Of last year’s crop of new corporate logos and identities,

the most successful go on the offensive.

F
irst honors go to Cargill CEO Warren
S ta l ey, who is determined to turn his
giant food-commodities comp a ny
($50 billion in revenue, with 90,000
employees in 57 countries) into nothing less
than the global leader in nourishing people.
That calls for an enormous change of employee
(and executive) behavior—a change of corpo-
rate culture. “We are undertaking a fundamen-
tal change in our approach to doing business,”
says Staley. “Our efforts today center on creat-
ing distinctive value for our customers—from
helping farm customers market their products
to helping manage food customers’ supply-
chain logistics and risks. We are more customer-
focused, performance-oriented, and innovative

TONY SPAETH, a Rye, N.Y.-based corporate identity consultant, reports here each year on noteworthy
identity programs. Additional reviews and reflections can be seen at www.identityworks.com.
 in all of our business relationships.”
Need to ch a n ge the culture ?
Change the logo! (The old “oil
d rop” symbol was a classic,
though, and I will miss it). A
Minneapolis graphic-design
firm, Franke+Fiorella, pro-
vided a brilliant solution,
converting half of the old
symbol into a leaf, express-
ing nutrition. Because the
symbol and new wordmark are
now a single visual element, it’s
easier to maintain the consistency
and impact of the corporate brand pres-
ence; in practice, the old Cargill symbol
and wordmark tended some-
times to wander apart.
remains the hands-down comp u te r-
category winner for “friendly.” But
Gateway has convinced me
or years, PepsiCo managers
F talked among themselves
about their dated, we a k ,
and ugly corporate logo. But
no one acted to change it, on
the grounds that the corpo-
r a te logo was of little im-
portance: “Consumers don’t
eat a PepsiCo” and “World-
wide, th e re are only two
signs with ‘PepsiCo’ on them.”
Still, the logo diminished all
corporate communications and
seemed particularly out of step for
a champion of modern art and archi-
tecture. (A flag-waving red-white-and-
blue globe might also send signals un-
appreciated outside the United States.)
Taking over from Roger En-

L
ike Cargill’s that as a driver of rico, new CEO Steven Rein-
Staley, CEO p u rch ase con- emund saw an opportu-
George sideration, nity to quietly signal
Harad of Boise “ f r i e n d ly ” a “ new Pe p s i C o , ”
Cascade sought loses out to mo der ni zed b ut
t o t r a n s fo r m technology with no radical
and re n ew h is and design ch a n ge. Task ac-
company, from a leadership, c o mplished. Lan-
s tatic commodity- w h e re c o w dor Associates de-
like posture to a more spots become a lia- signed an admirably
dynamic, service-intensive cul- bility. Founder and CEO simple presence, one
t u re. To emphasize the new image Ted Waitt sees Gateway whose five-color globe
of “Boise,” the company dropped the as a design innova tor on a symbol is intended to evoke
“Cascade” name. The tree symbol, too, par with Apple and Sony. While diversity in general and PepsiCo’s
had to go; though appealing, it said still cherishing farmland values, he de- family of brands in particular.
“forest products.” Harad prefers for cided, “It’s time to take the next step,”
people to think of a three-category which would require de-prairie-tizing ow does an advertising agency
c o mp a ny, whose de-
fining units are the
renamed Boise
the Gateway brand.
The Gateway logo is cre di ted to
Arnell Group, a New Yo r k- b a s e d
H handle its own identity change?
For BBDO, th e re had been
no real change since 1928, when the
Building Solu- “brand ideation and experience mar- George Batten Co. merged with Messrs.
t i o n s , B o i se keting company” that had been en- Barton, Durstine, and Osborn, so not
Paper Solu- gaged by Gateway for retail-store surprisingly, “We felt the current BBDO
tio n s, a n d and product-design ideas. logo was a bit staid and stale,”
Boise Off i c e The symbol is meant says BBDO Worldwide CEO
Solutions. The to be a “hipper” cow and chairman Allen Rosen-
id ent ity firm spot, “branded with shine. “The new design
Siegelgale advised a computer ‘stand- was created to reflect our
and designed a clas- by’ symbol, laid on position as a growing,
s i c a l ly simple wo rdmark to anch o r its side to form an leading creative commu-
this new image . iconic ‘g.’” While nications company and
the strategy is bold, to set us apart from our
y first reaction to Gateway ’ s

M
new “stylized cow spot” was,
“What can th ey have been
thinking?” Gateway’s 1998 cow-spot-
ted box symbol, still fresh and sassy,
this design execution
is somewhat te n ta t i ve .
If cows are out, why ke e p
a cow-spot re m i n d e r, however ab-
s t r a c te d ?
c o mpetition.” In that, at
least, he was successful; few
logos are vertically stacked (which
generally makes them challenging to
apply and, in some applications, forces

