XEROX, or should we say, xerox, unveiled a new logo Monday intended to help redirect the public’s perspective of their services. If you’re holding onto the old school XEROX perception of good ol’ Sunday, January 6th, 2008, let us help bring you into the now – Xerox isn’t a photocopier company anymore (as far as you and I should know). This corporate powerhouse is now specializing in color printers, software and other technologically updated products. So, what do you think about the new branding identity?
What? You want to know what we think? We thought you’d never ask.
Let’s start with the positive. Our creative team agrees that the new lowercase typeface is more approachable. It’s softer on the eyes and leaves a warmer feeling in the heart – just what they were shooting for. No more body-building font for today’s Xerox; they’ve successfully gotten in touch with their softer side. Way to go, guys.
Now that we’ve got that taken care of, let’s roll out the other items at hand.
The 3D orb. Feel like you’ve seen it somewhere before? We can’t imagine where. Time is ticking on this sphere of design. How many more tech companies are going to bounce this icon trend around before it’s stuffed to the back of the designer’s desk drawer like a pair of their daddy’s bellbottoms? Guess we’ll find out. In our opinion, there’s too much trend, not enough timelessness here.
Maybe more concerning to our creative crew than the Xerox ball is the rollout campaign strategy of the multi-million dollar redesign. What rollout campaign strategy? Exactly. If you blinked, you missed it. Xerox, a company that’s been around since 1970 and worn the same logo for 14 years is going to change their public image overnight? Danger. We the public, by nature, are highly visual. When we become familiar with an identity, our subconscious becomes committed to it whether we intend to or not. On the part of the business looking to change their identity, it’s important to give their beloved consumer fair warning that things are going to change. No change is best received when it’s done overnight. Maybe over three-to-five months…in the case of a large company like Xerox, we might have drawn it out three-to-five years. Xerox underestimated the power their brand carried in their international marketplace. We’ll see how much it costs them.
As for Monday, the grand “buzz” created by their new identity rollout cost them 1 cent of their market share, closing at $15.10. Earlier in the day, they hit a $14.98 low for the year. For their sake, we hope this was all part of their plan.]]>
