Applause for the decision to rename the respected French holding company, but let's hope it is the ultimate rebranding, after 5 name changes since 1988. That's a lot of focus-shift for less than three decades.The logic is sound: signaling the migration from retail to luxury and lifestyle emphasis.
The new visual branding blows hot and cold. I like the grotesque letterforms which have enough individuality and personality to express customization. The stylized "owl in flight" signet doesn't do it for me, though. It's rather dispersed and hard to recognize, and I am not sure it adds anything other than distraction from the new brand name. I would have been happy with the heart-shaped owl face by itself. But let's not overemphasize visual branding, which is nowhere as important as graphic designers want you to believe. The proving ground will be the way the company conducts itself and lives out its vision and values.
Let me repeat the classic scenarios for rebranding: new ownership, acquisition or merger; following bad news; at a time of radical change in competency or category; coincidental to a significant product launch; to gain greater differentiation from competitors, especially in new markets.
The new visual branding blows hot and cold. I like the grotesque letterforms which have enough individuality and personality to express customization. The stylized "owl in flight" signet doesn't do it for me, though. It's rather dispersed and hard to recognize, and I am not sure it adds anything other than distraction from the new brand name. I would have been happy with the heart-shaped owl face by itself. But let's not overemphasize visual branding, which is nowhere as important as graphic designers want you to believe. The proving ground will be the way the company conducts itself and lives out its vision and values.
Let me repeat the classic scenarios for rebranding: new ownership, acquisition or merger; following bad news; at a time of radical change in competency or category; coincidental to a significant product launch; to gain greater differentiation from competitors, especially in new markets.
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Thanks for your thoughts.