Logolysis of Microsoft

Happy New Year to You! This is my first post of the year 2010!

This time its the giant software company Microsoft. This time its more of critic of the logo than analysis, lets see how this pans out. The present logo of Microsoft is about 22 years old. The current logo of Microsoft is supposed to be simple to satisfy both B2B and B2C markets. In my opinion the current logo is not really suitable to compete in B2C markets, for several reasons.

• Today, after the internet boom, the role of multimedia has increased.
• The aesthetics, creativity and dynamics became more important for the computer users, who seek visually attractive products.
• I believe that the current logo is inconsistent with the appealing products offered to customers like Windows 7, Xbox, MSN, or Zune which are modern and up-to-date.

According to a research conducted by a private group,

• Dimension of Name is satisfying with a good grade.
• Dimension of Aesthetic is quite satisfying, and gives indications for possible minor changes.
• Poor results in Dynamic, Shape and Color are symptoms of obsolescence of the logo.
• Dimension of Creativeness has also received bad responses.

All through the years Microsoft’s logo has been a very dull and straight forward logo. Even Steve Jobs of Apple has quoted that “Guys at Redmond don’t have taste”.

 

The first logo of Microsoft resembled neon sign fonts on motels and other road side diners. This logo had a two step layout with the Micro on top and Soft underneath it, conveying the message that it stood for Microcomputer Software.

The second logo of Microsoft was a thin font, all capital logo with just a dim-witted design for the letter “O”. The logo in itself didn’t convey much about the brand and its values.

Then there was the title cased Microsoft logo with a small hyphen between Micro and Soft. This time it was a little more formal and dead simple.

Finally the hyphen was removed and a single word logo was formed. This logo has stayed the same from 1987. The letter “O” was in pac-man style face. I feel that Microsoft has not evolved in terms of its brand identity like other technology companies for instance Cisco, Google, Apple, Adobe, Sun, Amazon, HP etc.

According to one marketing and brand consultant, the following can be subtle but powerful change in Microsoft’s logo. I also felt that MS needed this change! Tell me what you think.