile that makes you want to cheer for her – even more than teammate Nastia Liukin.  At 16, she’s likely to be one of the favorites when the London Olympics roll around in four years, which should add to her long-term appeal.

o Nastia Liukin (five medals, one gold) – Liukin won gold in the all-around, the most important competition in gymnastics. She’s graceful, well spoken and perfectly marketable – but I rank her just below Johnson because there are doubts about whether she will compete four years from now in London.  If her career winds down, so will her marketability.

o Dara Torres (two silver medals) – She didn’t win gold in Beijing and she may never compete again, but the 41-year-old swimmer has a tremendous amount of appeal to the right target audience, namely Baby Boomer women.  She showed tremendous sportsmanship and proved that a fortysomething mom could compete against the best athletes in the world.

Honorable Mention

o Brian Clay (one gold medal) – He didn’t get nearly as much publicity for winning the decathlon as I would have thought, but a savvy marketer could create an effective campaign around the “world’s greatest athlete.”  And he’ll come at a much cheaper price than some of the names listed above.

Lopez was a dream to work with – his response to requests from our team was “no problem” and his answers to questions from media tactfully weaved in our client’s key messages (in English and Spanish). 

You may not have heard of Lopez before reading this, but I suspect you will as we get closer to this summer’s Olympics.  He’s already got two gold medals under his (black) belt from the 2000 and 2004 Games and he’s set to make history in Beijing – joining his brother Mark and sister Diana as the first trio of siblings in more than 100 years to compete for the U.S. in the same Olympics.  Oh, and his older brother Jean is the team’s coach. 

Sure, taekwondo is not typically “must see TV” for NBC’s primetime Olympic broadcast, but the Lopez family’s story might be too good to pass up.  It certainly wouldn’t be the first time an Olympian turned success in a niche sport into a burst of stardom.  Remember short-track speed skater Apolo Ohno?  How about Greco-Roman Wrestler Rulon Gardner?  All you need is a great story and a great smile – and Lopez has both (I can say this with confidence since he has appeared on People’s 50 Most Beautiful People list).

Bottom line: Keep an eye on Lopez over the next few months – he’s someone to root for as a fan and a candidate to effectively deliver your brand message if you’re a marketer.