By Kumar Satwik

(2122)
REBRANDING
CASE STUDY:

Verizon Slack(Software) Absolut Vodka

Communications Inc. -Slack
Technologies
REBRANDING:
BRIEF INTRODUCTION
Rebranding is the process of changing the image of a company or product. The aim is to make the new image
more attractive to consumers. It is a marketing strategy that involves changing the logo, name, symbols, or a
combination of all of them.

Companies that decide to go through the rebranding process want two things:
• Create a new identity that makes them stand out in the marketplace among their rivals.
• Reconnect with customers

Rebranding can be good for a company because it can boost sales also rebranding can extend a product’s life
cycle in the market.
However, if not done properly, it can be catastrophic for the company.
A rebranding process that goes wrong may break a company’s connection with its loyal customers. In fact, it
can even take away the whole meaning of its brand.
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 1. Verizon Communications Inc.
Verizon Communications Inc. is an American
multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a
corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Founded in 1983 under the name Bell Atlantic, Verizon Communications is now one of the largest
telecommunications company in the world. They provide people with a variety of internet, phone, and
television services, which include voice, data and video services and solutions on its award winning
networks and platforms, delivering on customers’ demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity,
security and control. Headquartered in New York City and with a presence around the world, Verizon
generated revenues of $131.9 billion in 2019.

Since Verizon is serving both B2B & B2C customer, it uses geographic and behavioral segmentation

strategies to segment the market and provide customized services to the customers accordingly.
IT/ telecommunication and networking industry solely run on customization i.e. as per the
requirement of the client/ customer, therefore Verizon always uses differentiated targeting strategy to
facilitate the same.
Verizon uses usage and product based positioning strategy to create an image of technologically
advanced and diversified telecommunication company. 3
 Evolution of the Verizon logo

 As Verizon has merged with other companies and diversified their business interests, they have
created a bunch of new logos.
 Back when the company was called Bell Atlantic, they used a logo that incorporated a wave shape
and a bell emblem. When it was renamed Verizon in a 2000 merger with GTE, the most iconic
Verizon logo was formed. This was an italicized, black version of the brand name, with a red check
mark over the name, and an elongated red Z that stretched beneath the brand name before fading
to white.
 Over the years, there were many versions of this
same basic logo shape, even after its
several logo changes, the theme Of lowercase
letters, the check mark and the color red and
Black stayed intact.

 Verizon’s first logo on its launch in 2000 was 

consistently mocked by graphic design experts 
for its overly busy and off balance design.
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The Transformation
Starting in 2015, Verizon decided to simplify all the different versions of the logo to the single
one that is still in use today.

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 REASON BEHIND THE REBRANDING

• As stated by Pentagram, the design firm that came up

with this simple re-design of the old logo, the following
were the reasons for the upgradation –

1. The complexity of the logo – The old logo incorporates a modified italic typeface, two colors, a
stylized letter “z,” a v-shaped form that sometimes appears above the name and sometimes next to it,
and gradations in multiple locations, so many characters made it difficult to reliably reproduce in different
media and this inconsistency has only increased over time.

2. New logo exhibits Revitalized purpose - According to a statement by Verizon, their new logo
“marks the beginning of the next chapter…and signals their revitalized purpose.” They
decided to simplify their logo to make a clean, simple design that clearly states their brand
identity. A checkmark is used to signify getting things done properly because Verizon wants to
be associated with reliable and prompt service.
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 REASON BEHIND THE REBRANDING

3. Keeping up with the change - Over the last fifteen years the way humans communicate
has changed dramatically, and so has Verizon. The company introduced a dramatically
simplified new logo designed by Pentagram that reflects those changes, and positions the
company for the future.

4. Competition - Verizon mostly just claims that their inspiration was a desire for simplicity and
reliability, it is clear that they were more influenced by the design trends of the mid 2010s. Verizon’s
modern logo follows the same trend as its major rivals, AT&T and Sprint. All of these major
telecommunications networks use a logo that contains a plain, black, Helvetica-inspired font with a
company emblem in a primary color next to it.

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 THE NEW LOGO
• The new brand identity takes the best elements of Verizon's heritage, represented by its colors
and the Verizon "checkmark," and transforms them for a new era.

• At its most basic level, the new logo is a visual statement that honors Verizon's history and
reflects an identity that stands for simplicity, honesty and joy in a category widespread with
confusion, disclaimers and frustration.

• It's a cleaner, more human design and the

checkmark, the universal symbol for getting
things done, uniquely expresses the reliability
of Verizon.

