PPR, the multinational holding company that is home to brands including Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Brioni and Sergio Rossi, is rebranding as Kering, indicative of a transformation from French conglomerate to internationally focused sportswear (encompassing its brands including Puma, Tretorn and Volcom) and luxury-goods group. 

The new name, accompanied by an owl logo and tagline, "Empowering Imagination," is pronounced "caring." CEO Francois-Henri Pinault explains, "We are there to care for the brand and take care of the brand," the Wall Street Journal reports.

Pinault carries on his father’s legacy as founder with the new name, which a press release explains was inspired by family roots in France's Brittany region as "Ker" meaning home in Breton, with the action-associated "ing" implying "doing" and "going."

Manfredi Ricca, the managing director at Interbrand in Milan, commented to the International Herald Tribune that the new identity reflects an awareness that companies need “a strong angle on what they stand for,” both for consumers and for employees, to demonstrate their “overarching vision” and values.Continue reading...

Perhaps you thought the Jaguar brand was dead. The luxury-car manufacturer most certainly doesn’t want you to think that — hence its new "Alive" marketing campaign and roaring "Machines" TV commercial.

As part of that effort, Jaguar’s biggest marketing push since being sold to India’s Tata by Ford in 2008, the automaker also has redesigned its logo. The shiny metallic logo extends to a reflective new font for the Jaguar name below the brand's iconic leaping jaguar.

Thoughts on the corporate identity? Post yours below.

The Liz Claiborne brand name was sold in November to J.C. Penney so it was inevitable that its parent company, Liz Claiborne Inc., would shed the brand from its name. The inevitable is now official. The 34-year-old fashion company is changing its name to Fifth & Pacific Companies, and will start trading under the ticker symbol FNP in mid-May, in addition to replacing its zippy liz.com corporate domain with fifthandpacific.com.

Claiborne unloaded its Mexx brand in September and then sold its namesake brand to J.C. Penney, along with its Monet brand, two months later for $267.5 million. It also got rid of its Kensie and Dana Buchman brands this fall as it attempted to right its own financial ship. Now FNP is left with three core brands in Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand, Kate Spade, and a sibling in the mens fashion/accessory brand of Jack Spade line, to focus on.

The new corporate identity may recall Gap's Forth & Towne, Gilt's Park & Bond, and Nordstrom's Treasure & Bond, but CEO William McComb argues that the name is a perfect synthesis of the east coast/west coast stable of brands, as it's "where California cool meets New York chic."Continue reading...

Look, we know the economy is bad and times are tough and the future is unknown. And we know that a brand looks at itself, and down at the precious logo cradled in its arms, and wonders if it's doing everything it can, if it maybe isn't doing enough. After a while, we understand — the brand just feels like it has to do something. Anything.

But seriously, would brands all stop destroying the most recognizable elements of themselves. Please? Because it's starting to drive us nuts. Now we have to deal with what Comcast hath wrought with NBC Universal — sorry, NBCUniversal.Continue reading...

Comcast held a town hall meeting today at its Philadelphia HQ to welcome the thousands of NBC Universal employees worldwide it's now home to, thanks to last week's FCC/DOJ blessing — all except one.

Missing in action as America's cable giant announced its commitment to the s-word (synergy): NBC's iconic peacock.

Staffers received welcome packages emblazoned with a restyled NBCUniversal (one word) logo on a purple background.

While the colorful tail feathers have been plucked from NBCU's corporate identity, new NBCU head Steve Burke reassured everyone that it would be "a part of NBC and CNBC and MSNBC for years to come," according to Variety.

Farewell to this — let's face it, better — logo: