Business Quiz: April 2011

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Logo Quiz

Business Quiz Spot is a dedicated Business Quiz Blog for all the Business Quizzers across the world. With a target of reaching over 20,000 questions in the coming six months, this will be an encyclopedia for all the aspiring Business Quizzers. Please feel free contact us either for contributing articles or for a quotation. You will also find various popular categories of Business Quiz such as Logo Quiz, Brand Quiz, Business History Quiz in this Quiz Blog.

Identify the logo

Ans. World Gold Council

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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Business History - Firefox Logo History

An open source web browser, created by Dave Hyatt and Blake Ross, was first of all named as Phoenix, which is visible in their first logo in 2002. Due to some trademark issues, the name had to be changed to Firebird, but the name was chosen so that they would be able to retain the same logo.

Unfortunately, this name also had trademark issues because of existing software. Then, they finally got lucky and chose the name Firefox, which has become one of the favorite and most used browser worldwide. In 2003, the now famous logo was designed by professional interface designer John Hicks.

The logo depicted a Firefox engulfing the whole world, which also signifies the global reach that the company strived for. There has been a minor change in the logo since then, with the colors of the continents using a lighter blue color, just to differentiate them better from the oceans.

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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Business Logo Quiz

Identify the logo

Ans. Saint Gobain

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Business History - ENI Logo History

Who designed the six-legged dog, which means energy in Italy and in the world? The truth as to who invented it was not known officially until thirty years later. Luigi Broggini, in fact, never admitted authorship, and certainty about his being the father of the symbol only came after his death (1983), through the testimony of his son as reported by the journalist Dante Ferrari. Luigi Broggini’s wish that his name should not be coupled with the winning drawing does not enable us to have an official definition of the real meaning of his “six-legged dog”. After the work had been attributed to the artist, there was talk about his having been influenced by the legends of the Niebelungen, by analogy with the themes of his formal research. The official interpretation, given by Eni’s press office in the 1950’s, explains the six legs of the imaginary animal as the sum of an automobile’s four wheels and the driver’s two legs. A sort of modern centaur, and also almost an assurance that this means of locomotion becomes the fastest possible through the symbiosis between automobile and driver.

An interesting parallel can be made out also in African mythology, in which animals with more than the normal number of legs appear precisely to signify uncommon strength. In Tanzania and Kenya you can sometimes see lions and leopards with six legs among the carved wooden statuettes of Makonde art.

In Nigeria , too, in the Benin bronzes, there are examples of animals represented with more than the ordinary number of legs, giving the idea of supernatural power.

The need for a new symbol able to make the Italian energy company easily and immediately recognized in every part of the world was the reason for the competition of 1952.

The Competition

The competition, advertised for two road placards intended for Supercortemaggiore and Agipgas products, for two trademarks and for the colouring of a gasoline pump, was open to all Italians and offered total prizes of 10 million lire (equal to 5164.57 euro). The members of the Jury were foremost personages in the world of art and communication, and this emphasizes the importance attached by Eni to the competition. The competition was a resounding success.

Suffice it to think that more than 4,000 sketches were submitted and that it took 14 meetings of the jury to choose the winner. Then at the conclusive session in September 1952, at Merano, the “Six-Legged Dog” was unanimously designated, but an extremely long, almost legendary attribution began as to its author.

The sketch that won the competition had been submitted by Giuseppe Guzzi, who in reality was not the author of it, but its “finisher”.

And this fact, by no means a secondary one, was at once made known. Various legends started up. It was rumoured that it was by a well-known artist who however did not wish his name to appear. Many names were mentioned, among them that of the famous Leo Longanesi, a leading promoter of artistic and cultural life in those years. Only after many years, and after his death, did it become known with certainty that the author of the winning sketch was the sculptor Luigi Broggini, one of the main figures on the scene of Italian figurative arts in the decades straddling the second world war.

The Trademark in 1998

Eni’s transformation, at the beginning of the 90’s, from being the National Hydrocarbons Agency into a joint-stock company made a fresh restyling necessary, to renew the image of the company’s trademark, since entering the stock exchange it had to express a profoundly changed corporate organization.

