Davis ThinkingIt appears Gap is rolling out a new logo and critics aren't being too kind about the shift. The new logo has replaced the retailer's iconic blue box, which had "Gap" emblazoned across it in capital letters, on the brand's home page. Now, a gradiated blue box is perched at the top right side of the "p" in Gap. The original logo can still be found on the retailer's Facebook and Twitter page, however. The logo is pervasive in American culture, appearing on some 1,200 stores in North America. Gap also operates nearly 300 stores in Europe and Asia. Gap is the 84th most-valuable brand in the world, according to Interbrand's 2010 study. The group values the brand at nearly $4 billion.
The FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour winds its way through South Africa on its way to the tournament's opening match in three weeks, and marketers have begun ramping up their own World Cup promotions. From soda to athletic gear to high fashion, the World Cup is providing fodder for merchandise design, proving that sports is the world's language -- as long as you're talking commerce. Even the soccer clueless, who can’t distinguish between Ronaldo and Drogba, will be able to get a hit of that African rhythm, as close as the mall or the grocery store. In the next few days, we'll take a look at how a few companies have tackled World Cup design bonanza. Coca Cola, the official beverage sponsor of the games, began its massive roll-out of a world wide campaign months ago. With a visual identity created by Attkik, the UK-based design firm, the company's signage will be distinctive and ubiquitous.
A brand identity, name, and logo is a company's public face. So you'd think companies would be really careful in figuring out how to revamp that image. Sadly, a good number of recent rebranding attempts seemed to just crash and burn. We spoke with award-winning branding agency Method, Inc. and branding guru Rob Frankel about the worst rebranding disasters they've seen in the past few years.
There is no Sunday like Super Bowl Sunday: The friends, the beer, the chips, the bets, the ads… and, oh yeah, the game. And just in case you were confused by this year’s Pro Bowl being played before the Super Bowl, heed the news, the Super Bowl is this Sunday in Miami, Florida with the New Orleans Saints playing the Indianapolis Colts. But aside from mentioning the obvious, let us turn our attention to the Super Logo, designed this season by Attik.
Founded 90 years ago, with a modest hotel in Cisco, Texas, Hilton Hotels now encompass 3,300 properties in 77 countries through ten different brands, including Waldorf Astoria, Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, and Hampton Inn & Suites, among others. This amalgam of hospitality powerhouses was most recently known as The Hilton Family but as of yesterday, it will be going by the more corporate Hilton Worldwide. The name, and identity change designed by Landor, coincide with the move of their headquarters from glitzy Beverly Hills to, um, non-glitzy McLean, Virginia.
Volkswagen-owned car marque Audi is changing its logo for the first time since 1990, to reflect a more 'pure and clear' identity and to emphasis the brand's focus on design.
Copenhagen’s clever new campaign has a huge range. Open Copenhagen is designed to transcend and reinforce promotional efforts for tourism, business, events, investments, and more. Previously, each rogue group boosted their similar programs independently without any coordinated brand to tie it all together. OPEN COPENHAGEN arrives at a time when the city’s northern european neighbor cities have launched similarly rhetorical proposals to would-be visitors — I AMSTERDAM deploys a similar wordplay.
Blackwater Worldwide, the world’s largest private security company, made the wrong kind of headlines in 2007 when Blackwater contractors allegedly shot and killed 17 Iraqis in a crowded square in Baghdad. This resulted in protests, congressional inquiries and the Iraqi government refusing to allow the organization to operate there. As a result, Blackwater is changing its name to Xe (pronounced ZEE).
As the economy gets uglier, logos are getting prettier. The stolid, angular look of visual trademarks like IBM’s and Bank of America are being supplanted by ones that sport softer, more approachable fonts; multiple colors and natural, child-like symbols.
One of the hardest challenges is reinvigorating a brand and visual identity without changing the logo, it's as if you were trying to do a fashion makeover with a pair of jeans that have been in the closet for years. To continue the lame jeans analogy: A good pair of jeans goes well with everything, so MoMA's simple, iconic logo is prime material for building around it.
Copyright © 2009 Davis Brand Capital. All Rights Reserved.