Automaker unveils its new logo

Škoda Auto has ambitious goals in its future - doubling unit sales to 1.5 million by 2018 - and now the company has a new look that management hopes will get it there.

A new logo was unveiled March 1 at the Geneva Auto Show that drops the Škoda Auto lettering and brightens the green hue on the emblem, described by the company as a stylized Native American headdress and right-facing arrow. The green logo will be used on corporate communications, but on the concept car unveiled at the same event, the logo appeared as a silver emblem on a black background.

"We focus on the value-for-money segment; that is what we will continue to be judged by," said Škoda Chairman Winfried Vahland at the press conference. "We want to convey a new era at Škoda in all possible ways. It's spring once again with its fresh colors."

The new logo was presented as part of a larger rebranding that includes a new corporate design for communications and dealerships, and in a haze of fog machines, its chief designer introduced a new concept car that highlights the designs new models will be incorporating moving forward. And there will be lots of models.

"Starting in 2012, we intend to launch a new Škoda model once every six months," Vahland said. "In view of the new growth markets, we want to continue to make the company more international."

Škoda's push into growth markets - Russia, India and China - have brought it double-digit sales increases in the past year, which Vahland, who was head of VW China before joining Škoda in May 2010, expects to continue unabated.

"In these all-important sales regions in the world, we are going to grow faster than the market," he said.

The rebranding comes at an especially important time, as it becomes even more important for the brand to make an impression on new, more far-flung markets, said Michel Gabriel, managing director at Interbrand Zurich and an automotive branding expert.

"In the core markets, including Central and Eastern Europe, I can follow the idea to reduce the logo to make it fresher and simpler," Gabriel told The Prague Post. "But when it comes to emerging markets where it's an entrant, I'm not sure removing the brand name Škoda from the logotype is a very good idea. People in these emerging markets would like to know who the logo is from."

More important than the details of a design are the values a car company purports to have and how they communicate those to customers over time, he added, and a redesign therefore must be clearly explained and presented as part of its core message. At the March 1 press conference, Škoda executives stressed two concepts: the idea of a "fresh" face moving forward and value. Vahland touted Škoda's "simply clever" tagline and concept as practical with "no gimmicks."

The move draws a clearer line between parent company VW's models and the more affordable and pared-down options from Škoda.

"These are values that are appealing to people's rational sides," said Head Designer Jozef Kaban, who added that the company is seeking a more distinctive look. "My objective is for you to be able to recognize our cars."

The message behind the brand is especially important in the automotive sector, said Gabriel, who prefers to build brands based on clearly defined values that remain consistent throughout time.

"You have to come up with the benefits and the values, and tell that story again and again. One element of that is the logotype, which combines in a way all of these associations ... to focus on a few," he said. "With Mercedes Benz, it's the idea of the best or nothing; with BMW, it's a joy to drive."

Jiwon Shin, founder of Firefly Branding, runs offices in New York, Prague and Seoul, and has led logo redesigns for UPS, Microsoft and the Czech home improvement chain ETA. Redesigning older brands must incorporate the brand's heritage, she said, and unveiling a new brand is an opportunity to communicate and underscore the mission and story of the company, but it also carries the risk of falling flat.

"If you look at Gap's rebranding disaster of last year, in which they unveiled a new logo after crowdsourcing the project only to quickly revert back to the original iconic logo, it seems they temporarily failed to understand their brand heritage and the value of it," she told The Prague Post.

Škoda's heritage stretches back to 1905, when Václav Laurin and Václav Klement began producing automobiles under the Laurin & Klement name. In 1925, Laurin & Klement became Škoda after the company was bought by the Pilzeň Škoda concern. The company was privatized in 1991 when the government signed an agreement with Volkswagen.

"When a brand has a meaning in certain markets - and I think that is the case of Škoda in the Czech Republic - [redesign] is an important topic, and people will discuss it whether they like it or not, and I hope Škoda communicates very well its reasons as to why it changed and what the advantages are," Gabriel said.

Claire Compton can be reached at
ccompton@praguepost.com