A Change of Brand

Despite being known as a B2C telecom giant turned dying star, Nokia’s focus has been on developing B2B network technology for the past decade. For Nokia’s first major rebrand in 45 years, it was crucial to be seen as the digital innovator they are, not the mobile phone company they were. In this episode, we talk to Lee Coomber, Creative Director at Lippincott, to learn how his design team righted...

Bolt, an online check-out platform, debuted its first brand refresh in 2023 and ended up sparking a larger conversation around originality. Are the logos being designed today really that new, or just an echo of something that has come before them? Arthur Foliard, Creative Director at Koto, shares with us how his team approached the risk of pursuing such a strong and simple idea, as well as the cri...

Despite being associated with cherished childhood memories, Baskin-Robbins began to feel frozen in time. Domestically the brand felt dated, but in international markets the line was out the door. Baskin-Robbins needed to create a signature that was strong enough to be global while domestically rebuilding the brand at a core level. But there was confusion around the timing - didn’t they just debut...

A name change is one of the most extreme versions of change for a brand. So when travel company Scott’s Cheap Flights decided to depart from the founder’s namesake, people questioned why such a successful brand would bother with a name change at all. The 2022 rebrand was led by DesignStudio, and we’re lucky enough to have Eric Ng, Executive Creative Director, and Andie Wexler, Senior Brand Strateg...

(Not so) lovingly referred to as the Florence Fiasco, the city of Florence, Alabama’s 2022 rebrand often tops the list for the worst logo launch in recent history. But it’s not just the logo that caused an uproar - the entire rebrand process became a local scandal full of lies, cover-ups and finger-pointing from city officials. Florence-native B.T. Harman, content strategist and creative guru, pro...

Around 2020, Visa wanted to reposition their brand for the digital economy and become more purpose driven. However, this story is more about honesty and how direct an agency can be with a client. Rob Duncan, Partner and Creative Director at Mucho, shares that there is a right balance between being a straight shooter and choosing your battles for the sake of creating the best work possible. To see...

Despite the success of selling over one million boxes of macaroni and cheese, Kraft wanted to position their signature pasta dish as a timeless comfort food for all people while creating a more contemporary look. In this episode, we catch up with Terry Sieting, Senior Designer at JKR to get the inside scoop on the Kraft Mac and Cheese 2022 packaging and brand identity refresh.  To see the change o...

Brands don’t exist in a vacuum. Sometimes world events change the way the world will look at your brand. And a change is needed. As bay-area tech startup Zapier prepared to launch its brand refresh, a new symbol making headlines would create a moral dilemma. Michael Jeter, former Creative Director at Zapier, shares with us how they navigated the decision to scrap months of work and move forward wi...

We’re kicking off Season 4 with a closer look at Instacart, which has been the leader in grocery delivery services since its early start-up days. But after about 10 years in the market, their brand was feeling a bit stale. Or wilted. In 2022, they started to dangle a new logo and look and feel for customers to get excited about. But the path to get there wasn’t easy. In this episode, we go behind...

Name changes are possibly one of the hardest things a brand can endure. With over a million trademarks filed annually with the United States Patent and Trademark office, but only 170,000 English words in common use today, names are only going to get more creative - for better or worse. In this bonus episode, host Blake Howard and naming guru Rob Meyerson discuss some of the biggest brand naming wi...

There aren’t many automotive brands mightier than Bugatti. So when the manufacturer of multi-million dollar supercars handed the keys to the brand over to Head of Strategy Linda Marquardt, Associate Creative Director Juan Barrios, and their team at Interbrand, it was a big moment. In this episode, A Change of Brand uncovers what it’s like to rebrand the incomparable and pitch a product most people...

Sprite is one of the world’s most popular soft drinks, with a style you can spot a mile away. But despite its signature look, the refreshing soda needed to find a way to stay fresh with a young new audience. In this episode, we go behind the scenes with Chris Garvey, Executive Creative Director at Turner Duckworth to see how they did it…and to hear firsthand what it’s like to catch your white whal...

M&Ms has a lot going for it — cute, memorable characters, a wide range of flavors, not to mention a storied brand over 80 years strong. But how could Mars Inc. expand the candy brand’s identity beyond its sweet core elements? Kristie Malivindi, design director at Jones, Knowles, Ritchie, catches up with A Change of Brand to recount how JKR navigated stakeholder apprehension to create a full-fl...

