Makeover Includes New Logo for Holiday Inn

Holiday Inn breaks with half a century of tradition with this bold departure from a long recognized American icon. The new logo is only part of the $60million rebranding effort and only a slice of the $1billion corporate make-over by the hospitality giant which includes sweeping facility, amenity & customer service changes.

Re-branding can have varying effects on long-established brands, either repelling long-time fans, or invigorating support & attention. With regards to Holiday Inn, I'm struck with a sort of nostalgic melancholy, offset by a giddy optimism. I hate to see the iconic script 'check-out' as it were, but always relish the arrival of newer, more exciting branding. For Holiday Inn the effort (the new logo design at least) seems to be a win.

The logo is in many ways more of a reinvented brand than a made-over brand, it incorporates very little of the original's mechanics. the new logo retains the core color scheme (green & white), not ditching the yellow completely, but rather integrating it into the new softer shades of green. While the beloved reverse-italic script has been replaced, there are still hints of the familiar. The single white "H", whose crossbar escapes the canvas of 'modern green', is highly active & exciting and will appeal to both family and business travelers.

Image courtesy of Under Consideration

The last decade or two have brought us a number of re-branding efforts. Some of which have pleased the public and met with acceptance, other which have met with critical recoil and injured the brands public prception. One of the earliest examples of a long-established brand make-over that really caught my attention, and helped foster my love for brand design, was UPS's 2003 rebranding.

To the surprise of many, UPS rebranded in 2003, bringing the company up-to-date after 42 years with-out change. The logo was embraced and along with other marketing initiatives of the time, helped UPS press on, through the growing competition from well-branded rivals like FedEx.

On the other hand, other re-branding efforts have not always been as popular with consumers. The guys at Under Consideration and A Clever Cookie have catalogued and commented on many of the past decades rebranding efforts. Definately worth a peek there.

As for the new Holiday Inn branding, its active, exciting, modern and approachable. I'm looking forward to my family's next stay at a rebranded Holiday Inn.