New MSU Brand Identity

I read last week in the Free Press that Michigan State is dropping their newly designed logo. New logo? What does it look like? Why do they need a new logo? Did something happen to Sparty?

Well, turns out, Michigan State’s athletic director, Mark Hollis, developed the new logo with help from Nike as part of a MSU branding campaign (that is planned for April). It seems this new logo was going to help give MSU a new fast-paced image. Apparently, something had broken and an updated Sparty was just the thing to fix it.

The logo above on the left is the old logo that dates back to the early 70’s. The logo on the right is the new Nike designed Spartan logo. What’s the big difference? They stretched the jaw out a bit, made the helmet brush bigger, and they filled-in the segmented spaces of the brush holder, no hidden swooshes. Hmm… these subtle changes should be enough to lift the Spartan spirit.

Not so fast- as the new logo was going through a trademark registration process, fans, students, alumni and the public got a peek at the update. They didn’t like it and let Mark Hollis know in great numbers. New MSU logo cancelled. Not even Tom Izzo’s endorsement could save the new logo.

What went wrong? My guess - they didn’t do any market research or testing. Surely, they would’ve found out about the consumer’s love for the existing logo had they done a focus group. Instead, they let Nike have a hand in their brand identity campaign. Maybe, that’s the problem. Does Nike’s great brand identity make them an expert in implementing a visual brand identity for someone else? You would think so. I admit I don’t know all the facts behind this marketing situation, but somebody forgot to do his or her homework. Somebody forgot to conduct a basic step in establishing or redefining a brand: listening. Listening to the consumer’s concerns, impressions and opinions.

The redesign of a company logo has to be warranted. It can’t be changed just to say it’s an update. Or that it’s refreshing. As I learned long ago in school from Roy Paul Nelson’s book, The design of advertising, logo design should be original, legible, stimulating, appropriate to the product, and easy to remember. Simple tenets. Logo redesign is warranted if there is consumer apathy toward it. In the case of the new MSU design, it seems more like client or corporate apathy. “If it ain’t broke, let’s fix it.”

Coca Cola, AT&T, Apple and Nike are all examples of great brands with tremendous visual identity. Logo changes came with great care and in gradual, subtle steps, over years. See below- In the case of Coca Cola, it’s pretty much been the same for a hundred years.

    

Comments

[Greg]

Go Blue! Er...great post on the revised Michigan State logo. I have always found it interesting when and why companies change their logos.