Brands of 2023
1. Toblerone's Evolution
In July 2022, Toblerone made headlines for its ‘revamped’ identity. The new vibrant swatch of secondary colors and updated packaging left designers and marketers relieved. It’s not every day we get to see a brand successfully refresh while retaining their core identity.
This year, however, Toblerone will undergo additional unforeseen design updates once again. In their attempts to cut costs– Toblerone is moving parts of their production to Slovakia. To which the Swiss government is responding to by enforcing what is known as the Swissness Act of 1973.
This act restricts the use of national symbols on products that don’t meet certain criteria. When we see something labeled “made in Switzerland”, it’s because 80% of the raw ingredients were sourced from the country and primarily manufactured within its borders.
Toblerone labels will soon be stripped of the Swiss mountains and will have to read “established in Switzerland”, rather than “of Switzerland”.
Why is this important? Swiss products have been observed to sell at 20% premium over their non-Swiss counterparts. The triangular-shaped chocolate is also presumably indicative of its Swiss origins. When a brand is stripped of its core identity, what is there to set them apart from the rest?
2. Nokia... but not that Nokia
In 2014, Nokia split into two entities, its phone business was sold to Microsoft and later sold to HMD in 2016. The remaining Nokia continued to operate exclusively in the sales of networking equipment and the licensing of its many patents.
To this day— both entities have continued to use the unchanged Nokia name and logo. And as far as consumers knew, the Nokia brand altogether was just another victim of the iPhone.
Until 2023, when Nokia reminded us that they are not just alive but thriving too. The newly announced logo change is sleek, minimalist, and causing a whole lot of uproar amongst designers and brand strategists alike.
Whether we like the abstract lines and designs or not– one can say all press is in fact good press. In this case, it was their way of saying that Nokia isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
According to Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark they are “focusing very much on the networks and industrial digitalization, which is a completely different thing from the legacy mobile phones.” and HMD just revealed the new repairable G22, complete with the original Nokia logo.
Nokia might always be referred to as the original phone pioneer. The question is: how will the new Nokia transition into this new market in the eyes of consumers while co-existing with cell phone products?
3. We❤️NYC
The year was 1976 when a man named Milton Glaser sat in the back taxi cab and drew ‘I
NYC’ on a napkin with nothing but a crayon.
This iconic phrase went on to be the visual and verbal representation of everything that makes New York City great. And unbeknown to many- it is also believed to be the first use of symbols in tandem with modern written language and the precursor to what we now call “emojis’.
The original napkin is displayed in the Modern Museum of Art in New York. The artwork alone— cloned on t-shirts, mugs, and shot glasses across storefronts throughout the city to this day.
Until recently. When a ‘WeNYC’ headline occupied Time Square, Subways, and city streets instead.
The new mark emphasizes “WE’ and was created in an attempt to inspire unity and hope amid political divisiveness, fluctuating living costs, and post-pandemic stress. However, the original mark was introduced during parallel conditions back in the day. Or so, critics of the new mark claim.
Its creators defend the new mark and say it was never meant to replace the original but to co-exist alongside instead. The new mark has resulted in foreseen debate amongst residents, marketers, and bystanders.
The original mark already captured a certain collective individualism that’s unique to the city. While the new one may not live up to its predecessor: maybe scrapping it will bring the unity it meant to in the first place.
4. WK Kellogg Co. & Kellanova
No matter how old you are – chances are you have had a Kellogg’s branded cereal box on your breakfast table at some point in your life. The brand is synonymous with ‘cereal’ and has been around for as long as we can all remember. This is no exaggeration given that the company was founded in 1906 with the sole purpose of creating vegetarian/grain-based granolas for inmates at the time.
Today Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) is a publicly traded conglomerate with a vast portfolio of brands under its belt. But many of these brands are now outside the cereal realm.
In their attempts to tighten up their brand strategy on both ends- Kellogg’s has announced the creation of two new companies Kellanova (Kelloggs + nova) for its snack innovations and WK Kellogg Co. for the cereal division.
This type of brand restructuring is more internally strategic than it is consumer-facing.
In this particular case – consumers don’t need to be alarmed given that cereal boxes will continue to sport the iconic red letters on them. The snack brands themselves have reputable brand recognition in the market and may not even be associated with Kelloggs by most.
5. U.S Army New Tagline
The U.S Army recently decided to take control of their narrative and released a new campaign that redefines their tagline and calls recruits to join and “Be All You Can Be”.
The new approach invites new generations to come explore their passions, build community and become the best versions of themselves. The approach is rather contrary to what one might expect from joining a military branch.
However, anyone watching closely would know that the branch has made significant strides to culturally adapt for new generations. Including: creating safer and more inclusive environments as well as openly making space for LGBTQ recruits.