2 8 M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 3 A C R O S S T H E B O A R D
them to be pretty small.) Avoiding names make one great name.” But
the shoemaker’s-children prob- often the combination proves to
lem, Rosenshine had the good be a placeholder; in due course,
sense to turn to a design firm, t runcation ta kes place, or it
the BBDO subsidiary Nolin is replaced with a truly new
Branding & Design in Mon- name.
t re a l , fo r t h i s
bold if ch a l- he second strategy,
lenging s o-
lution. T rarely seen, is to cre-
a te something alto-
gether new from pieces of the
e a ga t e heritage names. This is elegantly

S Technology
is, and seeks to
re ma i n, t h e wo r l d
illustrated by “Arcelor,” which is
d e r i ved from ARbed, aCEraLia, and
usinOR. Luxembourg’s Arbed, Spain’s
l ead er i n h a rd - d i s k Aceralia, and France’s Usinor com-
drives, so there’s no repo- p p a re n t ly from the school of bined in 2002 to form the world’s
sitioning goal; this is an instance of re-
freshing and renewing the brand to
s u s tain its position. Says CEO Steve
A “It doesn’t much matter,” presi-
dent and CEO James Mul-
va was ready to go with an
biggest steel manufacturer. Chairmen
Joseph Kinsch and Francis
Mer we re assisted in
Luczo: “Over the past few years, Sea- internally designed Cono- naming by the Ben-
gate has undergone significant trans- co-Phillips combination, elux office of nam-
formation to keep pace with changing until someone on his ing consulta n t s
market dynamics. Just as our company board suggested that Nomen. For de-
has evolved, our brand has evolved. s ome p ro fe s s i o n a l sign, CEO Guy
The new brand identity will act as a input might be war- Dollé turned to
visual signal to all our constituents that r a n ted. Con sulta n t s Corporate Fac-
Seagate has changed.” Addison (SF) then had t o r y, a P a r i s -
Seagate calls its new sea-green sym- only two weeks to de- based communi-
bol “The Wave,” but I suspect most of sign a better solution. cations agency, for
us will see it first as a picture of a disk. There was no time (or as- a somewhat strange
This clever double play signment) for second-guessing heart-like symbol that is
was designed by the name and brand architecture. meant to evo ke a planeta ry
i de n t it y fi rm To qu o te hands-on CEO Mulva : alignment of three entities.
L an do r A s - “Because there were so many let-

S
s o c i a te s . ters in the name, the logo had to t r a tegy th ree, also qu i te rare, is
(Isn’t it in- h ave a simple, conserva t i ve de- the adoption of an acquired com-
t e re s t i n g sign. In choosing the colors, we pany’s name by the acquirer. For
how old, in wanted to show a company that decades, American Home Pro d u c t s
contrast, the was financially strong and long- was the biggest unknown comp a ny
former Sea- lasting. We also wa n ted a design in America, and a great fru s t r a t i o n
gate logo sud- element in the logo that re p re- to identity consulta n t s :
d e n ly looks?) sented upward movement and William LaPo rte, its
p ro g res s . T hat e le m en t— legendary leader
called the ‘Mark’—re p re- in the 1950s-70s,
sents a mark of excellence and successor
Turning now to mergers and acqui- and symbolizes the com- John Sta ffo rd
sitions, we find examples this ye a r p a ny’s commitment to firmly denied
of four possible naming strate g i e s continuously reach high- the relevance
available to the surviving entity: com- er levels of performance of a corporate
bine the names, chop them up to make and innovation.” I must brand, and
a new name, start fresh by creating a confess, however, that to “A H P, ” c o m -
name, or adopt the acquired name. me i t s uggests a f ly i n g fortable as a self-
(The fifth strategy, do nothing, is illus- memo. described (but
trated by PepsiCo, which acquired and The customary rationale for very hands-on) hold-
quietly absorbed Quaker Oats in 2001.) this naming strategy is, “Two good ing company, enjoyed the

