Walmart changes its logo...

[SSOWorld]

It should be "its" rather than "it's" in the subject
"Its" is the possessive form of "it"; "it's" is a contraction for "it is".

( Minor things that bother you. )

 

Mike

Sue me

[vdeane]

NY recently did a re-branding effort for the state agencies.  Most people probably won't notice much; it basically amounted to removing "state of opportunity" and changing to a slightly different shade of blue (emphasis on slightly).  It did, however, come with new letterheads, presentation templates, and email signature requirements.  So no, it's not just slapping out a new logo and calling it done.

[Molandfreak]

It should be "its" rather than "it's" in the subject.

"Its" is the possessive form of "it"; "it's" is a contraction for "it is".

This and certain users that consistently capitalize cardinal directions which don't need it are why I wish we could nitpick certain grammatical errors here.

[Scott5114]

Except...why bother for such minute changes? I suppose it makes it easier because their vast corporate footprint will probably take 5-10 years for all the old logos to change in an unobtrusive fashion. (Except for some oddball backroom equipment that's 20-30 years old and well out of the public eye.)

In the case of Walmart specifically, the font the old version of the logo was in, Myriad Pro, is more frequently associated with Apple, and the rest of their stuff was set in Brandon, which every third company seems to be using these days.

Meanwhile, there's exactly one company known for using Antique Olive, the font the new logo is in. And that company is...Walmart, in the 1980s. Hell, they haven't used Antique Olive for decades but still any time I see it in some other context I think "What's the Walmart font doing here?"

And for whatever reason there's been a trend lately toward reverting to old branding from the 1980s—see Pizza Hut, Subway, and Burger King going back to their '80s logos.

So while the logo is a subtle change, there are a number of reasons it makes Walmart stand out more than their existing brand system. And standing out is the whole point of branding.

[LilianaUwU]

It should be "its" rather than "it's" in the subject.

"Its" is the possessive form of "it"; "it's" is a contraction for "it is".

[Bobby5280]

Except...why bother for such minute changes?

The changes in the Walmart word mark are pretty substantial. It doesn't look like the lettering from the 2008 era logo. In a way, the style of the new word mark is a throw back to the previous logos from the 1980's-1990's era, but with more friendly (and legible) mixed case lettering.

The differences between the 2008 yellow anus icon and the new, bolder "starfish" are more difficult to distinguish.

Anyway, even if the changes are minor, the changes are being made because the vast majority of corporate logos get visually stale and dated looking after enough time has passed. It has been nearly 17 years since Walmart last updated its brand identity. The all caps "WAL-MART" logo prior to the 2008 update lasted 16 years. Walmart was changing its logo on a pretty frequent basis from 1950 to 1981.

It's very difficult to design a logo that can remain relatively unchanged over decades of time yet remain visually relevant. Some logos, such as the Coca-Cola word mark are damned near sacred. Graphic design greats like Paul Rand and Saul Bass created some of the most iconic logos ever. They also designed lots of other things that weren't nearly as successful or timeless.

In the case of Walmart specifically, the font the old version of the logo was in, Myriad Pro, is more frequently associated with Apple, and the rest of their stuff was set in Brandon, which every third company seems to be using these days.

The lettering in the 2008 Walmart logo might have used Myriad as a visual reference or even a starting point. But it has a lot of little differences. Walmart has played around with several different supporting typefaces over the years (including Myriad). I think the trend with Brandon Grotesk has kind of played itself out. EDIT: Walmart is still using their own Bogle typeface, which looks very similar to Brandon Grotesk, but has various subtle differences. The typeface is used on various pieces of small signage. They've been using a tall condensed sans serif typeface for larger store department signs (in dimensional letters). The product price signs are still Helvetica.

And for whatever reason there's been a trend lately toward reverting to old branding from the 1980s—see Pizza Hut, Subway, and Burger King going back to their '80s logos.

In the case of those three companies their recent brand updates are inspired by those vintage logos, but with subtle and not so subtle changes here and there. I hated the messy looking hand scribbled Pizza Hut logo that ran 2014-2019. The current Pizza Hut logo looks most like the old logo out of those three companies. With Burger King, the top bun is taller than the original logo and the lettering is more refined. With Subway, its current logo is much more cleanly drawn than the version that lasted 1973-2002, and it has a better and brighter color scheme.

[Henry]

That's what I don't get for some logo changes in recent years -- hyping a new logo that really didn't change much. 

Other examples of "whoop-de-doo" logo changes:

The ABC Network letters went to a Bold text inside the black circle...

Volkswagen did the opposite, slimming their famous VW logo.

