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Case: Federal Express 1994


1994


old logo
THE STORY

The 1994 rebranding of Federal Express is one of those rare stories of the founding entrepreneur, in this case Frederick W. Smith, recognizing that his own-named baby had outgrown its childhood brand and to grow further, must be freed of it. In this case "Federal" had spoken to the baby's dream of nationwide service, long since replaced by a more global vision. And in practice, the five-syllable name had been replaced by its users, inside and outside the company, with the nickname "FedEx," and application of the awkward "Federal Express" logo had proven to be a continuing design challenge.

So there were functional issues. The bigger consideration, however, was the strategic opportunity to reposition Federal Express, in one pre-emptive stroke, as the industry's global leader -- as Smith put it, "to boldly communicate our worldwide leadership position and vision." 

Landor advised a communicative-name abbreviation (adopting the nickname), the design of a straight-type wordmark (with a conceptual twist), and a fresher color palette with heavy use of white. The tag line "The World On Time" helped seat the promise of global scope and scale. All of it, of course, was staged and advertised "to boldly communicate."  Tony Spaeth, 8/5/2007


CREDITS

Landor Associates SF (Lindon Leader, Sr. Design Director)


CASE INFO

Submitted by: Tony Spaeth, 8/05/2007
Status: Estimated by Tony Spaeth
Category: Support Services
Country (HQ): United States


MATRIX DATA

DRIVERS

  

TOOLS

Strategic driver: 80%   
Broaden scope/scale/visibility
  Remove limiting geographic association
 20%  x  Identifier tactics: Name change: Abbreviations
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Tag lines
    x  Change event : High visibility: Campaign
Broaden scope/scale/visibility
  Enhance size perception
 30%  x  Identifier tactics: Name change: Abbreviations
    x  Identifier tactics: Logo change: Wordmark-dominant
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Tag lines
    x  Change event : High visibility: Campaign
Broaden scope/scale/visibility
  Elevate public profile
 10%  x  Identifier tactics: Name change: Abbreviations
    x  Identifier tactics: Logo change: Wordmark-dominant
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Typography
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Graphic devices
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Palette
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Tag lines
    x  Change event : High visibility: Campaign
Change internal culture
  Refresh & redirect competitive energy
 10%  x  Identifier tactics: Name change: Abbreviations
    x  Identifier tactics: Logo change: Wordmark-dominant
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Typography
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Graphic devices
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Palette
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Tag lines
    x  Change event : High visibility: Campaign
Change expressed personality
  Renew/refresh public image
 10%  x  Identifier tactics: Name change: Abbreviations
    x  Identifier tactics: Logo change: Wordmark-dominant
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Typography
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Graphic devices
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Palette
    x  Identity system elements: Verbal elements: Tag lines
    x  Change event : High visibility: Campaign
    
Functional driver: 20%   
Name weakness
  Increase name impact & recall
 10%  x  Identifier tactics: Name change: Abbreviations
    x  Identifier tactics: Logo change: Wordmark-dominant
    x  Change event : High visibility: Campaign
Design weakness
  Increase visual strength/quality
 10%  x  Identifier tactics: Name change: Abbreviations
    x  Identifier tactics: Logo change: Wordmark-dominant
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Typography
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Graphic devices
    x  Identity system elements: Visual system: Palette