A few weeks ago, celebrating its upcoming 40th anniversary, Starbucks launched its revised logo—sans name with a refocused and uncluttered spotlight on its iconic “siren”/mermaid. The logo stands out in one color—a bright green—against the pure white of the paper cup and seems to serve as a beacon, “the queen” of all coffees.
Just last week, Target followed suit, confidently removing its name from its iconic bullseye/target logo for good on their website. According to Target, the company has had both logos in circulation—with and without the Target name—using them for different purposes. A spokesperson for the company said though, that they will gradually be stripping the name from the logos entirely.
With brilliant advertising, practically owing the color red, with a direct and simple logo and as THE leader in designer discount merchandising, Target has entered into a category of its own.
Target’s decision to remove its name from the logo’s mark allows them to rely on the brand connection they have established with consumers, boldly entering a new reality where they confidently own a segment of the market. Target has been around since 1962, but in the past decade its red-and-white target-mark has become as instantly recognizable as the “swoosh” or the bitten apple. A national survey showed that an amazing 97% of Americans recognize the Target “bullseye” mark. As Target reassessed how its brand cues were working they likely found that reading the word TARGET in the logo was not necessary and wasted precious recognition time. The company’s name became a redundant element.
In branding and design, redundancy is a fickle tool. You want redundancy when you need it but when you don’t need it, redundancy can really detract from your visual or written message. When used in excess, redundancy can waste the viewer’s time or make them think less of you for beating them over the head with your message.
Color cannot be ignored when discussing branding, as it’s a crucial part to establishing brand recognition. In fact, color increases brand recognition up to 80 percent. Without the strong color association Target and Starbucks had established in their branding, it might have been more difficult to convince decision makers for both companies to lose the name in their logo. A color that suits your brand, and is established as a signature brand cue, helps viewers to have an emotional connection to your brand—creating a stronger bond.
Both Target and Starbucks have solidly established their energetic red or vibrant green to help them differentiate from competitors. Effective use of color has allowed them visual consistency and the ability to create an emotional conversation between product and consumer.
On the other hand, take Nike’s swoosh. The Nike brand is not so tightly bound by a color scheme. Nike’s logo has a number of color manifestations, but its tagline, “Just Do It.,” and its simple logo have worked so well together to establish brand recognition that over time the company name became superfluous. Nike’s branding has become so strong and well integrated into contemporary culture that the Nike logo can stand alone without a name or a set color association.
Every strong brand strives for the day when it can walk assertively into the world, name-free, without loosing anything in the process—breaking new ground. So here’s to Target and Starbucks and the many branding pioneers that navigated them from small, simple ideas, almost 50 years ago—Target, a downtown Minneapolis department store and Starbucks, a small retail space in Seattle’s Pike Place Market— into nationally recognized brands that have become part of our common vocabulary. They have grown and stretched with us, entertained and provided for us and now they boldly take the helm of their corresponding industries, soaring to new heights. —Cheers!
The MGH Modern Marketing Blog
A service of MGH, Inc., the MGH Modern Marketing blog provides readers with an inside look at the in's and out's of word of mouth and social media marketing.
WHAT’S A LOGO WITHOUT A NAME?
by Lexi Miller, Production Artist on Jan 21, 2011 in Advertising trends, Commentary, MGH Random, Marketing trends
A few weeks ago, celebrating its upcoming 40th anniversary, Starbucks launched its revised logo—sans name with a refocused and uncluttered spotlight on its iconic “siren”/mermaid. The logo stands out in one color—a bright green—against the pure white of the paper cup and seems to serve as a beacon, “the queen” of all coffees.
Just last week, Target followed suit, confidently removing its name from its iconic bullseye/target logo for good on their website. According to Target, the company has had both logos in circulation—with and without the Target name—using them for different purposes. A spokesperson for the company said though, that they will gradually be stripping the name from the logos entirely.
With brilliant advertising, practically owing the color red, with a direct and simple logo and as THE leader in designer discount merchandising, Target has entered into a category of its own.
Target’s decision to remove its name from the logo’s mark allows them to rely on the brand connection they have established with consumers, boldly entering a new reality where they confidently own a segment of the market. Target has been around since 1962, but in the past decade its red-and-white target-mark has become as instantly recognizable as the “swoosh” or the bitten apple. A national survey showed that an amazing 97% of Americans recognize the Target “bullseye” mark. As Target reassessed how its brand cues were working they likely found that reading the word TARGET in the logo was not necessary and wasted precious recognition time. The company’s name became a redundant element.
In branding and design, redundancy is a fickle tool. You want redundancy when you need it but when you don’t need it, redundancy can really detract from your visual or written message. When used in excess, redundancy can waste the viewer’s time or make them think less of you for beating them over the head with your message.
Color cannot be ignored when discussing branding, as it’s a crucial part to establishing brand recognition. In fact, color increases brand recognition up to 80 percent. Without the strong color association Target and Starbucks had established in their branding, it might have been more difficult to convince decision makers for both companies to lose the name in their logo. A color that suits your brand, and is established as a signature brand cue, helps viewers to have an emotional connection to your brand—creating a stronger bond.
Both Target and Starbucks have solidly established their energetic red or vibrant green to help them differentiate from competitors. Effective use of color has allowed them visual consistency and the ability to create an emotional conversation between product and consumer.
On the other hand, take Nike’s swoosh. The Nike brand is not so tightly bound by a color scheme. Nike’s logo has a number of color manifestations, but its tagline, “Just Do It.,” and its simple logo have worked so well together to establish brand recognition that over time the company name became superfluous. Nike’s branding has become so strong and well integrated into contemporary culture that the Nike logo can stand alone without a name or a set color association.
Every strong brand strives for the day when it can walk assertively into the world, name-free, without loosing anything in the process—breaking new ground. So here’s to Target and Starbucks and the many branding pioneers that navigated them from small, simple ideas, almost 50 years ago—Target, a downtown Minneapolis department store and Starbucks, a small retail space in Seattle’s Pike Place Market— into nationally recognized brands that have become part of our common vocabulary. They have grown and stretched with us, entertained and provided for us and now they boldly take the helm of their corresponding industries, soaring to new heights. —Cheers!