new:
Genworth name, logo and company
Launched:
July 2, 2004
Story in brief:
Here's something unprecedented from GE… a spinout, requiring the creation of a new corporate brand. Genworth is a new insurance company, made from two of GE's financial services businesses whose departure will free GE to focus on higher-margin, less capital-intensive core businesses.
It's not easy to walk away from a world-known brand. For comfort, CEO Mike Fraizer's branding team led by Buzz Richmond (SVP Brand Marketing) licensed the GE brand for five years, chose a “Gen-” name (from a list of 1000) and the launch slogan “Built on GE heritage,” to retain equity as long as possible. Then Landor's designers provided a clean, sharp “Compass” symbol to add distinctive character to the name, and suggest directional guidance.
Credits:
CEO - Michael D. Fraizer
Naming and design - Klamath Communications, a “best of WPP” agency created for this client by Landor (NY)
First Impressions:
It's a strong new brand. The nicely abstracted compass is quite beautiful, its symmetry adding stability as well as distinctiveness. I enjoy the two negative-space circles, especially the vibrating circle created by the eight inner points.
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