From the company's history of corporate logos:
Today, Gannett introduces the first new Gannett logo in more than 30 years. The blue logo is simple and straight-forward yet fresh and modern, elevating the Gannett corporate brand and representing who Gannett is today. It has roots in mid-century newspaper typefaces, and expresses a contemporary eloquence. By choosing an all-type logo, our properties can continue to make their own mark with each of their distinct logos, while at the same time allowing for a more seamless pairing with the parent company. Gannett worked with the small boutique advertising firm, The Farm, to create the new logo and brand campaign.
They shouldn't have dropped the globe, just updated it to look more futuristic and sophisticated.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, I LOVE Avenir but the globe is especially more powerful these days with social media and the Internet, etc. When you read the history of how that globe logo came to be, it was quite an undertaking; One not to be done away with so quickly. The globe still could have pulled off brand importance.
Pence made a mistake with this. Plus they wasted too much money on the new campaign.
Paidcontent.org, which reports on the digital industry, says this in its article on the branding reset.
ReplyDelete"The new logo, sleek and minimal with a modern Verlag font"
Fresh and modern: logo -- or feminine hygiene spray that's always within reach?
ReplyDeletethis blog is the Internet equivalent of an abandoned amusement park where the janitors still clock in everyday. NO ONE is coming back to ride your rides. The antique carousel needed to be torn down.
ReplyDeleteDubow: “The economy, it’s been difficult, but we believe investing in the awareness of what we’re trying to do is going to create real opportunity.”
ReplyDeleteHmm, yes. Trying. What he doesn't get is that he should be investing in the actual product to enable employees to put out top-notch publications where people will choose to go first to get their information. If the product isn't good enough, then no amount of lipstick is going to attract more eyeballs or advertisers.
I couldn't believe it when I picked up my Sunday Gannett newspaper and found a way too long story about GCI's branding effort.
ReplyDeleteWayyyyy overdone, I thought.
Other companies would never get similar treatment. Editors are trained to assign space and prominence based on the newsworthiness of a topic.
But then I found another long story in my paper that also seemed to break the mold. It was a way-too-long piece on local companies that aren't locally owned. It was obvious that it was timed to soften the impact of Gannett's branding campaign, which tends to underscore the paper's lack of local ownership.
Holy cow, I thought. For Gannett, "it's all within reach." For others, advertisements masquarading as news are taboo...yes? No?
What's next, a series of stories on how newspaper readership helped high schoolers raise their grades?
The only thing out of reach for Gannett, it seems, is ethical journalism.
5:38: The new style guide refers to it as Avenir and not one of the faces from the Verlag family.
ReplyDeleteFor those wondering, Verlag and Avenir aren't overtly related. Verlag is a Hoefler & Frere-Jones incarnation.
The genius that is Adrian Frutiger drew Avenir.
Not sure what PaidContent is thinking.
Well, at least www.gannett.com looks great.
ReplyDeletethe logo is set in Verlag, and the corporate typeface is Avenir. Geez. The "guidelines are 100 pages long!" Well no kidding. You morons can't even figure out the difference between two completely different typefaces.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you @7:51. We had something like that in our paper, too. Gave us all a stomach ache. Our bonus-fed leaders paid millions for an ad campaign, toasted their brilliant leadership with champagne, bathed themselves in cheap perfume and pissed away any vestige of corporate journalistic integrity with marketing tripe. I just don't get how this is big news. Or even little news. A brief in PR Today maybe.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I would have removed the crossarm on the A. For me, that would have moved the logo away from just the typeset word, and it would have conveyed more of the forward movement you get with the up and down strokes of two n's
ReplyDeleteOf course, I'm not creative enough/cool enough to name my business "The Farm", so I guess I'm two stoopud too now what im talkin bout.
Got it all wrong - Should have changed the company name to "USA TODAY" as that Brand is way bigger than Gannett. similar to when Dayton Hudson changed its name to Target.
ReplyDelete@ 6:18. Hell Yeah! that is super creative! an upward arrow out of an "A." Revolutionary!! Yes…you are definitely too stupid to know what you are talking about.
ReplyDelete