• However, some critics haven’t liked the

 new logo variation. They imply that such a logo
could easily be drawn by a 4 year old child.
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 CRITIQUES AND MOCKERY
• Over the years, Verizon has faced its fair share of criticism from critiques as well as constant
mocking from competitors.
• The company has long been delineated as a monopoly, accused of violating net neutrality, as
well as deceptive advertising of 5G. Customers have also expressed their concerns over
personal data security.

• Following are some of the mocks surrounding the logo designs of the company:

1. VERIZON = TREASON

Some user on reddit posted this, pointing towards

the treason charge that Verizon faced, as the
U.S. National Security Agency has allegedly
secretly forced the company, to hand over all
its call data. 9
CRITIQUES AND MOCKERY

• Millions of Americans reportedly had their

phone records seized without their
knowledge.

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CRITIQUES AND MOCKERY

2. This one aims at the dishonest activities & greedy, money hungry moves made by the
company.

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CRITIQUES AND MOCKERY

3. AT&T mocking Verizon

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CRITIQUES AND MOCKERY

4. VERWHYZON – AT&T’s Anti-Verizon advertisement campaign

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 2. SLACK by Slack Technologies
 Slack is a proprietary business communication platform developed by American software
company Slack Technologies. Slack offers many IRC-style features, including persistent chat rooms
organized by topic, private groups, and direct messaging. Slack's namesake platform is a cloud-
based collaboration tool. Most people would describe it as a messaging service, but it does much
more. With Slack, users can share files, create project-based channels, and easily communicate with
teammates around the globe.
Slack is using the classic software-as-a-service approach of land and expand with its "freemium"
model. It's free with limited functionality for small organizations.

Started in 2013, the software was born out of frustration.

The staff at the company that would eventually become
“Slack” couldn't find an enterprise communication tool
that fit the needs of their business, so they decided to
build their own. And to date, the service has been wildly
successful.

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Slack is a young company, but it's already made a big splash. The workplace messaging
service is the most trending enterprise software solution and was one of the most
anticipated 2019 stock market debuts.
 
• The company has gone public on the New York Stock Exchange through a direct
listing, instead of undergoing the more standard IPO process.

• Right now, over 600,000 organizations use Slack, including 88,000 paying customers.
The average user spends 90 minutes per day on Slack, and the service is used to
send 1 billion messages a week.

Marketing strategy of SLACK

DIGITAL MARKETING - Slack doesn’t create a bunch of content marketing. Instead they
rank of keywords using SEO tools related to their 3rd party app ecosystem. They rank on
the 1st page of Google for a variety of keywords that point directly to Slack’s app landing
pages.
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SLACK’s Logo Change : “Because its simply awful”

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THE OLD LOGO

• Slack’s old logo, a simple hash, was a character

preceding any of their messaging channels but
also denotes the ease of ability to tag users,
subjects, include GIFs, emojis and a whole range
of additional communication forms through
simple text commands.

• It’s animation of four dots joining and spinning

into this symbol tells a story of connecting people
and showing the overlap of different
conversations all in a playful tone. It’s simple in
style because it reflects how simple it is to use.

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But that however is, what it was.

They decided to redesign their logo, and users around the globe were less than satisfied with the results.

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THE NEW LOGO

• Refreshed by the renowned studio

Pentagram, the new slack logo used
the same color palette as before,
lowercase text in black, and the logo –
combination of red, green, blue and
yellow.

• But the # is no longer there, the

meaningful tic-tac-toe design was
replaced by a “simpler” as stated by
the company, and more cohesive
design which includes chat bubbles
and lozenge shaped stick design.

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Reasons for the Logo Change

1. Complexity - The older logo was complicated, as stated by the company the old
logo consisted of 11 colors that made it easy to get wrong. It had to be placed at
the right angle - exactly "18 degrees rotation“- to be correct. if placed on any color
other than white, or at the wrong angle (instead of the precisely prescribed 18º
rotation), or with the colors tweaked wrong, the company said –
“it looked terrible, and it pained us.”

2. Making it “DISTINCTIVE”– Another reason as stated by the company was to

make the logo more “DISTINCTIVE” and simple, the new logo looks decent on
different-colored backgrounds, and can more easily adapt to different platforms.  It
uses the same four colors as the original symbol, but has a more flower-like shape.

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3. Making it more Cohesive- The logo had a very specific 18º rotation.
Slack developed multiple versions of the logo that worked for very different
purposes.
But, this meant that every single version of their app button was different, and, each
one was different from the actual foundational logo. Which defeats the point of
having a logo in the first place.

