Logo Outrage and Lack Thereof
SteveHave you seen all the outrage and crazed, incensed, 'blow up the interwebs' freakout that has accompanied the JC Penney logo redesign?
What's that? You missed it?
Of course you did, because unlike recent and much more high profile logo changes from the Gap and Starbucks, hardly anyone seemed to notice or care about the JC Penney logo changes.
No massive Facbook protests. No derisive Twitter hashtag like #JCPFAIL that suddenly turned into a trending topic. The only reason I even know enough about the new logo to post about it is that I am insane and need to turn away from the computer once in a while.
Accoding to the press release, the new logo offers, 'fresh, bold design', and 'signifies the Company’s great progress in creating a more exciting and relevant shopping experience'.
And that may be true, lowercase letters and a two-tone vibe seem fairly exciting. I guess.
The reason I bring this up, besides it being the end of a ridiculously long and tiring week, is to ask a simple question?
If you, or really your organization, announces a big change, a major initiative, restructuring, re-branding, re-imagining of your corporate mythology and no one (at least by today's social web measure), seems to notice, then did it really even happen?
And if no one notices, and after the big splash announcement your Google Alert only fills up with services that picked up your press release and that is about it, is that a signal or a sign of your irrelevance?
Should JC Penney care that you did not even know they changed their logo, and that you certainly didn't rush to Twitter and Facebook to get your opinion registered? How could JCP do this!?!
Is this the most tedious post you have ever read?
Have a great weekend!
Reader Comments (3)
Not even close to the most tedious Steve! We have a major announcement coming at work in the next couple of weeks...I'll be watching for any responses from cyberspace!
People often confuse change as event driven vs gradual. When companies change a logo, it usually is a "ta-da" kind of event, which leads people to make an instant assessment - I like it or I don't. If they change something meaningful, like say their customer service model, then the change takes place one customer at a time, and can be gradually molded to meet some standard.
So a logo change means little, but gives people something to react to.
How many people noticed the change from "Apple Computers" to just "Apple"?
There's an amusement park outside of Lake George, NY. Formerly known as Storytown, is now (I think) Great Escape. They re-branded while I lived there, and for a few years the tag line was "Storytown is the Great Escape".
And don't get me started on the number of versions of the NBC Peacock I've seen!
At least I can find the golden arches when I need them.
@Jay - Very cool - I will be on the lookout!
@Tim - Super point- the logo is the visible change, but the underlying changes are often more important.