Last year Memorex decided to update its logo. Apparently it needed to carry out some market development (otherwise known as filling gaps to get to consumers who’re not yet buying existing products, cf. Ansoff). According to a Memorex press release:

we found that women were largely neglected by current electronics brands. Our specific target consumer is a savvy female shopper, between ages 25 and 44, who is constantly on-the-go and has an expressive sense of style.

So what did Memorex do?

[create] a new signature, or logo, featuring simplified and solid lowercase letterforms that are friendly and approachable. The new Memorex signature features a circle icon or “o” as the focal point, representing connections between family and friends. This new signature embodies the three core elements of the refreshed Memorex brand personality: vitality, simplicity and connections.

My boss would call that marketing waffle (but note the carefully worded reminder that the circle icon is an “o”). So let’s see what they’ve done to “represent connections between family and friends” (what, with a logo?)

The old one on the left: Memorex. On the right the new one. Mem rable?

Oh dear. Do I get this right. Have they changed the name to “mem rex”? I thought it was memorex, but suddenly it’s become mem rex.

May I hereby introduce the designers who charged the company tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of increasingly worthless US dollars to an obviously unknown rule of branding: make sure people who’ve never met your brand before can read it.

“Hello Chinaman. See this brand? What’s it called?”

“Mem rex.”

I see. Just to make sure I’m not the only critic of the new logo, I surfed a few designer websites. They’re experts so they should know.

Well, I think Mem(o)rex has hit the target. According to one comment posted by another harsh critic “It looks like a tampon brand.” Well, that should appeal to the new female target group then!