Retooling an American institution is no easy task — just ask Bogdan Geana, partner at Lippincott. On the heels of a milestone 50th anniversary, Public Broadcasting Service tapped the Lippincott team to create a refreshing evolution for the PBS identity, from brand voice to ensuring its signature blue didn’t come off as politically biased. To top it off, the updated look had to appeal to all 300-pl...

For decades, some of America’s most beloved sports teams played with imagery trading on outdated, offensive racial stereotypes. It wasn’t until very recently — with the public calling foul and sponsors pulling their support —  that some sports brands relented and rebranded. In this episode of A Change of Brand, we dive into the murky waters of controversial sports branding with designer and creati...

Everyone loves a comeback story, especially in sports. The US Open is the “big show” for tennis players and spectators alike, its brand is seemingly untouchable. In fact, its identity remained essentially unchanged since 1997. That is until the renowned Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv served up a new look in 2018. We sat down with partner and designer Sagi Haviv to get the play-by-play on a c...

With business booming and its national footprint expanding like wildfire, CVS seemingly had it all. But the pharmacy giant wanted to make a more meaningful impact on the future of health, from removing all tobacco products from its shelves to solidifying its name (switching from CVS Caremark to CVS Health). In this episode, Siegel+Gale CEO Howard Belk explains how his agency helped CVS unify four...

The Olympic Games have come to represent the best of the best — incomparable athletics, state-of-the-art facilities, host cities that pull out all the stops, and of course, outstanding branding. In 2012 London hosted the Summer Games and wanted to capture the world’s attention with an identity that would turn the notion of the modern games on its head. Sairah Ashman, global CEO at creative consult...

Although its identity wasn’t on the rocks, iconic bourbon brand Maker’s Mark needed to better connect with the Millennial crowd. We spoke with Creative Director Jared Britton at branding firm Turner Duckworth, who worked directly with the distillery founder’s grandson to refresh a brand that’s been untouched since 1958. To see the change of brand for yourself, visit achangeofbrand.com or follow us...

From a logo emulating its sleek black cars to an abstract representation of “bits and atoms,” Uber’s brand identity has taken a few detours over the years. We catch up with Amanda Munilla, strategy lead at Wolff Olins, to get the inside track on how the global branding agency created the latest and most enduring rebrand for the rideshare company. To see the change of brand for yourself, visit acha...

The launch tactics of a rebrand can make or break the success of the change. In this bonus episode, host Blake Howard and Brand New’s Armin Vit have a casual nerding-out as they each share their best and worst rebrand launch examples.  Brands covered in this episode:  London 2012 Olympics by Wolf Ollins   Block 2022 done in-house   MailChimp 2017 by Collins Kia 2021 by Blackspace   Iceland Footbal...

In the final episode of Season 2, we learn how Sweetgreen, a brand raising the bar on fast to-go and good to eat food, found a way to keep it real with a reimagined brand identity. COLLINS Creative Director - now turned Sweetgreen Executive Creative Director, Tom Wilder - and COLLINS Senior Designer, Sanuk Kim, give us the recipe for what led to one of the best new identities to debut in 2021. To...

Carnegie Hall, the renowned 130-year-old music venue and pride of New York City, conducted a brand refresh in early 2020. All was going seemingly well until the pandemic stole the spotlight and shuttered the Hall’s doors for nearly 12 months. Jennifer Kinon, co-founder of Champions Design, gives us a look behind the curtain on their resilient and thoughtful process. To see the change of brand for...

Just like traveling, the creative process can be an adventure where not every journey is the same. Tripadvisor's 2020 refresh is no exception, and Matt van Leeuwen of Mother Design serves as our tour guide for this Change of Brand that veered off the beaten path. Matt led the work, which had plenty of twists and turns but ultimately resulted in a delightful update to TripAdvisor's dated,...

How can a brand go from bargain to beauty? In this episode, Michael Keller of Blackspace, gives us a look under the hood of the recent KIA rebrand and how his work redefined what it means to be an automobile manufacturer of the future. To see the change of brand for yourself, visit achangeofbrand.com or follow us on Instagram @achangeofbrand . Credits: Produced by Matchstic ( matchstic.com / @matc...