Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Comcast Adopts NBC Peacock Logo

In 2011, Comcast purchased 51% of NBC Universal.  Now, it appears as if Comcast decided to use the NBC Peacock logo as part of its logo.  Comcast's prior logo and the NBC Peacock looked like this:



comcast NBC 


Now, Comcast's logo looks like this:

comcast nbc 

 So far, I have not seen the outrage for the new logo that occurred with University of California's attempt to update its logo.  My guess is that the lack of outrage has to do with the use of a logo without changing it--although the NBC peacock used with Comcast will take some getting used to I am sure.   

Saturday, December 22, 2012

UC Logo Flushed, Apple Embroiled in More Trademark Disputes in South America

Well, the year is coming to an end and this seems like the perfect time to reflect and review the year.  Here are some updates to some of my prior blog posts:

The hideous new UC Logo is no now no longer.  The University of California decided to revert to the traditional book and light seal and avoid any more uproar over the new logo.

Now that Apple purchased its iPad trademark from a Chinese company, it appears as if there is trouble brewing for Apple in Brazil.  A Brazilian electronics maker, IGB Eletronica SA, appears to have used the trademark "IPHONE" since 2000--six years before Apple tried to register the same name in Brazil.  IGB Eletronica SA used the trademark on a smartphone running the Google Android OS named "IPHONE Neo One."  As best I can tell, no lawsuit is pending at the present. 

Apple has found itself embroiled in another battle over the mark "IFONE" in Mexico, as well.  A Mexican telecommunications equipment company registered the trademark "IFONE" in 2003 and Apple sued to invalidate that mark in 2009.  The Mexican company responded to Apple's lawsuit by countersuing and seeking a portion of Apple's profits in damages. Thus far, two lower courts in Mexico ruled against Apple, but Mexico's Supreme Court will hear Apple's appeal.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Uproar Over the New University of California Logo

I have written several articles about the pitfalls of changing one's logo and the power of the consumers to hate it so  much that the company changes it back.    Well, not to be left out, the venerable University of California has decided to update its logo, make it sleeker, more modern, more marketable:














Of course, alumni, students, and almost everyone else have flooded the social media airwaves to express their hatred for this new look logo.  Many believe that it is not sophisticated enough to represent the University of California system. When viewed next to the "old" logo, it is easy to see the detractors' point:


Those who hate the new logo believe that it is not as prestigious or elegant as the old logo.  As with all new brands, change can be hard, especially when the change is so drastic.  University of California officials explained that the change was due, in part, because the old logo did not reproduce well for internet uses and that the logo caused confusion among the various campus' version of the UC logo. 

While the idea of modernizing a logo is not necessarily a bad idea, care must be taken to be sure to send the right message with your logo.  For a university system that boasts that it "leads the world," it probably would have been better to go with a less drastic change.  Of course, much of this may be much ado about nothing if the new logo begins to grow on people as they get used to it.  Only time will tell if the new logo will suffer the same fate as the Coca-Cola cans or the "new" Gap logo.