Booz & Company

New:  Company, name, logo and visual system

Launched:  May 21, 2008 (the company); May 27 (the logo)

Story in brief:
When the company that "started the management consulting profession" rebrands itself, it's news.

This new name enables the pending spinout (to its officers) of the global management consulting practice from Booz Allen Hamilton -- which will retain, along with its name, the business it does with a single client, the U.S. government --  a majority interest in which (the business, not the government) has been purchased by The Carlyle Group.

Booz confirms that Wolff Olins (London) was of counsel, and designed the new Booz & Company brand. As we learn more we'll add it here.

Credits:
C.E.O. - Shumeet Banerji
Identity design - Wolff Olins
 

First Impressions:
Strategy: It is a curious decision in that the name "Booz Allen," with hugely greater equity than Booz alone, goes to the business with one customer, while the business with thousands of prospective customers must invest in making Booz mean what Booz Allen already means. Just to confuse them, Booz Allen will now mean something else -- something the new Booz cannot control (and may not always wish to be associated with). Very curious.
Name:  Is the communicative name meant to be Booz, or Booz and Co (a neat three syllables), or  Booz and Company (the full five allowed)? Pretty soon, users will decide. (My vote - go with the logo, "Booz and Co" -- adding "Company" makes it too long and "Booz" alone will perpetuate confusion with Booz Allen.)
Design: In initial applications (see site) the wordmark is locked to a heavy bar, which anchors the visual system but is not necessarily integral to the mark. The wordmark itself scores well for presence and distinctiveness, but less so for quality impression; its mashed-together letterforms, disparately kerned, look (to me) too much like bad printing. The period feels cluttering, an unnecessary complication -- an idea more verbal than visual. 

Other Comments:
Years ago a senior Booz Allen consultant, a marketing specialist, told me  the firm would never practice brand or identity consulting because it lacked sufficient stature. It's an attitude that persists in otherwise elite business schools but fortunately, I sense, in fewer executive suites.

Unsolicited prediction: After a decent interval Booz Allen Hamilton will rebrand (to something completely new, or to some other acquired brand); upon which Booz will reclaim Allen (but not necessarily Hamilton). Booz may be well advised to negotiate first refusal rights, if they have not already done so.

Corporate Brand Matrix ratings:   100% structural (spinout/preserve existing equity),  0% strategic,  0% functional