A recent TIME article discussed the move by companies to a "kinder, gentler logo." In particular, the article discusses Starbucks' removal of the words "Starbucks Coffee" from its logo, which according to Vikas Mittal, a Rice University professor who studies logo redesigns and brand commitment, "will have an added benefit as Starbucks begins to expand in Asia."[1] According to the article, a recently published paper posits that rounded logos are more appealing in countries like India and China which have "cultures that tend to be more interdependent and collectivist."
The removal of words from these logos will lessen or eliminate issues of unfavorable connotation when translated to a foreign language. For example, the word "Pik" in Danish is a common word for male genitals. "Water" is translated to "vand" in Danish. So, "Vandpik" in Danish is a term to describe a morning erection. As such, Waterpik had to come up with a different name for its products in Denmark. Another example is the Ford Pinto. "Pinto" in Brazilian Portuguese is slang for male genitals. No wonder Brazilian men did not want to buy or be seen driving a Ford Pinto!
In the TIME article, there are several examples of the evolution of a company's logos. While it is important for a company to keep evolving and to rethink its branding designs, such changes should be considered carefully. In the case of Gap, Inc., the company changed its logo and many consumers voiced displeasure with the new logo (akin to the outcry when Coca-Cola came out with "New Coke"). In response, Gap, Inc. reverted to its old logo to appease its consumers.
The trademarks highlighted by the TIME article all show a modernization and simplification of the logos. This makes sense in this day and age of Facebook and Twitter. As a consumer's attention span decreases, it becomes more and more important for a trademark owner to make sure that their trademark is recognizable easily and quickly.
Fifty years ago, televisions were in approximately 10% of the homes of the United States. Now, we have a television in every room. Fifty years ago, television and radio ads were 60 seconds in length. In the 1960's and 1970's, companies began to create branded content. For example, there was "Kraft's Television Theater," "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom," and "Colgate's Comedy Hour." These shows were essentially a whole hour of advertisements for the sponsoring company who had a fairly captive audience. These shows increased viewership which, in turn, put additional demands on content. As the viewership grew, there was an increase in the amounts of companies paid to advertise. From there, we have those wonderful, late night infomercials.
From those beginnings, came technological advances like TiVo®, the internet, Facebook®, and now Twitter®. These technological advances created competition for the consumers' attention which meant that the advertisers had less and less time to get their ads to message to the consumers. As a result, the ads began to decrease from 60 seconds, to 30 seconds, to 5 seconds.
The name of the game is no longer content, but how many times the advertiser can get its brand in front of a consumer. This means that the brand takes on more importance for a company. Gone are the days that an advertiser can simply provide the consumer a "message." That takes too long, consumers no longer have the attention span to listen to such a message--or, they simply change channels, fast forward, or otherwise skip the "message."
Psycologist Jon Kabat-Zinn, notes in his book Coming to Our Senses, that we suffer from a "consistent and constant state of partial attention." We've all experienced this state. When you are at the store and are compulsively checking your Smartphone. Or, you are at your kid's game and you are talking on the cell phone. Query whether you are really at your kid's game in that scenario.
As such, a company must carefully design its trademark, logo, or brand with an understanding of the overwhelming competition from others in today's social media. In addition, a company must design its trademark, logo, or brand with an eye towards international expansion. The simplification of a company's logo will help in both of these areas.
[1] Josh Sanburn, "Circles and Swooshes What's behind the trend toward kinder, gentler logos?," TIME Magazine, March 14, 2011, at Page 62-63.
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