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 The Issue with the New Logo
• Some experts have questioned the brand’s decision to switch the logo now. It is clear that
Slack is on an uphill adventure to popularity. This is often considered to be a crucial stage
where any changes to the face of the brand are widely noticeable. It is often advised to
switch things up a little bit for a feeling of freshness amongst the users. In this case
however, the slack logo seems to be less relevant to the majority of followers. The millennial
and contemporary crowd comprises of the majority of the fan base for slack. With the
advent of the new logo, these members are unable to connect with a modern vibe. Hence,
the decision of introducing the new slack logo has been widely questioned.

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The Issue with the New Logo
• The trending theme of critique appears to revolve around how the added complexity is not
logical for a rebrand. Essentially when a brand grows more established, its character is
honed, becoming more confident and clear -in turn this should be reflected through a
simpler, concise visual identity.

• Pentagram’s additional layer of complexity ties

with other strong opinions of how the update has
resulted in a more generic aesthetic which could
apply to a variety of other brands.

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What Went Wrong?
• Considering the Audience –

Slack’s redesign teaches us a lot about considering our audience during a rebrand.
The new logo solves a lot of problems Slack was having with their visual identity and, it
certainly helps mature the brand in the eyes of investors, but what they missed was their
customer’s perception.

1. All of a sudden, on February 26,2019, the users had new icons across their desktops and
mobile devices and the software was hard to find.

2. just a few short weeks after the unveiling of the rebrand, Slack decided to switch up its look
on mobile, making it difficult to differentiate from apps like Google Photos and iPhoto, due
to the extremely familiar app colors.

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 4. Also a number of people were downright offended by the imagery, suggesting
that the white space of the new logo resembled a swastika.

• Colors and symbols have different meanings in different cultures and contexts and even if
one personally do not see it that way, it does not stop others from doing it.

As a brand, we need to take into account how one’s symbolism can be perceived by
everyone in our audience.
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Final Points
• The change solves a very specific set of problems for the brand. As per my opinion, that’s a
really successful redesign.
• There was an opportunity to set the trend as opposed to following it.

• They were successful in making it more cohesive as the new logo is more refined, but still
contains the spirit of the original. It’s an evolution, and one that can scale easily, and work
better, in many more places. 

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 3. ABSOLUT VODKA
• Absolut Vodka is a brand of Vodka that was first made in 1879 and originally made in Sweden. It
is owned by the French company Pernod Ricard Holding Company and is the third largest
alcoholic spirts company in the world.

• In the early days of Absolut, Smith challenged the city of Stockholm's liquor marketing monopoly
with his vodka. It was sold outside the city border at a lower price than the monopoly's product.
Smith offered free boat rides to the distillery and was highly successful.
• In 1917, the Swedish government monopolized the country's alcohol industry. Vodka was then
sold nationwide under the name "Absolut Rent Brännvin". In 1979, the old name Absolut was
picked up when the upper-price range ABSOLUT VODKA was introduced. Absolut Vodka was
introduced to the global market in 1979, Today, Absolut sells over 100 million liters of vodka
annually .

• Absolut practices a One Source production philosophy, meaning that all of their production takes
place in and around the village of Åhus. The water and wheat are both sourced only from the
village. The vodka is made from winter wheat.
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• Marketing Strategy of Absolut.
• Segmentation helps in understanding the nomenclature of the different groups in the
population :

1. Absolut Vodka uses a mix of demographic and geographical segmentation strategies to

make its products more appropriate to the customers.

2. The brand uses selective targeting strategy to bring in the rich taste and give choice to the
customers through its strong product portfolio

3. It uses value based positioning strategy to create a long lasting brand image in the mind of

the potential consumers by challenging the status quo of the audiences.

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• Rebranding of ABSOLUT Vodka
• The Absolut Company are in the process of future proofing their
business by looking to develop a more sustainable and lucrative
brand.
• Together with brand union, they embarked on a rebrand strategy
to transform them into an iconic brand.

The Challenge
The challenge faced by Absolut was how they could make a bigger
and bolder statement through their brand and communications. 
They needed to retain their existing customers but make their brand
more appealing to a younger generation.  The brand had to
compete with the handcrafted spirits which the younger consumers
are gravitating towards.