Bob Noorda, the famous dutch designer, was called in 1972 to create a trademark properly so termed and to develop a coordinated Group image. He was called in again so as to rethink once more the modern Eni Group’s corporate image. The solution presented was a new graphic project based on simple essential elements, but of considerable impact and appeal, able to bring together the various sectors of the image and to confirm the value of the Group being a single united one.

The dog “emerges” from the “palina” (an element with rounded corners, yellow with a black border, connected too closely with the gas stations) and “enters” a yellow square-shaped area together with the Eni logo.

The yellow square is divided into two parts by a thin horizontal red line that separates the two elements.

The new economy of space imposed a further aesthetic measure on the dog which was imperceptibly “shortened” to become equal in length to the Eni logo consisting of edged institutional characters. “

This time things went differently: - Noorda says - it was really much simpler to shorten the dog with the computer instead of using scissors like all those years ago!”.

This sign will be Eni’s new trademark and, with the addition of the word “Group”, will become the prefix of the logo of all the Group companies, graphically confirming the new corporate pattern.

The publicity image is often very short-lived: nothing ages faster than the image, worn out by all the looks it has to attract. It is particularly difficult to invent images that manage to outlive the promotional campaign which they illustrate. “When I design a trademark – he explains - I do so bearing in mind the cultural aspect, not just the commercial one, of a company. And I try to think of an image that can last, without appearing at once outdated and old”.

Bob Noorda has created more than 120 company trademarks, all of them very handsome and incredibly topical.

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Monday, April 18, 2011

Business History - Master Card Logo History

In 1966, seventeen bankers formed a federation for the reciprocal acceptance of their credit cards. They called this federation as Interbank and hence, the first 1966 logo. The ‘i’ was used to identify the participating members of Interbank Card Association.

In 1969, the name was changed to Master Charge. The new logo had the two familiar intersecting circles which make sense when we think about the interbank card business. Also, the ‘i’ was retained at the bottom to show continuity and also to make it easy for people to recognize their earlier familiar logo.

Finally, in 1979, the name MasterCard was adopted and they lost the ‘i’ from the logo. In 1990, bold colors were adopted which also made it easier to recognize the 23 horizontal bars between the two circles, which I think denoted the idea of multiple simultaneous interbank relationships. The logo looks more contemporary and simple, with an italic, sans-serif typeface.

In 1996, a more prominent font replaces the old font, and the number of bars was also reduced, resulting in a simple and powerful logo. The Brand Mark’s visibility, recognition, and overall brand image are improved, with new features including larger lettering highlighted with a drop shadow, fewer interlocking bars within the red and yellow circles, and a new dark blue background for use on decals and signage.

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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Business History - ERG Logo History

The story of the ERG logos begins with the symbol of a dice (1) used by the Edoardo Refinery Garrone. The story goes that the acronym ERG appeared for the first time when the initials of the one-man company founded in 1938 by Doctor Edoardo Garrone were written on the symbol of a dice (in Italian “dado”, which is also an affectionate diminutive of Edoardo)

(2)

The dice symbol was used, adopted by the refinery and in the first sales outlets, until the end of the sixties, when Garrone S.p.A. petroleum products, and Edoardo Garrone Raffinerie Petroli were divided, and the latter adopted the logo with the panthers which was changed from a round symbol (2), to a rectangular one half-way through the eighties (3).

(3)

This symbol, the logo of the ERG network which could be seen on roads all over Italy (in the meantime ERG had also purchased service stations from Elf and Chevron), was changed at the end of the eighties, when the part depicting the three panthers was erased, leaving a navy shield with white writing as the trademark of the holding company and of the Group (4).

(4)

The new ERG logo, however, had two problems: as it used to be part of a fuller logo it had very little personality. The energy and the slant of the first two letters E and R was brusquely interrupted by the roundness of the letter G, which gave the impression of being “askew”.
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(5)

Gradual alterations were made of two kinds: 1. the design of the lettering was altered (the G in particular); 2. the volumes and colours of the logo were altered. The final result was a new lettering, mainly used in is positive version as blue lettering on a white background, and not inserted in any geometrical shape. The character used was a new one (it could not be found in printers catalogues) and it became the new trademark/logo of the Group which, in its visual communications, no longer presented itself as the ERG Group but simply as ERG.

