Logo Changes: Its Impact On Your Corporate Identity and Branding

The company logo is the epitome of everything that a particular business or brand stands for. So, popular businesses make use of logos that are easily recognizable, memorable, and lets you know what exactly a business is all about in just one glance. However, even the biggest businesses around have to change as time evolves, and so are their respective brands. Although rebranding is heavily frowned upon, these businesses by no means took the chance and made the switch, while some of them took the plunge over and over again.

Here are the best known brands that made drastic changes to their logos all throughout the history:

1. Samsung

From left to right: the Samsung Byeolpyo noodles logo, which was used from late 1938 until replaced in 1958; Samsung Group logo, used from late 1969 until replaced in 1979; Samsung Group logo so-called “three stars”, used from 1980 until replaced in 1992; Samsung Electronics logo, used from late 1980 until replaced in 1992; and finally, Samsung’s current logo which is used since 1993.

2. Mountain Dew

Farther left is the first Mountain Dew logo which was made public in 1950, next is the two-sides of an early bottle with ‘Hillbilly’ design. The next one is the 2008 logo which was used for quite some time by the company. To the right is the latest logo of the company and is currently used by Mountain Dew.

3. MTV

The hit music TV show – MTV, logo to the left is the one used by the show from 1981 up to 2010. By 2010, they made a logo change to this one on the right which is utilized by the same show up to the present.

4. Starbucks

The old starbucks logo bears a wood cut type illustration of a mermaid-looking creature taken off the Greek mythology. From that time on, the logo has undergone several changes. Today, the present logo has a more defined and apt look for a popular cofee shop.

5. KFC

Even KFC has undergone a full makeover. Colonel Sanders is now shown sporting an apron to make it look more amiable and inviting unlike the old logo used from late 1990’s to 2006.

6. Apple

These are the logos that were used by Apple Inc. From 1976 up to the present. This is an evident example that illustrates how important logo is. The last logo to the right is now currently used by the world’s no.1 innovator in gadgets and technology.

7. Canon

The pioneer in camera technology is orginally known as ‘Kwanon.’ Later on, it was changed to ‘Canon’ as both sounded pretty much the same. The final logo was created in 1956 which shows the company’s name in a simple typeface which is used up to the present.

8. Microsoft

Even the popular software company that revolutionized the entire tech world had its fair share of logo changes and updates. They began with a disco-type looking emblem that eventually evolved to a simpler and streamlined one. The last logo at the bottom was given birth to in 1987 which is still adapted by the same company to date.

9. IBM

IBM made drastic changes to their entire company brand and name eversince its inception in 1888. You can see from the logos above the timeline and the changes that were made. Obviously, the current logo is more appropriate and professional-looking.

10. Ford

Above are the logos used by automobile company Ford, from 1927 up to the present (from left to right). They experimented with various shapes from ellipse to circle, until finally they have decided to stick with the final logo (right side), which they dubbed as the ‘centennial blue oval,’ and is widely used up to now.

11. General Electric

General Electric which was founded by Thomas Edison in 1892 has made a series of conservative logo changes from 1892 up to the present. The logos from above are the logos used by G.E. in chronological order from year 1900, 1934, 1969, 1986, 2003 and 2004 (used up as of this writing).

12. Nokia

Finnish mobile phone manufacturer- Nokia, had sported the following logos above, from the year 1865, 1898, 1965, and the last two logos over the years. The logo revolution was evident in this case. Don’t you think?

13. Walmart

Walmart used several logos all througout their business existence, but they have since then maintained a simple logo using basic colors and variation of the brand name ‘Walmart.’ The logo in brown was made in 1981, while the one in royal blue around 1992, and lastly, in 2008, they have made yet another change to the logo on the right which is still used up to now.

14. LG

LG, prior to its now popular brand consists of two other companies that merged together – Goldstar, a radio creating plant, and Lucky, which is a cosmetics brand. The two brands eventually was merged as Lucky Goldstar in 1958, which was later on renamed to LG Electronics. Along with the brand name changes were the significant logo makeovers from Lucky in 1947, to Goldstar in 1958, and lastly, to LG in 1995 up to date.

15. FedEx

This world-renowned cargo forwarding and courier services was added to this list as they too, have made a significant change on their logo from the old ‘Federal Express’ logo used wayback in 1973-1994, to the FedEx modern-looking logo launched in the year 1994 and used up to the present.

16. Shell

Shell, one of the main oil cartels in the world has its own share of logo changes from its beginnings in 1900 up to the present. The logos above are showing the company’s official emblems from 1955, 1961, 1971, 1995, and up to the present (images from left to right).

17. BMW

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG or popularly known as BMW for brevity, undergone several logo modifications from 1923 up to now. Notice from the above image samples, BMW’s popular logo which experienced some makeover to make it appear more streamlined (BMW logo to the right).

18. Nike

Way back in 1971, a well-known designer crafted a logo for Nike (first one to the left) for just $35. Eventually, as the business became profitable, changes to the logo has likewise been implemented. A very few modifications to the old emblem were made which later on yielded to a simple ‘check’ mark, which to the time of this writing remains to be the official logo of the company.

19. Pepsi

Caleb Bradham founded the world’s famous soda brand Pepsi in 1890. From then, Pepsi adopted an official logo in the year 1940. After that several changes have been implemented on the top softdrinks logo design. Major logo redesign occured sometime in 1950, 1962, 1973, 1991, 1998, 2003, and 14 years later, a new Pepsi Cola logo was yet again given birth to(third image to the right).

20. UPS

The Universal Parcel Service, Inc. also known as UPS began using a business logo back in the year 1916 when they were originally known as the American Messenger Company. Several modifications have been seen with UPS together with their rebranding. Finally, they decided on sticking with the shield-looking logo that embodies the kind of service they wanted to project.

21. Target

Target, a famous American retail company made various alterations on their logo since the brand emerged in 1902. Seeing the new logo (image on the right), we can all agree that the new look is much better compared to the old logos (images on the left).

Several businesses neglect to entirely understand that a logo is an emblem of that bond between the brand and its customers. This is the rationale why customers trust buying goods or services from a particular brand because they know exactly what they are getting. This is exactly why the loyal customers, especially the ones who patronizes the brand on a regular basis, are most likely the ones to be most annoyed and disappointed when their favorite brands decide to change their logos.

As rebranding poses a great impact on a particular business, it is essential to undergo with the entire process with great caution and care, having in mind your customer’s sentiments and preferences. Whether or not it’s simple or subtle, or a total makeover of the business and its goals, a change in logo resulting to rebranding can be well worth it if you know exactly how to do it.

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