Absolut could no longer rely on their current visual identity to help

them reach this new iconic status. 
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The Strategy
• Developed a master brand strategy
• Redesigned Absolut Original
• Designed packaging for Absolut Elyx, the world’s first true luxury
vodka
• Developed packaging for Oak by Absolut, the world’s first oak
rested vodka
• Re-designed Absolut’s flavored vodkas
• Designed the packaging for Absolut Craft

As part of the rebrand “Country of Sweden” and “Vodka” are

also being dropped from the logo.  This is for a couple of
reasons-

1.  It allows it to anchor the masterbrand to its growing portfolio

of drinks.
2.  It makes it more globally appealing.
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The Absolut Logo – Evolution
The manufacturer of alcoholic beverages relies on the heritage of the brand. The company has
abandoned the traditional label to emphasize the shape of the glass container, which looks like a
bottle from a Swedish pharmacy. Therefore, the Absolut logo looks exceptionally minimalistic.
The first version of the trademark consists of three lines of inscription. At the top is the name of the
brand, in the middle – the phrase “Country of Sweden,” and underneath them – the word “Vodka.” In
the first and third lines, the letters are bold and without serifs. The word combination, located in the
center, is depicted in elegant handwritten font with a slope to the right. The corporate palette includes
two colors: blue and black.

In 2014, the owners of the brand decided that the logo is

already quite famous, so they simplified the logo to a
single inscription, “Absolut.” This was done to expand
the range of products without changing the original
strategy.

The Absolut logo is a great example of “the less

the better”, as some of the best logos ever created in
the world are also some of the most minimal. 31
Reasons for the Logo Change
1. Uniqueness - Some of the specific detail which has gone into the
rebrand include, The Absolut word marque being redrawn. 
With the flares of the letters being enhanced making the characters fit
better with each other.

The new logo, which features a new typeface, now just consists
of the word “Absolut” followed by a full stop, and has become the
brand’s new “master identity”.
It has replaced the traditional three-line logo on all materials, except
the bottle itself where it is used to describe the product.

• By removing ‘Country of Sweden’, and ‘Vodka’, the company

is putting the focus on the most important part of the brand
- Absolut.
The company stated that the word itself not only means the
perfect, the complete, and the ultimate, but it also means
the open-ended, infinite and indefinite. Thus making the entirety
of the brand unique. 32
2. For Future Growth -The company stated that - “the new open-ended, infinite and definite logo
shows that creation is a process with an infinite horizon, and one that is never finished”.
The new visual identity has been designed for the digital generation and can be adapted for the
future in any shape or form.  Meaning as a consequence the design is now optimized to display
correctly across all channels. Whilst at the same time making it much more appealing to the
younger generations.

3. For Exhibiting Maturity and Strength - The Absolut Company claimed the change won’t be
noticeable by most consumers, but will:-
“strengthen the brand’s iconic status as a contemporary, forward thinking brand”

When a company believes they can safely remove core elements from their logo, that
logo then, somehow, becomes stronger & more iconic than before. The same holds completely
true for Starbucks, Nike and Apple. When each one of those companies simplified their logos, it
signaled the arrival of maturity, strength and dominance, in an all too crowded world.

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Results of Rebranding
The Absolut Company believe they’re now in a stronger position to
execute their campaigns successfully all over the world.
• Increased sales, growth and increased reach
• The rebrand has also allowed the company to unite all of their products and services under
one parent brand. 
• With one logo to protect, develop and grow, the advertisement process will be far more
easier.

• A 20% higher volume demand for Absolut than production capacity.

• Awards – The packaging design for Absolut Elyx has
been awarded with a Pentaward in the Luxury Category.
The Absolut Craft has been awarded with a Cannes Lion,
Pentaward, Red Dot and Eurobest. 
• And the relationship between The Absolut Company
and Brand Union is highly awarded.

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 REBRANDING: CONCLUSION
All the three companies, Verizon, Slack & Absolut, rebranded their company by changing their
logos, and did it for the right reasons.
They didn’t just took on a project like this simply because they were tired of their brand’s logo.
• They made sure that they had a concrete reasoning for a redesign.
• Made sure they are partnering with an agency that understands these reasons and owns
them as if they were their own reasons for the project.
• logos that Absolut and Verizon manifested was clean, original, identifiable, and something that
helped them reconnect to their existing customers and attract new customers.
• Unfortunately, for Slack, one of the biggest areas of backlash they endured was their inability
to be totally original.
The new logo was compared to medical groups, other tech startups, and some of the most
familiar apps on our phones.

But in the end it all comes down to doing it right, if the execution is not handled properly,
rebranding could be the worst decision of any brand, If done properly can lead to the rampant
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growth of the company.
THANK YOU!