Logos, rebranding, and goof-ups. What do Nokia, Warner Brothers, Starbucks, and Volkswagen have in common?

Logos, rebranding, and goof-ups.

What do Nokia, Warner Brothers, Starbucks, and Volkswagen have in common?

They all changed their logos recently to align with the “company’s new strategy for world domination”(just kidding, obviously).

Take Nokia for example. It went from the familiar logo that each one of us recognize and loves to this bland weird looking thing that makes me think twice about even wanting to buy a device which sports that logo.

Another popular logo change episode that grabbed headlines last year was Amazon. They had rolled out their new logo on all platforms, only to roll them back immediately due to the backlash they received after the folks at Twitter pointed out that the new logo looked similar to the Führer himself.

One not-so-popular, but effective logo change would be that of UST, a company I was closely associated with. As a part of a major rebranding strategy, UST transformed from a typographical logo to a monochromatic 3 letter logo with a few design elements. The change was perceived as a step in the right direction and received a lot of accolades from industry experts for the same.

So why do brands go through the pain of changing their logos every once in a while? More importantly, why are companies preferring a bland simple logo instead of unique sophisticated ones?

There are many things that come to mind when we think of a company, such as its products and services, its logo, and its user experience. But, the company logo is typically what will strike your mind first. Take soft drinks for example. You might be hesitant to try Thumbs Up at first, but once you see the Coca-Cola logo on the packaging and realize this is a product made by your favorite cola company, you’ll be tempted to at least give it a try. That’s the power of logos, it can sway your decisions.

Logos are important. It depicts how the brand wishes to identify itself. A good logo arouses interest, sets a company apart from its competitors, ensures customer value through brand recognition and also can communicate what the company is all about.

From websites to packaging to work uniforms and even on billboards, logos are everywhere. So the more unique a logo is, the more it can set itself apart from competition. So the more you can convey about your brand through your logo, the better chance you stand at customer acquisition.

And this holds true. Companies with descriptive logos tend to have more sales than non-descriptive logos. It makes the brand look authentic, leading to a positive perception which leads to more sales.

So why are the companies we love on a spree to change their logos from something complex and unique to something bland and simple? Why are multi-color logos getting replaced with two-toned or monochromatic ones? Why are logos losing their depth and detail?

The reasons are threefold.

Firstly, it’s the need to evolve and adapt to stay with the modern environment while also conveying what the company represents. Companies grow from startups to industry leaders, and they’re maturing along the process. The logo should reflect that change too.

Take Google for example. This logo would be completely reasonable and best suited to describe what they were 20 years ago - a startup running on a garage by students who had an idea and were highly motivated towards turning it into reality. That’s all Google was then, and that’s exactly what this logo conveys as well. Once it became the search giant it is now, introduced a suite of products which are the best in their segments, and went public, it changed it’s logo to represent what it has become now.

Cartoonish logos wouldn’t do justice to a public company. A search behemoth needs a corporate-looking logo.

So the notion of people identifying a descriptive logo to be authentic works only for smaller emerging companies trying to establish themselves, and grab attention as well as market share. Once you reach a threshold and become well established, it’s all about simplifying for better customer identification, called Customer Recall. The better known a brand is, the weaker these effects become. Minimalism is modernity. Companies want to showcase themselves as modern, hence they’re jumping on the trend of minimalism.

The second attribute?is the mobile-first design approach. Logos need to be scalable and recognizable. More importantly, if they need to grab the world’s attention, they’ll need to fit well as a small icon inside a 6-inch mobile phone because goodbye billboards - this is where everyone’s looking nowadays. This marked the rebirth of 2D design. This can be best explained through the new Instagram logo.

Instagram’s initial logo was of a 3D skeuomorphic design. In 2016 in a major design overhaul they completely changed the logo to a 2D one, which didn’t go down well with the users at first. The rebranding was a part of its efforts to convey that they’re more than just a photo sharing app now. And also a simpler logo meant simpler brand identity, and easier identification in mobile screens.

Simplicity could also unlock flexibility. Take the Warner Brothers logo for example.

The old logo was theatrical and sophisticated, while the new one is more plain and simple. But if you had watched any of the newly released WB movies, the logo depicted in each film has different colours. Each logo is now coloured according to the type or genre of the movie. The logo change enabled WB to mix and match colours, unlocking a world of possibility.

Simplicity enables flexibility. What does sophistication enable?

The third attribute?could be a change in the company’s vision. They want to reposition themselves within their current market, they want to broaden their appeal, or they may be looking to expand into a new space.The best example for this is Facebook.

Facebook, as we all knew it, was a company offering social media services. In 2022 they announced their entry into the metaverse with a complete rebrand of the company. Facebook is now Meta, and they present themselves as a technology company sporting a blue infinity logo and having a unique vision, to build the metaverse - A virtual world in which consumers spend increasing parts of their lives, based on AI and virtual reality (VR) technology.

Meta expects to have a user base of 1 billion in the next decade. They are no longer just a social media company. They’re part of something bigger, this is an important new phase for the company and the digital world, and a new logo is essential to take the same message to its loyal users and the general public.

The problems with rebranding.

One of the most negative feedback a new simplified logo receives is the loss of character and excitement. Take the Firefox logo for example.

The company changed their logo 3 times in 8 years and faced backlash each time they did it. Users complained about the missing ‘fox’ in the new logo while also mentioning the logo has lost its identity. According to Mozilla, its logo change was to reflect the software company’s aspirations to offer more products and services, rather than just a browser alone. But the decision to go with a simpler logo wasn’t received well by its users.

So the key question is: How bland are you willing to become, while still maintaining your uniqueness? How much are you willing to blend in while still standing out?

What logo change did you like and which ones did you hate? Tell me in the comments below.

I hope you found this post honest, actionable, and insightful. If you’d like to support me as a writer, Buy Me a Coffee.

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