eBay

New:  Wordmark

Launched:  September 13, 2012

Story in brief:
Evidently, eBay leaders felt the founding logo to be dated, perhaps the look of a start-up trying too hard to be seen. "The time felt right," said Devin Wenig, to communicate "a cleaner, more contemporary and consistent experience." The rebranding is also meant to signal change, and invites us to rethink the brand...  "Today we're creating the future again," Wenig continued; "We've been building the new eBay."

Lippincott won this assignment, and scaled the brand back to a calmer, more conventionally authoritative presence. As expressed by Su Matthews, a Lippincott Senior Partner:

“We wanted to reflect the right amount of change in eBay’s new logo. The design is inspired by today’s vibrant marketplace and sleeker experiences. We leveraged the iconic color arrangement and approachable form to reflect eBay’s heritage and evolved it with a brighter blue and darker yellow and a streamlined arrangement to create more visual harmony.”

 

Credits:
C.E.O. - John Donahoe
C.M.O. - Devin Wenig, President, Global Marketplaces
Identity design - Lippincott
 

Interesting. Don't shopping bags imply retail stores?

First Impressions:
Strategy:  Timely. The Wall Street Journal writes today (13 September)that "Shares of eBay have gained more than 50% in value in the year to date, as the company has seen continued impressive growth in its PayPal payments business, and convinced Wall Street that its core Marketplaces business has turned a corner and is primed for better days."
Design:  "Funky" successfully replaced by "Authoritative," while not quite boring. The name, colors and (arguably) tight kerning retain all the equity needed; the simpler, calmer visual presence adds to quality impression.

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