With regard to rebranding any company, whether large or small, it can certainly have its obstacles & challenges.
So for this blog we’re delving deep to unearth some rebranding attempts that either haven’t quite hit the mark, or have divided opinions.
Some people oppose change, whilst others look to the future to create something long lasting, out there, futuristic, or just plain different in its thought or concept – provoking debate or a stand alone mark.
It’s kind of like Marmite, highly subjective and you’ll either love it or hate it.
In no particular order, here’s a few examples we felt were worth highlighting:
Price Waterhouse Coopers / PWC
From a design perspective, it’s good to see a global giant push the boundaries. And as far as retaining integrity, well I guess that just goes out of the window on this occasion… abbreviating the name, changing the traditional typeface, and refreshing the symbolic ‘PWC’ mark.
On this one we’re divided in opinion in the studio: some love it, some hate it.
GAP
How could we forget, earlier this year American fashion retailers ‘GAP’ went for a complete rebrand and boy did they get some backlash.
Public opinion was strong enough to make ‘GAP’ reconsider its approach and revert back to their original brand.
Capital One
For a financial brand such as ‘Capital One’, when embarking on a re-brand they didn’t exactly push the boat out on this one.
Adding a swoosh, in 2009? Really? And, even by swoosh standards, it’s a crappy one at that.
Ford
Lastly, this may not ‘politically’ count as an actual rebrand, but this example was created for motoring blue chips, ‘Ford’. For an april fool, the company decided to launch a rebranded logo identity, make it public, sit back and watch the response! All in aid of a joke, this certainly created quite a stir.
Just as public opinions were cast with the ‘GAP’ rebrand, this had similar responses. Posing the question, how can you ever touch a brand such as ‘Ford’, that retains so much integrity and evokes a wealth of history? And it certainly goes to show just how much people can feel affiliated with certain brands, and how vital it is to get it right in the first place.
For further reading, check out the following online articles:
Gap rebranding
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/oct/12/gap-logo-redesign
More recently, AirMiles travel rewards programme rebrands as ‘Avios’… in a good way! We like this rebrand:
http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2011/september/interbrand-renames-airmiles-avios
Well we hope you enjoyed this little read, please feel free to share you views & leave a comment below and head over to our ‘branding’ section to see how we can help your brand flourish.
Until next time, ciao for now!
HGC.