A new world for car logos and the rise of branded podcasts: Your Marketing Week
With Russell on holiday, it is my turn again to look at the key stories from this week and offer a view on what they mean for you and the industry. From the future of auto brands to the rise of the branded podcast, it’s been a busy week. Here is my take.
Highway to the future
There have been a slew of logo updates for major car brands over the past few weeks. First Volkswagen and BMW updated their image, then Nissan and Toyota did the same.
The changes are mostly cosmetic. Gone are multifaceted 3D effects and rendered metallic surfaces, replaced by pared-back, two dimensional,versions of the company marques.
The reasons for the changes have elicited some of the usual rubbish that spouts from execs’ mouths when they try to justify a logo upgrade. “We developed the new brand visual design with ‘tomorrow’ in mind,” says Nissan. “Toyota believes in Mobility for All; that freedom to move, to travel, to access all you want to access is critical to better life outcomes,” says Toyota.
Yet there is more going on below the surface than it first appears. Car manufacturers are under growing pressure to phase out internal combustion engines in favour of cleaner energy. At the same time, consumers are looking for more flexibility in how they access cars.