A C R O S S T H E B O A R D M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 3 2 9
 quiet re p u tation of a “widows and 1984. Gloating a bit, chief marketing
orphans” stock. officer Brian Fugere said, “Let’s
But as early as the mid- face it—the world is tired of
1980s, the comp a ny’s fo o d coined, invented, and whim-
and saucepan businesses sical corporate names.” His
we re gone, and AHP wa s CEO D oug McCracke n
becoming a pure-play drug piled on: “While our com-
company. To his credit, CEO p e t i to rs a re di s ta n c i n g
Robert Essner realized that themselves from their con-
success as a fre e s ta n d i n g sulting roots, we are re a f-
pharmaceutical leader would firming our commitment to
re qu i re a stro n ger corporate the profession.” As of this writ -
brand. The Wye th ing, the Braxton logo (designed
a c quisition neatly by Interbrand) has not yet been
s o lved his nam- reve a l e d .
i ng p ro b l e m . On the heels of the Braxton an-
“We t h o u g h t 10 percent are virtually unusable. That’s nouncement, PwC Consulting briefly
about a coined why you and I read about companies become “Monday,” a name I imme-
name but de- named Lucent, Accenture, and Dy- diately predicted would fail—and fail
cided we al- n e g y —and now Thrive n t it did, quietly buried after IBM
ready have good Financial for Lutherans. acquired the entity. (I am
equity in a name “We’re now a ma- convinced that many
we already have , ” jor player in th e PwC partners voted to
he said. Landor Associ- financial-services be acquired in good
ates designed the straight-type word- industry. Secur- p a rt to be spare d
mark; when a name is as distinctive ing the rights to their new Monday
verbally as “Wyeth,” there is no func- a name that we business cards.)
tional need to add graphic distinc- can protect from
tiveness. o t hers is criti- vidently,
c a l ly imp o rta n t .
E K P MG C o n -

T
he fourth naming strategy, to T h r i vent . . . is a sul t in g C EO
fo rget “equity” and focus on name we can pro- Rand Blazer had no old
the future by creating a new tect. ‘Lutheran Finan- names like Braxton on
name, is especially helpful when the cial,’ for example, we can- his intellectual-property shelf
merger partners have been competi- not.” FutureBrand assisted Nichol- and was therefore forced to go the
tors—even competitors as friendly as son’s team and designed the evocative “coined, inve n ted, and whimsical”
we re Aid Association for Luth e r a n s heart-ribbon symbol. route. Eschewing identity consultants
and the Lutheran Brotherhood. The and graphic-design firms, he ch o s e
new Thrivent Financial for Lutherans ad agency Arnold Worldwide to cre-
is a Fortune 500 company, managing ate as well as to launch the company’s
$57.7 billion. The drama of the big accounting new brand. BearingPoint was the best
A coined name, re ga rdless of its firms’ consulting subsidiaries contin- (available) of 550 names considered.
strategic advantages, was not manage- ues: Two years ago we were given Its somewhat obscure re fe rence is
ment’s first choice. As president and “Accenture,” as Andersen Con- navigational; it means target
CEO Bruce Nicholson admits, “I’ve sulting was renamed in or destination. As Blazer
long wondered why all the new com- the nick of time to avoid explains, “We do what
panies I read about seem to have the fallout of Arth u r BearingPoint literally
made-up names. Now I know why, Andersen’s collapse. means: setting direc-
firsthand! In the difficult and intensive Last ye a r, Deloitte tion to achieve end
p rocess of finding a new name fo r Consulting told the resu lts,” and th i s
our merged organization, we found world that it would m ay be w hat Ar-
an outstanding one—but only afte r become “Braxto n , ” nold’s conve rg i n g -
we discovered that more than 90 per- conveniently adopting swooshes logo design
cent of the nouns in the English lan- the name of a firm that is intended to sugge s t
guage are already taken, and the other D e l o i t te had acqu i red in as well.

3 0 M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 3 A C R O S S T H E B O A R D
 oldness in strategy alone rings hollow

B if quality of execution does not keep

pace. For bold execution, in naming
and especially design, I rate Centerpulse at
the top of this year’s list.
Sulzer Medica was a collection of medical-
device businesses that Sulzer, a giant Swiss
machinery maker, spun out in July 2001 “in
order to enable both companies a new be-
ginning.” Chairman Max Link recruited CEO
Stephan Rietiker, who retained the experi-
enced Swiss identity firm Interbrand Zintz-
meyer & Lux to position, name (a new name
being mandato ry), and design this “new
beginning.” Rietiker decided to reconstitute
“a network of comp a ny units” as six divi-
sions, united under a strong brand, saying,
“Consolidation under a single brand um-
brella is a logical step toward still greater
customer focus and organizational trans-
parency. . . . We are now systematically clus-
tering the know-how already at hand within
the corporate network.”
In “Centerpulse,” the Interbrand consult-
ants found an available and pleasing combi-
nation of two English wo rds, appro p r i a te
to the industry while also suggesting the ben-
efits of a central vision and leadership . . . all
things considered, a remarkable naming
feat. The logo design uses a solid shape to
strengthen the name, adding a circle for in-
terest, distinctiveness, and any number of
possible meanings, thus adding future com-
munications flexibility.
Surprisingly, chairman Link, now (again)
the CEO, was never sold
on centralization. “Rie-
tiker wanted most
of the power in
Z u r i ch, while I
wanted to give
it back to the
units,” he told
a n a lysts last
J u ly 16. It is
ironic that Rie-
t i ker thus left
the company just
weeks after June 1,
when “Centerpulse” took
effect as the name and logo. But as of this
writing, his new masterbrand remains, and
its expre s s i ve power and its logic in th e
marketplace will continue to promote cor-
porate coherence. ♦