Rebranding: start from scratch or just refresh?
Feb 20 2009
Kraft Foods unveiled a new logo this week to the chagrin of a lot of folks in the design world. Oh, and before you start shedding nostalgic tears for the old Kraft logo, it’s important to note that this change applies only at the corporate level; you won’t be buying mac and cheese stamped with this cluttered nonsense anytime soon. But before we judge too harshly, let’s hear what Kraft CMO Mary Beth West had to say about the change (source, BrandWeek):
“In some ways, this really is all about Kraft Foods. It’s about our next step in the evolution of getting ourselves to top-tier performance. Going forward, it defines, unifies and simplifies our employees and gets everyone thinking about one common purpose.”
OK, I get it, the new logo is going to make employees work harder and will unify them more than a decades old American icon, known and loved by millions. Wait — maybe I don’t get it.
The point is that this is a crossroads that every mature company will one day come to: “We need to update our look before it gets completely dated. Do we wipe the slate clean and start from scratch or do we build on the equities we already have?”
Here’s my answer: if the name, philosophy, products/services or values of a company change substantially then, yes — why not start from scratch? In any of these cases, you have little to gain by leveraging people’s attachments to your old ideas. But otherwise, I usually prefer to refresh a look wherever possible and retain some of those “little details” that your customers recognize. Over the past couple of years I’ve been a fan in particular of the way Delta and Toys ‘R’ Us handled their rebranding efforts utilizing great designs that allowed them to make a fresh presence in the market while preserving — and paying homage to — their heritage.
Kraft Foods didn’t need to do this in my opinion, especially if it’s for the reasons West outlined in BrandWeek. I don’t see any real redeeming qualities from a design perspective and I have to imagine that the employees Kraft is trying to unite under this flag are scratching their heads as much as we are.
In fact, consider this: a lot of negative response this week has stemmed from the fear that this cluttered, garbled thing is going to end up on the American cheese package, ursurping a familiar icon. That feeling of loss must be even worse at the corporate level being that not only do those employees know and use the products, but they actually help make, sell and distribute them. If Kraft really felt it was time to update their corporate image I believe they would have been better served by staying closer to their original design.
Published by Erik Wolf under Uncategorized
I generally agree with this post, however I would add a caveat that it is easy for those on the outside to make assumptions about the reasons for this change coming about. This is a company that was once under the umbrella of Altria Group that was once named Philip Morris – the well know tobacco company. I have no insight into how those companies may have been integrated in the past from a corporate perspective. I would only say that there could have been some culture issues that continue to permeate to this day, and Kraft felt there was a strong need to separate and change from its culture of years past. The fact that they are not changing their logo on the box I believe illustrates their understanding that you don’t want to change your your icon that consumers know and love. The white collar employees may ultimately still be shaking their heads about this logo today, but I may be able to appreciate motivations for such a change.
Comment by Jeff Shumas — February 20, 2009 @ 6:52 am
All excellent point Jeff and you’re right — we don’t know what the dialogue at Kraft was around this. It could be that this was meant to address a real issue in the company… But that doesn’t change the fact that the execution of this is poor. The new Kraft logo is busy and cluttered and — who knows for sure except the people involved in the project — but it looks a lot like it was designed by committee. Just my opinion, but if people inside Kraft were confused on what the company was all about, this isn’t clearing anything up
By the way, love your new blog!
Comment by Erik Wolf — February 20, 2009 @ 7:53 am
The biggest thing I’m confused about is: what does a butterfly have to do with Kraft?
Good post, and I definitely agree with your stance on starting anew vs. refreshing.
Comment by Becky — February 20, 2009 @ 9:25 am