Had a pretty cool time with my nephew who came to visit us over the last weekend. I really want to be an good uncle so we played together, fooled around but also went shopping for some toys and stuff. We browsed through all the shelves in this new shopping mall trying to find him a perfect new item for his collections and the entire adventure took me back in my childhood for a sec. Now what stunned me the most in that moment was the fact that some logos of popular toy manufacturers look completely the same as 25 and more years ago! I found some of my favorite toys there and noticed that even package design didn’t really change or improve much. If we think about that for a sec, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s something bad for those brands, but in the other hand, most of the really bigger and globally more exposed brands from other business areas did, if not a full redesign, then just some kind of the face lift of their visual identity. Most of the manufacturers put emphasis on their sub-brands or original toy names (understandable, kids never say “Please daddy, buy me that new Mattel toy” or “Mommy, I really really want that new Ravensburger puzzle”) but when you stand in front of those shelves it’s a total chaos there and everything is really far from the environment that would support the brand identity recognition… Except the Barbie corner… Pink me up, Scotty!
So, should any of those re-brand? Feel free to comment on them, pick out your favorites, add links of some logos that also deserve to be in this company or do something even more crazy – tell us what would YOU change here to make them maybe more original and interesting. Enjoy!
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Twitter: UniqueDesignIT
I really don’t think that for those storic brand is necessary to have a re-brand. Maybe some of them could benefit from that just to say “we’re here as always but with something new” but the most diffused brand like Lego, Mattel, Hasbro, Bburago and so on really are easily recognizable in the shelf when we’re moving through the big shopping malls…
Think to that: if they had made a re-brand maybe you won’t have written this article and we won’t be here talking about this topic!
Twitter: dominic_87
I got a couple of flashbacks when looking at these
I actually think I wouldnt change any of them. Sometimes it is better to keep it original to just keep all the feelings you connect to the logos. Good god, when I ever have kids I want to play lego with them. I really think lego is one aspect because of which I got creative 
Twitter: savaelstweets
Well u mentiont that a kid won’t say i want that new ravenburgspuzzel,
my flashback remeberd mr wanting “that new lego castle” for my bitrhday.
But i think you are not totallu wron here. It’s more for the parents who pay for the toys and the kids learn from tjeir parents for the first time why brands are that important. “why do I allways get lego mommy?” “because lego is safe and good quality my dear” kids actually ho fir collor yil the age of ~14. A test done in a classroom once proofed that kids will pill pick vegtables over candy when candy was served in a brown doll paper bagg and the vegtables in a colorfull and fun package
Exactly the level of constructive discussion I wanted to evoke here! Thanks peeps!
I think it’s a good question here and probably the point reason I named these series ‘Logo usage’. The answer could help us understand why did Coca Cola or British Airways (for example) re-brand even few times in that period. Thank you for the comment, very valuable point of view (also made me laugh)!
@ Unique: what do you think, did logos of those companies or their toys made me reminisce?
@ Dominic (our loyal reader): to draw a parallel, one of my favorites was Rubik’s cube, check their site, their logo sucks major time! Sorry Rubik, but it’s true. That doesn’t mean it will affect the success of that legendary toy, same as Lego probably, but then again, why did UPS re-brand?
@ Savael: I agree but I also think that an visual identity should support and empower the brand experience and the image after all. For example, I was a sucker for Matchbox car models as a kid, they had this cool orange/yellow packages and a nice typography that was balanced with the video games style in that period and the whole experience was super cool especially because of the fact that it was an high quality product after all (for example, the wheels stayed attached to a model a bit longer then on the other products). And only recently I saw, chablow, the same freaking logo?! How can kids relate to that? What can they connect it with, what is the context they should put it in? They probably don’t care about the logo after all, but the product/brand experience could be a lot stronger achieving the balance with all the other things that bomb them visually (toys, games, TV shows, stickers, etc).
Twitter: dominic_87
@ Alen
I guess the whole “emotions” aspect is way more important for a toy seller then a parcel deliverer. You dont look at a UPS logo and then look back and think: “Oh yeah, when I was a kid … wasnt that a good time?…” But looking at the original lego logo can make you feel just like a kid when you had you first lego box in your hands.
Hahaaa, Dominic! Semi-right! Imagine this: 1974, really cold winter, you’ve been working on an oil platform in the Northern Sea for almost 12 months in a row now, and then the delivery ship/helicopter/submarine brings you a letter from your loved ones! Man, you’ll make love with that envelope! You’ll never forget that moment! And the delivery company who takes that opportunity to make that day an really nice experience for you thinks a lot of it’s brand image and paves it’s way to a nice and comfortable future
Twitter: UniqueDesignIT
@Savael I agree with you for saying that when we were young asked our parents for the “Lego’s Castle” instead of “Mummy, please buy me the castle of that famous toy manufacturer”. Well is worth to say that I really love Lego and that I think that only the kids who has played with Lego instead of other similar products can understand what that does it mean for us.
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@Dominic You’re right! Toys make us feel a little bit younger when we deal with them after a long time. Every time I’ll take a look to Lego’s constructions or BBurago’s cars I’m always thinking “why not buying one right now…” and please take note that I’ve all my old Lego and my best car models conserved with other things that I used to play with when I was a kid so when I say those brand in a shop I always recall my best moments.
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@Alen You’re right saying “why does Coca-Cola and UPS did re-brand while Lego (for example) did not?” I guess that this can explained thinking on the kind of market to which these different brands are oriented. Coca-Cola is worldwide (and even space-wide) distribuited and known by all the world, even where there’s no money for buying it so having designed a new brand with a strong personallity should had helped it with this global market. UPS is a leader company in delivery so its brand is well known primary in businesse areas and our days (thanks to internet and online shops) to us online buyer. For that reason having a new (let me use that term) “2.0″ logo, more modern, more web-like whit those reflection and gradients has made it more relevant for the new web market that it’s gaining.
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I hope to have explained myself quite good… please excuse me if some verb or word is not perfect, I’m not a mothertongue English
@ Unique: I’ll try to answer it this way – when company starts to act like there’s no competition, the battle on the market is only a yard away to be lost! No matter the area, no matter the product, no matter the target group. There is always someone waiting around a corner with a better idea then yours, ready to make your business bitter just over night.
In other words, there is no such thing as a monopoly in it’s full definition anymore: everyone is a competition and only sustainable progress can hold you on the throne. Example: Mercedes -7%, Sony -12%, American Express -32% (comparing 2009 i 2008 brand value) – ALL leading players in their field! Believe you me, those guys can’t sleep quite well at the moment
Twitter: UniqueDesignIT
@Alen I’m with you… it’s only real that ALL the bigs cannot be sleeping in their position without taking a look to small realities with some new big ideas… what I was saying is that maybe this kind of companies (talking about Coca-Cola and UPS) worked on the re-brand for relaunching their business, while other leading companies like LEGO and the other we’re talking about have decided to keep their image for recall in our mind our feelings when we were young… that’s my idea but I’m absolutely open to new thoughts
Twitter: dominic_87
@ Alan
I guess emotions connected with toys are a little more common then with a deliverer, even if the deliverer would send me my 30 million € lotto jackpot
There is just nothing as emotional as ones childhood 