Iconic American brands, including AT&T and Intel, have changed their logos in the past week in risky facelifts that marketing pros said could backfire if not properly managed.
These brands had gone for years – and sometimes decades – without any image tinkering, and are among the few that consumers readily call to mind.
“They are part of our collective visual memory,” said Brian Collins of Brand Integration Group, the design arm of ad agency Ogilvy & Mather. “It’s like losing a building that you used to pass every day or a park that was plowed under and replaced by a parking lot.”
Too often, companies jettison their logos or taglines in hopes that it will lead to change – or at least persuade consumers that something’s afoot – when it’s just window dressing.
“It’s like putting on makeup,” said brand consultant Laura Ries. “It might make yourself feel better. It certainly freshens things up, but it doesn’t change the underlying company.”
In AT&T’s case, the company’s new owner, SBC Communications, wanted to keep the old moniker but needed to signal to consumers that this wasn’t your mother’s Ma Bell.
To get the message out, AT&T kicked off an ad blitz on New Year’s Day, along with the new logo which is a three-dimensional version of its old globe symbol by revered designer Saul Bass.
A new tagline, “Your world, delivered,” also replaced the famous “Reach out and touch someone.”
Chipmaker Intel felt the need to change its logo, after 37 years, to show that it had moved beyond personal computers – dropping the well-known “Intel Inside” symbol for the more futuristic “Intel. Leap Ahead.”
CBS unveiled a new logo yesterday as well, after it was split from parent Viacom as a separately traded company that includes the flagship TV network, as well as radio stations and outdoor advertising. The new logo incorporates the network’s “eye” symbol, designed in 1951 by William Golden, then creative director of CBS’s advertising and sales department, and references the full “CBS Corporation” name.