Nokia Redesigned Its Iconic Logo To Visualize A Strategy Shift

Last updated on April 19th, 2023

Brands worldwide keep updating their visual identity to stay relevant and adapt to new market trends, and Nokia has done just that. Nokia, an erstwhile leading telecommunication company based in Finland, has recently redesigned its classic logo in line with its new strategic direction. Through this new logo design, the company aims to build a brand image that serves its latest set of consumers well. Keep reading to have a closer look at Nokia’s new logo and explore the company’s updated strategic direction.

Nokia was known for its feature phone and smartphone business, and once it dominated the market. Later on, however, other mobile phone brands gradually took over the market.

Consequently, after its market share eroded fast, the company strategically shifted to the digital product market.

Today, Nokia is no longer a consumer company. Instead, it aspires to be a B2B technology leader and sees itself as making good inroads in networks and industrial digitization. So, the challenge for the company is to change people’s conventional perception of the company and make them see the brand in a different light.

Nokia is now in the digital networking business, intending to be a B2B technology innovation leader in networking. That is why Nokia had to redesign its iconic logo, aiming at recreating its core identity.

The company revealed its new logo on 26th Feb 2023, ahead of the Mobile World Congress.

Remember, a logo is a brand’s visual identity of central importance. After all, the logo is everywhere — on a brand’s products or services, website, social media, promotional campaigns, and every marketing collateral. This is because people first see a logo to authenticate a brand’s offerings.

After the business shift, it was inevitable for Nokia to recreate its logo to convey the new brand message. The company’s foray into the new market compels it to redesign its logo entirely for the first time in the last 60 years. Besides its logo, the Finnish company has also given a brand new look to its website and gradually recreating all of its visual identities.

Nokia’s New Goals

The brand announced the overhaul when it came up with six new main pillars on which it intends to base its new business. The company now wants to focus on the following:

1. Projecting the brand as a tech-enabled services leader and intends to grow market share.
2. Introducing new business models.
3. Aiming to expand enterprises’ contributors.
4. Grabbing new opportunities to help monetize IP and invest in research and development.
5. Managing its portfolio actively to gain leadership positions in the market segments.
6. Developing Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) as a competitive advantage to the brand.

Nokia’s View On The Logo Redesign

Nokia officials also have come up with their reasons for redesigning the logo. Pekka Lundmark, CEO of Nokia, said, “Our new visual identity captures Nokia as we are today, with renewed energy and commitment as pioneers of digital transformation. We built on the heritage of the previous logo but made it feel more contemporary and digital to reflect our current identity”.

The company further clarified the new design on its website, “The company’s new logo is emblematic of an energized, dynamic, and modern Nokia, demonstrating its values and purpose. Furthermore, it has been designed as a symbol of collaboration, which Nokia believes to be critical for realizing the exponential potential of networks: unlocking gains in sustainability, productivity, and accessibility.”

This is what the new Nokia logo looks like compared to the conventional one:

Here is How The New Nokia Logo Conveyed The Brand’s Strategic Shift

01. Font Appears Thinner

The first noticeable change in the new logo is that the letters are much thinner. The previous logo was in thick letters that helped build a strong brand identity. But the new thinner letters represent the digital business of the company. Thin fonts best reflect companies’ digital business since they convey the technology’s sophistication.

02. Incorporating New Shapes

The new logo design comprises different geometric shapes that make the name ‘NOKIA.’ So, the logo features three triangles and a circular shape. This shift in branding reflects the company’s ambition in the technology market.

03. Letters Recreated To Give Them A Digital Look

The letters N, K, and A in the new logo are half-drawn, making them look like digital alphabets. By creating the letters in the digital style, the company successfully conveys that it has entered the business of digital networking.

The lightweight lines and circles are also in line with the trendy designs of the alphabet. These immediately connect the company with the new target audiences that look for networking and related products.

Also, the new logo retains some key characteristics of the old design. The letters are thinner but bold enough to convey quality and reliability this time. Also, the letter ‘K’ in the old logo looked like an arrowhead that resembled the play button. The new logo retains that feature with the play button formed in the negative space between the ‘K’ and ‘I’ letters.

04. Use of White Space To Convey The Message

The new logo explores the power of white space to convey its message of the company moving into new businesses and markets. A digital button is shaped in the white space between the letters K and I. You can notice another such button in the white space of the letter A. This element signals the viewers about the company’s new ambitions in digital markets.

05. Exploring A New Set of Colors

After shifting its business from mobile phones to the telecom equipment industry, the company announced its new color palette. The logo will now appear in five distinct colors depending on its use, replacing the old blue color logo.

So, these are the fundamental changes Nokia recently announced in its conventional logo design. The redesign mainly reflected the company’s strategic shift from a traditional mobile phone maker to a digital networking product manufacturer.

If you are a business owner, look at your brand’s logo to evaluate its design elements, such as fonts, colors, shapes, symbols, etc. Then, ensure it is still relevant to your target audience even after several years. If not, then think of redesigning it.

You do not have to splurge in redesigning your logo if you are a small business owner. Instead, explore an online logo maker, such as Designhill, Canva, etc., to create a logo in just a few clicks without breaking the bank.

Using any AI-based software, you can generate multiple logo design ideas based on your design brief. You can then compare those ideas to find one suitable for your new brand identity. With such logo generators, you can customize your logo as many times as you want to your satisfaction.

Alternatively, you can hire a logo designer to work on your design project on a one-to-one basis or launch a design contest on these platforms for a more professional logo. But be informed that these are little expensive options.

Wrapping Up

Nokia was traditionally known as a mobile phone maker but recently shifted focus to a digital networking equipment manufacturer. This resulted in the company redesigning its logo completely. The new Nokia logo has sleeker letters and comes with different geometrical shapes. Also, depending on its use, the logo appears in five colors instead of just one blue color.

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