Reebok
Nov 2019: Delta dropped
Reebok logo before and after
BeforeUntil Nov 2019
Reebok logo via Wikimedia Commons (author: Reebok Ltd.). Source: commons.wikimedia.org
AfterSince Nov 2019
Reebok logo via Wikimedia Commons (author: Reebok under license from Adidas). Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Key facts
Reebok launched a new logo in Nov 2019.
- Brand
- Reebok
- Launched
- Source: report.adidas-group.com
- Studio
- Not recordedAdd it
- What changed
- Nov 2019: Delta dropped.
- Why
- Reebok unified its sports and lifestyle products under the Vector logo, which remained the symbol customers recognised most.
- Sources
- adweek.com, creativebloq.com, hypebeast.com
Cite this Rebrand Log, "Reebok new logo (2019)", https://rebrandlog.com/rebrand/reebok-2019/, last updated .
The Reebok rebrand, explained
Key people: Karen Reuther (VP of creative direction, Reebok)
Reebok introduced the Delta, a red triangle of three shapes, in 2011. But the older Vector logo, a flag-like set of strokes introduced in 1992, never went away. It kept appearing on lifestyle products and the Reebok Classics line, and Creative Bloq noted that it remained the symbol customers recognised most.
In November 2019 Reebok announced it would unify its sports and lifestyle products under an updated Vector and the drop-R wordmark, from the start of 2020. The Delta survived only on CrossFit and UFC products.
The new Vector is an evolution of the 1992 mark, thinner and more modern. Reebok's own explainer said it had a flattened top to create forward movement, a stabilised base for better balance, and wider channels between strokes for legibility at small sizes. The lines are straighter and longer, and the wordmark more streamlined.
Karen Reuther, vice president of creative direction, said that under one banner all products would tell a single clear and consistent story. She described the Vector as a logo version of the Reebok side stripes and cross-check design dating back more than 50 years, and powerfully linked to some of the brand's greatest cultural moments.
Campaign US added the business case. Reebok's president said the brand had built its credentials in fitness and fashion as two separate things, and that unifying it reflected consumers for whom the line between the two had blurred. The magazine reported that Karen Reuther led the redesign, and that the new look was first mentioned by Adidas's chief executive on a quarterly earnings call, alongside a second consecutive quarter of growth for Reebok. Hypebeast noted that the Vector had already been appearing on heritage and lifestyle products and on a Pyer Moss collection, with the rollout beginning that month.
Campaign US got the business case from the brand's president: Reebok had built credentials in fitness and fashion as two separate things, while consumers saw no line between them, so the brand unified under the Vector, its most recognised symbol. The creative direction lead called the identity dynamic and tied to some of its greatest cultural moments. The president also stressed digital, with marketing and digital teams merged and the direct consumer relationship treated as the priority. Retiring the Delta to promote the Vector is less a redesign than an admission of what people already loved.
Adweek summed up the reason: the 1992 logo proved too popular. This is a brand admitting its customers were right, and it is the correct call. The Delta stood for one fitness strategy; the Vector stands for Reebok itself, and the refinements are subtle enough to keep the nostalgia intact.
In short: Reebok lets its fans win and brings back the Vector.
Sources
- 1. report.adidas-group.comhttps://report.adidas-group.com/2019/en/group-management-report-our-company/corporate-strategy/reebok-brand-strategy.html
- 2. adweek.comhttps://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/reebok-vector-logo-refresh-red-delta-symbol/
- 3. bizjournals.comhttps://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2019/11/07/reebok-drops-the-delta-from-its-logo.html