[Robo]

Packard Bell continues to surprise the world by not being dead. In search of a more vibrant image, they recently rebranded:

http://www.underconsideration.com/br...like_so_co.php

The results are, well, you can see them for yourself. But the awful logo is almost worth it, just for the comedic gold in the press release:

Originally Posted by Packard Bell The Packard Bell brand is where simplicity, trends and technology meets to create fashionably new ways of living and ultra smart forms for working. Across all products and segments, Packard Bell sets the standard for cool, design-driven technology.

Really? Packard Bell is the standard for cool design? Oh, and on their new color choice:

Originally Posted by Packard Bell Red is color at its best.

WTF? In case you weren't convinced that they were totally nuts:

Originally Posted by Packard Bell Moving from Packard Bell to "PB": That's so cool!!!

...

There's much more at the above link, which in turn links to PB's full PDF.

Ironically, the logo they had before the "before," way back in the eighties, looks fresher than any of them:



The symbol needs to be updated (or dispensed with), but the logotype has aged surprisingly well. It's almost Myriad.

So, does their "logo r-evolution" leave anybody "breathless"? Does it make you feel "a part of it," whatever that means?

[chucker]

So, like, they sell ice cream, right? Because their logo certainly does not suggest anything more serious than that.

[PB PM]

Isn't Packard Bell owned by Acer? It would have been acquired along with Gateway by them last year, and Gateway had bought out PB a few years ago.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by PB PM Isn't Packard Bell owned by Acer?

Yup. Along with Gateway, and eMachines, and all the other stuff of yesteryear's.

[Robo]

Acer is where PC brands go to die.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Roboman Acer is where PC brands go to die.

They should merge with Google, where startups go to die.

[Banana]

What is the name of that defunct car company if not Packard Bell?

Maybe I was mistaken; it seems to having been a consumer electronic company before becoming a PC manufacturer. Even more interestingly, it once was the top-seller in 1995.

[psmith2.0]

The level of horseshit, meaningless and by-the-book "PR speak" in that release is mind-blowing...

...adapting its visual identity to the brand value proposition deriving from the group’s multi-brand strategy.

They forgot to include the words "leverage", "win-win", "empowered", "mission-critical", "synergy" and "paradigm". Idiots...didn't they get the memo?



Seriously...what the hell does that even mean? It just sounds like something cobbled together from a mid-late 90's corporate "total quality/mission statement" guideline.



All this drivel that companies engage in, playing the game. I guess it's how they're expected to sound and talk, but it's just laughable and doesn't impress anyone at this point. It's like a bad "Dilbert" routine...

[Jerman]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 They forgot to include the words "leverage", "win-win", "empowered", "mission-critical", "synergy" and "paradigm". Idiots...didn't they get the memo?

Rofl! Yeah, I am missing Synergy! Made me think of 30 Rock...

What an awful logo, for sure. I think you are right on, Roboman, when you say that their first logo looked better!

Packard Bell does indeed take me back, though. It was our first desktop computer, and had not one but two hard drives, for a total of 3 gigabytes of space! My Father was astonished to find I had filled half a gig in the first month of ownership.

[addabox]

For some reason "Packard Bell" always puts me in mind of "bulbous." Not sure why, I'm assuming I must have encountered Packard Bell gear at some point that struck me that way.

At any rate, they should make that their new tag line: "Packard Bell-- Somewhat Less Bulbous, Bitches."

Then they could hire the people that are doing the current Burger King ads to do one of those right-past-ironic-and-into-actually-creepy-and-off-putting campaigns. It could involve morbidly obese people wearing silly hats sitting in brutally over-lit rooms staring fixedly at Packard Bell items. With accordion music.

Or, you know, something else. But creepy. Creepy is the new synergy.

[curiousuburb]

Or hire the dudes who did Reese's Peanut Butter Cup ads.

"So this Packard is driving down the street and runs into a Bell telephone & telegraph exchange"

[addabox]

Originally Posted by curiousuburb Or hire the dudes who did Reese's Peanut Butter Cup ads. "So this Packard is driving down the street and runs into a Bell telephone & telegraph exchange"

You got lackluster branding on my 19th century technology! You got 19th century technology on my lackluster branding!

[FFL]

Hackard Smell
Smackard Hell
Whackerd Fell
Crackerd Sell

I used to have so much fun coming up with alternate names for this company!

[Robo]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 The level of horseshit, meaningless and by-the-book "PR speak" in that release is mind-blowing...

Companies have to do that whenever they adopt a new logo, though. They have to "explain" what makes it better to all the shareholders. It's not enough to say "our old logo looked old" or whatever. They have to throw in stuff like "we made it red because that is the color of energy!" and whatever.

Identity design firms do the same thing, mind. Corporate customers want to hear it. They want proof that the new logo is "better," and while all designers just want to be able to say "Your old logo was a poorly kerned mess that lacked visual presence; we've given it a few tweaks and created a new visual system around it," that's not "worth" their paychecks to the suits and Company X. Instead, they want pages of breathless prose, equating the logo with the biggest revolution in design since the golden ratio.

Think I'm kidding? Don't click this then.

Corporate types want to hear how your logo "establishes a gravitational pull to shift from a 'transactional' experience to an 'invitational' expression." That's, erm, a lot to expect of a logo.

But hey! Arnell got the contract - worth, I've heard, as much as $200 million.

[curiousuburb]

D'oh! I was just about to link to that Robo!

[Banana]

Regarding the market-speak-

I'm just wondering when someone will "get" it that nobody really seriously take anything at face value and maybe just quit talking that way for a change? You know it, I know it, he knows it, and even that two years old baby know it and somehow the marketing people haven't clued in?

[Kickaha]

Originally Posted by Banana even that two years old baby know it and somehow the marketing people haven't clued in?

Thereby providing evidence that the marketing people are dumber than a two year old.

(That's normal, AFAICT...)

[iFerret]

Ah I remember Packard Bell. Our first computer was a Packard Bell.

I agree that the 80s logo was by far the best. This new one is just an absolute mess. The previous was not the worst piece of junk ever, but the 80s logo is still way better.

[bassplayinMacFiend]

I had to try and keep a few Packard Bell computers running in mid 90s. They were complete and utter crap and even though I was being paid by the hour to maintain them, they still sucked. There's a reason you can't find them in the US anymore.

[SpecMode]

Ah, I remember the old Legend 10CD I inherited back in the 90s after my folks bought a Packard Bell Pentium 2 tower to replace it. I ended up wiping the HDD (ZOMG 340MB!!11!1) and playing with various Linux distros on it.

For someone with no prior *nix experience whatsoever, configuring X11 on that ancient Cirrus Logic graphics adapter via xf86config was loads of "fun". I still managed to get it running better than Win95, though. Looked better, too.

[cosus]

It might be the headache, but I think Packard Bell is now only promoted as a brand in Europe, where it apparently has some decent reputation.

[Dorian Gray]

Originally Posted by cosus It might be the headache, but I think Packard Bell is now only promoted as a brand in Europe, where it apparently has some decent reputation.

Packard Bell computers are sold here, for sure, but a decent reputation? Anyone with a shred of computer knowledge stays well away from them. Not that they're likely any worse than other machines in that price range. But $500 laptops are useful only to beat Apple over the head with at periodic intervals.

Their new logo is horrific, but will probably appeal to the tasteless people that buy PB computers.