(6)

The ERG logo, which had been the trademark of the parent company for some time, became – like a family surname – the prefix to identify all the main Group companies.
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(7)

Halfway through the year 2000, with the commencement of electricity production, ERG went from being an oil company to a company producing energy in a broader sense. The new strategic positioning (ERG a world of energy) and, at the same time, the need to revamp the image of the service stations, made an evolution in the design of the ERG brand necessary. And so the ripple was born, the new symbol of ERG energy which accompanies and characterises the new ERG logo.

(8)

Ripple is an Anglo-Saxon expression which defines the effect – known to everyone but which does not seem to have a name in Italian – of the birth and propagation ad infinitum of concentric circles in a liquid. It appears, for example, when we thrown a stone into water. From that energy, from that harmonic expansion emanating from a single centre, the inspiration was born for the new ERG trademark.

(9)

In line with the policy 'ERG, a single brand’, the logo is the same both for corporate use and for product applications (service stations).

The prevalently positive use of the design (8) and the possibility to use a signature distinguish the institutional applications from product applications, for which an exclusively negative use is made.

(9)

A further development in the positioning of the ERG Group, which for some time now has also been engaged in the sector of renewable energy, has led to the need to communicate and enhance awareness of its mission already through its trademark, where the colour of the Ripple has changed from blue to green.

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Saturday, April 9, 2011

Business History - Fujifilm Logo History

The FUJIFILM corporate logo portrays the FUJIFILM corporate brand simply and powerfully. The center of the logo features an innovative design feature that points to our commitment to cutting-edge technology.

FUJIFILM has sported its current familiar corporate brand logo for 26 years since it was introduced in 1980, and over that time it has built on its core technologies to diversify and expand its business domain. Now, FUJIFILM is embarking on a new beginning, making clear its commitment to continued sustainable growth coupled with further business expansion and diversity. The revamped corporate brand logo will serve as a symbol of FUJIFILM's determination to enhance its corporate brand.

The new logo features a sharp design accent in the center, symbolizing our commitment to advanced technologies, while the use of red in the lettering expresses our firm determination to pursue ongoing innovation. The new logo is both simple and powerful in its affirmation of the new FUJIFILM corporate brand.

Evolution of FUJIFILM Brand Logo

1934

1960

1980

around 1985

1992

2006

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Evolution of FUJIFILM Brand Logo

1934

1960

1980

around 1985

1992

2006

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Business History - Mitsubishi Logo History

The story below outlines how the Mitsubishi logo first came about, and how it and the corporate slogan have evolved into what is used today.

Origin of the Mitsubishi Logo
In the 1870s, the shipping company Tsukumo Shokai, which was the precursor of Mitsubishi, used a triangular water chestnut icon on its ships' flags, and it is from this icon that the current three-diamond Mitsubishi icon originated. It is derived from the three-layer chestnut family crest of Yataro Iwasaki, founder of Tsukumo Shokai, and the three-leaved oak family crest of the Yamanouchi family, from the Tosa Clan. Records suggest that the Mitsubishi company name was settled on later.

1921
Mitsubishi Electric is established when Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co. (now Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd) spins off a factory in Kobe to manufacture electric motors.

1955
The official company name and typeface are decided. The font is called Mitarashi-ryu and is used until 1963.

1964
The corporate slogan which translates as "with you today and tomorrow" is adopted (in Japan only) with the aim of building a familiar corporate image among consumers

1968
A new corporate slogan, "ADVANCED AND EVER ADVANCING" is announced. In the words of President Okubo, Mitsubishi Electric CEO at the time, "we devised the slogan to cement our position in future industry through our technical expertise, and to establish a corporate posture of cultivating and nurturing management skills, so that a new corporate image would permeate the company both internally and externally."

1985
A Corporate Identity campaign is executed with the aim of boosting corporate image. The "Blue MITSUBISHI" corporate brand logo is devised for use in Japan to provide some sense of individualism within the Mitsubishi Group. Overseas, a logo is created that teams the familiar red three-diamonds symbol with a simple "MITSUBISHI." A new corporate slogan that translates roughly as "SOCIO-TECH: enhancing lifestyles through technology" is adopted in Japan. The overseas slogan is left unchanged.

