Businesses that understand marketing know the importance of branding. Your brand is everything. If you see the golden arches, you know it’s McDonald’s. The Nike Swoosh needs no label, and it instantly conveys the idea of speed and athleticism.
However, the purpose of branding is only partly to be easily recognised. What you want is to be known for the right reasons. Your branding—especially your logo—should align with your business’s ‘story’, its values, and its beliefs.
That’s why, as businesses evolve, they rebrand.
And, recently, Google decided to give Android a rebranding.
Google Android’s New Look
According to Google’s blog post announcing this change, the company periodically changes its visual identity to keep it modern. It also wants the branding to reflect “not only changing needs but also future goals.” For example, the company changed the Android branding in 2019 to make it more accessible and modern. This included changing the way the new updates were named.
The latest change reflects the way Google’s customers want “more choice and autonomy.” It also subtly ties in the Android branding to the parent company’s branding. So, android, which used to be all lower-case, now starts with an upper-case “A”. The blog post says this will give it more weight when placed next to the Google logo.
The font now has more curves and “personality unique to Android,” which the company says will mirror Google’s branding more closely.
Additionally, the little robot that’s become “the face and most identifiable element” of Android—the bugdroid—has also got a bit of a makeover. Instead of the flat, two-dimensional figure that it used to be, the bugdroid is now 3D and with a lot more personality. The search giant says it’s to “ensure it can easily transition between digital and real-life environments, making it a versatile and reliable companion across channels, platforms and contexts.”
What’s more, the little robot can now change appearance—another reflection of the choice and autonomy expected by its customers.
According to Google, the new branding and the 3D bugdroid will start making an appearance this year. Experts think that the launch of the new Pixel in October is when the official launch will happen.
Why Is Branding Important?
As I said earlier, branding is how your customers identify you. It’s also how they identify with you. Businesses tend to convey a message with their visual identity, in an attempt to get people who agree with them to become their customers.
So, there’s a lot of psychology that goes into a brand or logo. It’s not just a matter of slapping together some artwork and a pretty-looking typeface. Companies like Bald Agency spend a lot of time understanding their clients’ businesses and what they want to communicate. Only then do they come up with branding suggestions.
As you can see with the Google Android rebranding, it’s important to consider what the customers want and what their aspirations are. Your logo and other visual identity assets need to speak to the people you want business from.
It might be “just a logo” but, as you can see with Google, it needs to reflect your business’s ethos in order to be relevant.
Parul Mathur has been writing since 2009. That’s when she discovered her love for SEO and how it works. She developed an interest in learning HTML and CSS a couple of years later, and React in 2020. When she’s not writing, she’s either reading, walking her dog, messing up her garden, or doodling.
