Of late there is this phenomenon around town where brands are dropping their trademark logos and going for a makeover in the logo department. Most recently and almost co-incidentally are the changes that CEAT and Shopper’s Stop have made. They have been advertising their change aggressively on TV, especially CEAT who have been at it for quite some time. I think a few more brands have undergone a makeover in the recent past though I can’t quite place a name on them at this moment. Oh yeah, of course I can’t forget Godrej.
When I think about it, the one that started this trend(in the recent times of course) could well be Canara Bank. At least as far I can remember. Actually, its not just brands but also many websites and portals that I have visited of late which have undergone a total look and feel change. The most notable would of course be Yahoo! Mail – Which I didn’t care for actually.
So, that set me thinking what is the funda these companies are applying when they are doing a change, especially changes to their logos. At first it struck me that they are moving away from traditional shapes like square, circle etc into more modern shapes like lines. Eg: Oval logo of Canara Bank to the interlocking Triangles, Rhombus of CEAT and Circle of Shopper’s Stop to the newer logos. Actually, if you look at it, the advertisements of CEAT and Shopper’s Stop show only the brand name and not the new logo. Are they new companies re-branding themselves by just re-shaping their brand names and not having a logo? Like Godrej, Shopper’s Stop, CEAT. The branding for these products are just the names. Of course, later I realized when I visited Shopper’s Stop that they actually have a new logo now. Their older one was not really a logo as much as a ‘seal’ of their brand name itself.
Now I believe that the motive behind the new logos is simplicity. Keep it short, simple and nice. CEAT has done away with their Rhino and Rhombus and now have just the name in a nice font. Shopper’s Stop have a Double-S shaped logo which is of course simpler than their earlier seal. Godrej might well be the same logo but a tad too colorful. Canara Bank have dropped their intricate ‘Rose in the Hand’ logo and have now adopted an easier ‘combo of triangles’ look.
Branding is all about having an identity that everyone can identify easily and remember/reproduce without effort. Quite smart I must say and definitely a sign of progressive thinking. Of course, some of these name-based logos can be quite a pain to show in pictionary games as they would conflict with the rules of the game. 
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Thought you might like some more reading along the same train of thought – http://marketingchitchat.wordpress.com/2008/04/29/season-of-makeovers/
It was supposedly a re-branding and re-positioning strategy, from premium retailers to ” bridge to luxury”.A workshop was conducted called “trail room” to understand consumer preference, based on the findings they felt a change in look is required , according to them the change was not just for the look but to implement further strategies that are in pipeline. According to their findings this move should help gain younger crowds attention,this is basically to fight competition. I personally see no change in my attitude towards the brand after its make-over.I don’t realize how a change in logo would lure consumers to their stores.
With Canara bank it can be said that it’s trying and fitting into the present market with what n number of private banks for competition. The change may indicate modernization, and possibly have an impact on customers. But this doesn’t seem to apply to shoppers stop.