Same for Kroger, except in addition to the font diet, they eliminated the red border around the blue oval.

I'd love to get a job where you make a six-figure salary, only to tell a company they should simply bold/un-bold their current logo's font.

There was also GM, going from the traditional caps to futuristic lowercase.

As for Walmart, it still looks like the same logo to me from a distance; only when viewed from up close can one tell the most subtle difference (bolder typeface, slightly different style).

[MikieTimT]

They just got through renovating some of the stores.  Now they'll have to go back and redo them again to acommodate the redone logo.

Many of the Walmarts in my region have gotten 3-5 significant indoor and/or outdoor remodels in the last 20 years....

...Which is about 3-5 more remodels than any JCPenney or Kohls stores in the last 20 years...

I think that Walmart may have noticed what caused the demises of K-Mart, Sears, Montgomery Ward, etc. and decided they would choose to fail differently.

[formulanone]

Except...why bother for such minute changes?

The changes in the Walmart word mark are pretty substantial. It doesn't look like the lettering from the 2008 era logo. In a way, the style of the new word mark is a throw back to the previous logos from the 1980's-1990's era, but with more friendly (and legible) mixed case lettering.

I see the changes, but shrug. I guess the point is to change a little but not a lot so that it's jarring and seen as unconventional. They must lose some market share to online retailers but are still the dominating brick-and-mortar store.

And for whatever reason there's been a trend lately toward reverting to old branding from the 1980s—see Pizza Hut, Subway, and Burger King going back to their '80s logos.

In the case of those three companies their recent brand updates are inspired by those vintage logos, but with subtle and not so subtle changes here and there. I hated the messy looking hand scribbled Pizza Hut logo that ran 2014-2019. The current Pizza Hut logo looks most like the old logo out of those three companies. With Burger King, the top bun is taller than the original logo and the lettering is more refined. With Subway, its current logo is much more cleanly drawn than the version that lasted 1973-2002, and it has a better and brighter color scheme.

I presume much of that is because they no longer dominate their market, and are giving into Boomer/GenX nostalgia. "Remember us? We're still here, unlike Blockbuster and Kmart."

[Scott5114]

I presume much of that is because they no longer dominate their market, and are giving into Boomer/GenX nostalgia. "Remember us? We're still here, unlike Blockbuster and Kmart."

That's probably a big part of it, yeah, desire to return to the "glory days" in Pizza Hut and BK's case. In Subway's, it's probably not a coincidence that the return to the 1980sish logo happened after Jared Fogle got arrested.

[hotdogPi]

I remember Bertucci's having a Throwback Thursday menu a few years ago that was their original 1980s menu with original prices (most meals began with 5 or 6). Similarly, T-Bones had a promotion where they went back to 1980s prices for one specific sandwich (began with 4 instead of 14, probably in the 16-17 range now).

[Ted$8roadFan]

I actually like the logo they used from the 1960s to the 1980s.

[Road Hog]

Wal-Mart Discount City (as it was known then) and Gibson's, Magic Mart, Alco and a bunch of other stores were locked in a battle royal over the heartland in the late 70s and well into the 80s.

In fact, Wal-Mart's and Gibson's pole signage almost mirrored each other. But Wal-Mart had better and neater stuff.

[hbelkins]

I'm not sure what purpose was achieved by changing the UK logo from the 2005 logo to the present one.



But there is a story behind the one on the upper right, specifically concerning the tongue.

[Bobby5280]

I see the changes, but shrug. I guess the point is to change a little but not a lot so that it's jarring and seen as unconventional.

Exactly. A company that completely flushes and existing logo and replaces it with something entirely different takes a bigger risk. Over time a logo for a big company will become ever more familiar with the general public and develop brand equity. An update that still has some similarity with the old logo will (hopefully) carry that brand equity forward into the new logo.

I presume much of that is because they no longer dominate their market, and are giving into Boomer/GenX nostalgia.

Nostalgia never dies. People in the Gen-Z and Millennials group love digging up things from decades ago just like Boomers and Gex-X people did in the past. I've seen these trends over the years in graphic design, fashion and especially popular music.

In the 1980's movies and music were digging up styles from the 1950's and 1960's, putting a more modern twist on it. The Helvetica typeface was hugely popular in the 1970's, but it was first designed in the 1950's. I listen to a lot of alternative rock music. A bunch of those current era bands have been pulling style cues out of 1980's pop and new wave. I've joked the band The 1975 sounds like 1986.

The movie industry is so blatant in how it recycles things. The syndrome worsened once Wall Street types infiltrated the industry via the parent media companies. Rather than take chances on new ideas they'll do re-makes and sequels to movies released 20 or more years ago.

