Understanding Why Logo Rebrands Can Really Affect Customers

In recent years, we have seen many companies rebranding themselves by modernizing or, in other words, “simplifying” their logos in order to move with the times.

But, judging by public perception, it almost never goes well.

UH OH.

I am about to tackle one of the most divisive corporate topics in the entire world. This is a topic that rubs many people off and you don't have to go far to find someone on the internet who is mad and deeply frustrated by companies rebranding themselves.

And if you look deeper into this, you can be able to understand why.

I touched a bit on company rebrands in my previous article when I was talking about the "cycle of doom," but there I was talking about it from a creative standpoint.

Today, I want to tackle it from a consumer's point of view.

Logos are way more than just symbols used to identify brands or distinguish them from others — they are pivotal elements that can be the basis for a consumer’s emotional attachment to a brand.

When you think of Nike, for example, the first thing that always comes to your mind is that iconic swoosh logo that you have seen and worn so many times. Nike itself knows this which is why in recent years, or for the past decade, they have mostly used that swoosh logo in their promotional material without the need to use the wordmark.

Even in their stores worldwide, that logo is the one that is placed at the entrance and everyone who passes by or enters these stores knows exactly what type they are and the types of products they carry.

Logos, especially great and memorable ones, carry heavy emotional significance to a lot of people — which is why they get affected when they get changed even in the slightest.

One of the most pivotal parts of being a human being are the connections that you form that become a part of you.

The memories you have that you revisit every once in a while.

Being a person is all about the attachments that you have towards people, things, and values.

We form connections with our families, friends, romantic partners, colleagues, bosses, people we see on a daily basis whose names we never seem to remember, and more.

We form connections with the homes we live in, the buses that take us to school, the parks that we go to when looking to chill, that one cinema where we had our first theatrical experience, and more.

Those connections also apply to brands and companies.

The reason why we live in a world where people are obsessed with celebrities and public figures is because they form strong bonds with them — even though the only interaction they get with them is mostly through screens.

The screen is mostly just a connector.

But, a strong emotional connection that you have with something or someone can essentially make that connector invisible or simply ineffective.

So, imagine this — you have a great and deeply emotional connection with something that you grew up with, that reminds you of important moments in your life that you will forever cherish, that means everything to you and then suddenly — it changes and becomes something else, something you can’t identify.

That can be really shattering and can make you feel like those moments in your life are going away too or that you have lost something that can make you remember those fond memories.

Here’s a great example of this — KIA MOTORS, or after its rebrand, simply just “KIA”.

KIA is one of the most famous and valuable car brands in the entire world.

Minority owned by the Hyundai Motor Company, KIA has been around since 1944 (80 years as of this writing) and in the year 2016, the company reportedly sold over 3.018 million cars, with that number falling to 2.607 million in 2020, which may explain why they felt like they needed a rebrand.

Although, despite the decrease in sales, this is a company that still sells a massive amount of cars every year.

Now, think about the amount of memories that are formed in and out of those cars.

They become some people's first cars.

They go on dates with them, travel with them to see their families, drop their children off on their first day of school, have insightful conversations and laughs with friends and family members, become emotional over new job opportunities or promotions, listen to music and radio/podcasts while driving them, and so much more.

And, throughout all of this, the logo that they see is something they interact with every single time they interact with the car.

They look for the symbol when trying to find the car in a crowded mall parking lot.

They look for the symbol if there’s a great amount of cars similarly-designed to theirs.

They see and touch it on a frequent basis on their steering wheel, and so much more.

In January 2021, the company decided to rebrand itself — and made a massive spectacle of it.

It produced an unveiling show filled with amazing fireworks that even broke the Guiness World Record for number of fireworks set off by unmanned aerial vehicles and debuted the new logo to, shall we say, overwhelmingly negative reception.

People on the internet were really infuriated about the rebrand, with many being confused as to why the rebrand was necessary when the old logo wasn’t out-of-date, to many saying the logo doesn’t at all resemble the original, to many others thinking that the logo was actually that of a new sports car brand titled “KN” or “KM.”

In fact, it was reported in 2022 that 30 000 people in the US alone google "KN Car" every single month.

Many KIA consumers were also saddened by the rebrand as the old logo’s circular design looked very great and elegant on their cars, and they felt like losing that would really affect how the cars would eventually look.

To be honest, from a designer’s perspective, the logo is not bad. At all. The question is whether it applies to the established company.

This logo is a truly great and modern logo and even without knowing anything about the company, most people would be able to figure out that the logo belongs to a car company.

It’s cool, it’s vibrant, distinct, and it’s visually stunning.

The problem here is that it deviated so far away from the original design that it made many KIA customers to not be able to identify with it or remember any aspect of it from what they were used to for years and even decades.

Normally, rebrands have to be “modern incarnations” of logos that are outdated and don’t really work anymore.

It has to be a different logo but still carry a massive amount of resemblance to the original so as to ensure that people can continue to identify with it and not feel like this is a new company that they have to start bonding with from scratch.

This is what Inc.com said when evaluating KIA's rebrand;

The new logo represented a significant departure from [KIA's] previous logo, which was well-established and recognizable. The new logo was too great a departure from the old version. It lacked continuity for loyal customers.

They continued,

Brands like Apple and Mercedes-Benz have logos that have evolved over time but still maintain a sense of continuity and connection to the brand's history and values.

Here are some examples of what many consider to be successful rebrands;

1. Starbucks

2. Mastercard

3. Domino's Pizza

4. DoorDash

In rebranding a company, we shouldn’t take lightly the emotional significance the symbol has on many individuals and families that have moments and memories greatly attached to it.

Rebranding an existing and most importantly, an established company, is one of the hardest tasks a designer/design company can do.

You have to be able to cater to the brand’s established customers, understand the emotional connection that they have to the symbol itself, and ensure that you can modernize the logo to keep up with the times without removing everything that made the original special, unique, and memorable to customers and admirers from all over the world.

KIA’s new logo and new slogan, Movement that inspires, seems to have settled in well with consumers three years later and there aren’t as many rumblings about it as there were when it first launched.

Even when you search "KN Car" nowadays, most search engines will direct you to KIA.

The logo looks really great on promotional material and even looks great when placed on its cars.

But, if the logo was not as clean, professional, and so clearly that of a car company, the KIA brand would have been severely affected.

The same goes with Uber and Airbnb, whose rebrands were so controversial and caused such firestorms that many threatened to boycott the companies and never utilize their services ever again.

Over a logo change.

Conclusion

We should never underestimate what these logos mean to people and why they make up an important part of their lives.

Even the slightest amount of change is never easy, and even those that hated the Uber and Airbnb rebrands seem to have grown into them — with some even seeing them as better than the original.

But, it is the process of having to start forming new emotional attachments with what is seen as a relatively new brand whilst still trying to remember fond memories with the old one that can make rebrands become really painful to customers.