Why Companies Are 'Debranding'

In recent years, some of the world’s biggest companies have discarded depth and detail to “debrand”. But what prompted this landslide of logo debranding? Bloomberg Opinion's Ben Schott breaks down this trending direction of brand identity.

#Business #Logos #Explained

From Burger King and Toyota to Intel and Warner Brothers, major brands are discarding detail and depth. Why now, and what’s the rush?

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[angrymikko]

I’m not against simplicity but the lack of character just seems boring. You can make things simple and still have personality.

[malcolmaaron]

I hate the pringles de-brand, but I respect Burger King's decision of resisting the urge to go all out and delete most of their art but instead to revert to an earlier design of theirs, debuted in 1994.

[eanschaan]

I think the problem isn't simplifying altogether, but simplifying until the branding becomes sterile. After a point, it all begins to look extra soulless, not that many brands generally have souls to begin with.

[ismayb]

The best thing about this video (which these sort of videos often leave out) was what he said at the end. Design will go one way for a while then go the other again. Once everyone has changed to this style, and it's been the "norm" for long enough, some brand leader will switch back in order to stand out and everyone else will slowly copy and it will go back the other way. And so on, and so on.... So to all the people complaining about not liking this style, chill out. It'll change back in a while.

[TimSlee]

I think peoples main issue is that this "debranding" often takes away any character and excitement the logo once had. The original Pringles logo for instance had far more personality because of the key details mentioned in the video.

[RogueTruber]

Disagree with one thing: the shading and glossy, extra detailing of the previous logos wasn't a weakness for over complication or an unthinking excess of computer graphics. Those characteristics were status symbols in themselves at the time. They demonstrated that those companies were operating at a high-cost level: of full colour, fine-quality print production and in a new media environment - i.e. they demonstrated that the companies were at the forefront of their industries. When all of those technologies became cheaper, the association with high status was devalued, so it became worthless clutter.

[MrFichstar]

The de-branding just really fits well with how dystopic the world is starting to feel.

[markjszymanski]

The last point is my favorite and I think the most important. A simple, flat base logo gives you the flexibility to use it in many different environments and modify it for certain instances if you wish. Great video!

[swaghettimemeballs]

The downside to this "debranding" that they'll start noticing in time, is that it also makes their brand logo less recognizable. How has nobody thought of that...

[jedski]

Still, Coca-Cola logo stood the test of time and did not virtually change their logo ever since. That’s timeless branding.

Addition: some responders are confused with the Coke logo itself (the Spencerian Script/cursive writing) with the marketing campaigns used by the company every year. Those are two different things. In the end, the logo will always be the cursive one but for the campaigns (ads, signs, vending machines) they might change it a little bit to suit the campaigns.

[GemStoneDecals]

Thank you, this helps with staying on top of branding logo creation trends to offer customers who wants a no-frills logo made that stays with in their budget, but the logo offered still has room to be made fancier if the complex trend comes back with-out re doing the whole thing from scratch.

[stacyswirl]

The one I hate the most is Taco Bell. They debuted their bold purple/magenta logo in the 1994 when I was a kid, and I loved the way it looked. As other brands slowly changed in the 2000s, they held firm. And it seemed great because by the early 2010's, '90s colors and bold wacky design had come back around in fashion (not necessarily for business logos, but most definitely in clothing and decorative items). So it seemed that by waiting around, Taco Bell's aesthetic was back on top. Then they changed it. To the most boring looking single color flat app-icon thing ever. Now it just looks like purple facebook, where it used to have bold personality.

[GreyHulk]

I work in retail and have witnessed customers assume that the new Pringles logo means they are “fake Pringles”. (I guess they think off-brand). So it is definitely not a good idea for all sales.

[drdewott]

I think the most annoying gribe people have is that this debranding and simplification of logos and brand identities is that they go too far. People like less detail, but many firms go too extreme with debranding when many feel they should've taken a step back a notch so they could still keep some identity. Whereas now many brands blend into one another and you can't tell a pet shop from a fashion brand, or a snack company from an IT systems company. The bit of detail that could tell what a brand was about and what they specialised in is gone. And thats something that wasn't gone with the pre-90's logos in most cases.

Like in the pringles case I think a much more fitting idea would've been to say keep the hair and the lines in the mustach, remove the eye shine, and gone flatcolour, white, golden brown, and red.

[morenahlatshwaya]

Great video but if you wanna be successful, you most take responsibility for your emotions, not place the blame on others. In addition to make you feel more guilty about your faults, pointing the finger at others will only serve to increase your sense of personal accountability. There's always a risk in every investment, yet people still invest and succeed. You must look outward if you wanna be successful in life, Successful people don't become that way overnight. most people see at a glance-wealth, a great career, purpose-is the result of hard work and hustle over time. I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life

[blazeZX]

I was curious why a lot of big names have been changing up their logos recently this is really helpful thank you

[jeremyfeldman]

A lot of these comments about the term "debranding" are missing the point. When you place many of these logos side-by-side, they start to look the same. They've lost their unique, memorable, and ownable identity. Consequently, they've "de-branded" the unique qualities that helped give the brand character and brand recognition. In other words, they become generic. And that's the trouble, because the last thing you want your brand to be is generic.

[PRIMEVAL]

I don’t get it. Many brands really got a ton of hate for that and still won’t step back. I know there will always be people hating changes, but with Pringles as the best example, literally no one liked it…

[mu]

What amazing animations and pacing for the video! Love the script as well. The vocabulary is interesting but not over-complicated

[thiccbunda]

i have to say, pringles de-branding their logo is one of the most tragic things that has happened this year.