2001
On the occasion of Mitsubishi Electric's 80th anniversary, the corporate philosophy is re-evaluated and the slogan revised to "Changes for the Better" as a consistent message both in Japan and overseas. The "Blue MITSUBISHI" logo continues to be used in Japan, while "MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC" is used overseas to provide distinctiveness within the Mitsubishi Group.

Three Diamonds

To develop a logo for the company, Iwasaki took his own family crest, which showed three stacked diamonds, and the crest of the Tosa Clan, which showed three oak leaves joined at the stem. The result was the forerunner of today's logo: three diamonds that come together at a central point. In 1875, Iwasaki decided to rename the company after the logo: Three Diamonds, or in Japanese, Mitsubishi. From then on, all the companies that would later grow from that original shipping company would bear the Mitsubishi name. The logo in its final form was registered in 1914.

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Logo Quiz

Identify the logo of this carry cases manufacturer

Ans. Case Logic

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Monday, April 4, 2011

Business Quiz: Toyota Logo History

The current Toyota company emblem pin badge, which all Toyota motor corporation employees receive upon joining the company.

Ever since its humble beginnings in Japan almost 70 years ago, Toyota has recognized how important it is to have a meaningful visual identity with strong visual impact.

Back in 1936, to coincide with the launch of its eagerly awaited first passenger car, Toyoda Automatic Loom Works Ltd. held a public competition to establish a new symbol mark to promote its vehicles. The company indicated that the new design should convey the feeling of speed. Twenty-seven thousand entrants answered the call and submitted their ideas to Toyoda.

The winning design led to a change in the name of the automobiles and plants from "Toyoda" to "Toyota." The name change made the Japanese lettering more streamlined and was also chosen because the number of strokes to write Toyota in Japanese (eight) was thought to bring luck and prosperity. The sound of the word "Toyota" was also deemed more appealing. The Model AA, Toyota's first passenger car, became the first automobile to use the Toyota name and new mark. Although no longer used on the product, the mark is still used today as the corporate emblem of Toyota Motor Corporation.

The original Toyoda mark displayed at an exhibition to commemorate the completion of Toyota's first domestically built passenger car in 1936.

The current Toyota company emblem, used only in Japan, whose introduction signaled the change of the company name. Here it adorns TMC head office in Aichi.

With its expansion overseas in the following decades, Toyota sought ways to consolidate the brand and raise international brand awareness. Although the mark "TOYOTA," in roman type, was in wide use, the lack of branding guidelines meant interpretation differed from country to country, resulting in an inconsistent global message.

In 1989, in an attempt to unify this global message, and also to clearly differentiate the Toyota brand from the recently launched luxury brand, Lexus, Toyota introduced the Toyota Mark & Logo.

The current Toyota Mark consists of three ovals: the two perpendicular center ovals represent a relationship of mutual trust between the customer and Toyota. These ovals combine to symbolize the letter "T" for Toyota. The space in the background implies a global expansion of Toyota's technology and unlimited potential for the future.

Effective visual identity must not only raise brand awareness but must also have an association with the product and corporate philosophy. It must also resonate with customers. The Toyota Mark & Logo does all these perfectly, which is why it is now recognized worldwide as being synonymous with quality, reliability and the spirit of innovation.

The Toyota Mark & Logo was introduced along with that of Lexus at the Second World Convention in 1989

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Logo Quiz

Identify the logo of which erstwhile company

Ans. Satyam

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Business History - Shell Logo History

Back in 1900, when the company was started the logo was a realistic and simple shell which lies flat on the ground. This was a pectin or scallop shell, but today the company has a logo which is bold, colorful and much more simplistic.

The evolution of the logo began after 1915, when rendering enabled the company to reproduce its identity easily. This is visible in the 1930 logo for the company. When the company started a project in California, it added the red and yellow colors to the symbol. The colors help Shell to stand out. Additionally, these are the colors of Spain, where many Californian settlers were born, which might have helped the company to create an emotional bond with the people.

With the advent of internet and fax machines over the later years, it became necessary for the company to simplify their logo, which would prevent it from being distorted in small images. The 1971 logo designed by Raymond Loewy is very simple as compared to the earlier logos.

This has helped the company because this logo is more memorable and recognizable, accountable to the simplicity of the logo. The 1971 logo is still used by the company albeit with minor changes, but it has become so recognizable that it often appears without the company name now.

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