So, yeah, I don't think companies like Subway and Burger King are giving up on Gen-Z customers by adopting brand marks that evoke the past.

[Road Hog]

I like the old one in retrospect. Easier on the eyes.

There's a saying that there's old people and there's bold people, but there ain't many old and bold people.

But the change is subtle enough that it will only appear on letterheads for a good while. I doubt there will be wholesale changes in store signage unless a store's signage wears out, which will happen over 15 to 20 years.

[hbelkins]

I'm not sure what purpose was achieved by changing the UK logo from the 2005 logo to the present one.



But there is a story behind the one on the upper right, specifically concerning the tongue.

The image didn't make it to the original post.

[kphoger]

But there is a story behind the one on the upper right, specifically concerning the tongue.

Tongues are fun, but how about nipples?

[Bobby5280]

But the change is subtle enough that it will only appear on letterheads for a good while. I doubt there will be wholesale changes in store signage unless a store's signage wears out, which will happen over 15 to 20 years.

When Walmart last updated its brand in 2008 the company didn't take all that long to change outdated store signs. The process didn't take more than about 12-18 months if even that long. One thing to remember is their store designs are pretty standard. There are only a few sign types and they're all mass produced. Probably the biggest headache Walmart would have is booking installs with sign companies.

I thought Lawton might be waiting awhile for its Walmart locations to get the update ('cuz Lawton sucks), but it didn't take more than a few months after the brand update announcement.

Subway has gone through a much slower process updating the signs at its stores. The logo was updated in 2016, nearly 9 years ago. It's not difficult to find locations still rocking the 2002 logo. Subway has over 20,000 locations in the United States alone. The stores are typically franchise-owned; I don't know if the franchisee has to pay for some or all the cost of new signage. The restaurants are found in a very wide variety of buildings. Most stores need designs specific to their location. Not just on the buildings either. Street sign cabinets differ from one location to the next. The same goes for the sign faces in those multi-listing tenant signs. And they have to check and see what the local sign code currently allows.

I'm not sure what purpose was achieved by changing the UK logo from the 2005 logo to the present one.

The current UK icon has better line work. The older icon from 2005-2015 has odd bits of white negative space popping up in the areas where the "K" crosses over the "U." Plus the older icon also looks like it was horizontally stretched. The newer icon has a more uniform look.

[kphoger]

As I was getting ready for work this morning, my wife cracked up laughing.  'Have you heard that Wal-Mart is changing its logo, but just making it a little bolder?'  What cracked her up was this:

[kphoger]

The changes in the Walmart word mark are pretty substantial. It doesn't look like the lettering from the 2008 era logo. In a way, the style of the new word mark is a throw back to the previous logos from the 1980's-1990's era, but with more friendly (and legible) mixed case lettering.

meh.

Except for the bottom of the W and the middle of the a, it looks like someone just hit Ctrl+B and called it a day—which is exactly what my wife said this morning.  When I told her to then compare the new logo to the 1980s logo, she looked them up and replied that the two look nothing alike.

The change to mixed case IS what made the difference in the first place.  If Wal-Mart wanted to evoke a 1980s kind of vibe, then they would have gone back to all-caps.  But they wouldn't do that, of course, because...  because...  because...  oh, right, because they don't actually want their logo to look like it did in the 1980s.

[Scott5114]

If Wal-Mart wanted to evoke a 1980s kind of vibe, then they would have gone back to all-caps.  But they wouldn't do that, of course, because...  because...  because...  oh, right, because they don't actually want their logo to look like it did in the 1980s.

[CtrlAltDel]

If Wal-Mart wanted to evoke a 1980s kind of vibe, then they would have gone back to all-caps.  But they wouldn't do that, of course, because...  because...  because...  oh, right, because they don't actually want their logo to look like it did in the 1980s.

I don't think that was ever Walmart's logo, though, just "Sam Walton's classic trucker hat."

[LM117]

Can't help but wonder how much money is gonna be wasted on a change that 99.9% of shoppers would never notice (much less give a shit about) unless the differences were pointed out to them...

[Bobby5280]

People can claim to not give a shit about a company making minor changes to its logo, store decor, etc. But they still do make judgments on a subconscious level.

The retailers have to make the changes to keep their brand identities looking relevant. That's in response to other competitors updating their look. Worse yet: new rivals appear in the market from time to time. People will gravitate to newer stores. A retailer whose brand identity and store fronts look dated is going to lose customers. Walmart would suffer some penalties if they kept their stores looking like they did in the 1990's.