NXP Semiconductors

New:  Name, logo and independence

Launched:  September 1, 2006

Story in brief:
Said to be "the largest technology leveraged buyout ever," this is the spinout to private investors of Philips Semiconductors from Philips Electronics (who incidentally have announced their intention to drop "Electronics"). NXP's focus is on chips for consumer electronics devices; theoretically, its independence makes it easier to sell to such Philips competitors as Sony and Panasonic. Its leader, Frans van Houten, sought a brand that would express the "superior sensory experience" NXP chips would bring to mobile phones, digital TVs and such through its "vibrant media technologies." 

Verse Group, whose principals had done work for Philips Semiconductor, got the assignment to help with brand positioning, naming and "the basis for the logo design," working closely with the internal Philips Design team in Eindhoven.  According to Ally Cane, senior creative director at Philips Design and leader of the design project team, "the logo symbolizes everything NXP stands for. It's colorful, fresh and dynamic. The N&P on top of the X create two arrows facing inwards - so the N (representing the New) and P (representing Philips) point towards the X, which stands for the sensory experiences that will be enhanced through NXP products."

The NXP name, said to mean "Next Experience," came out of a full-blown naming process (master list of 1,500 or so.) A close contender was "Nexperia," the company's best-known product (also a Division name); NXP was felt to be stronger, especially in Asian markets and as a corporate brand. It helps that NXP resonates with electronics engineers as the start of a Fermi theorem, "N times P..."

You can download a clip of van Houten's enthusiastic brand launch ( "NXP speech and unveil") from here.

Credits:
C.E.O. - Frans van Houten
Identity counsel, naming, and design - Verse Group (NYC);
Randy Ringer, Michael Thibodeau
Refinement, implementation - Philips Design; Ally Cane, Sr Creative Director

First Impressions:
True, we are running out of good names. But has it come to this... that three essentially random letters can be the best available naming strategy? Maybe so, if one of them has the power of X... X the multiplier, X the unknown, X the wild card.

It's worth noting that in an odd way the rationale "Next Experience"  points to the past, not the future. Remember when Steve Jobs, leaving Apple, named his new thing "Next?"  It would forever reference Apple. 

The designers, given the name, used the graphic power of X to good effect,  creating dynamic layered shapes that do indeed suggest "vibrance."

Other Comments:
● Although the NXP name is said to mean "next experience," the design rationale is given differently. "Within the new logo, the N represents the next and the P represents Philips; they are linked by the X which represents the sensory experiences that our company aims to deliver."  As ever, one can only wish PR people could repress their need to 'explain' design, in anticipation of a question not that frequently asked.

● Roger van den Bergh notes NXP's similarity to last year's TAP redesign.
I respect but can't share Roger's disapproval. Prior use can't establish ownership of an idea so basic as overlapping letterforms, an idea which I feel NXP here applies, with help from the letter X, in a fresh and appropriate way.