Lexmark is proud to announce the launch of our new logo as the part of the evolution of our brand. Today, we unveil our new brand to reflect on the outside what we’ve been working toward on the inside: to turn Lexmark into a global technology company that creates enterprise software, hardware and services. This will mean a merger of our software brands with our printing brands into one single, unified corporate identity.
We talked with Todd Hamblin, chief marketing officer, to discuss the reasoning behind the change and what it means for Lexmark and our customers.
Lexmark: Why a new brand and logo?
Hamblin: A brand is one of the first things that our customers interact with. It’s the tip of the spear for our visual identity. We have changed so much as a company in the past few years, and yet our visual identity remains anchored in our past. When customers look at our logo, they think print. The current logo doesn’t properly represent the company we’ve become. We refreshed the look.
Lexmark has been transformed by its acquisitions and the continued growth of our MPS business. We’ve acquired a number of strategic software companies since 2010. It was time to consolidate these brands into one corporate identity and visually communicate how Lexmark has evolved from a printing hardware solutions company to an enterprise software, hardware and services technology company.
Lexmark: The new logo features an aperture. The definition of an aperture is an opening or open space — like the opening of a camera lens — that admits light. What’s the significance behind this feature in Lexmark’s new logo?
Hamblin: An aperture can both expand and narrow. We love the visual symbolism of that – we are expanding our offering and capabilities, and combining it with our industry focused go-to-market strategies, thus how the aperture fits with our evolution as a company and what we are offering to our customers.
Lexmark: How does that translate in layman’s terms?
Hamblin: Lexmark has always had exceptional customer engagement. The aperture is a window — a window that focuses on customer pain points. This reinforces what we are determined to do, which is to continue to solve those problems. As we resolve customer pain points, we’ll also be able to open up the aperture to expand their view of what Lexmark can do for them.
Lexmark: Why green?
Hamblin: We selected the color green for three reasons. First, green is a color of rebirth and renewal, a new start for Lexmark and our family of companies. Second, the color green represents a distinct and unmistakable break from our past as well as a differentiated color in the market. Third, the color green also has application to sustainability and our commitment to being a responsible global company.
Lexmark: The new tagline is “Open the possibilities.” What does that mean for Lexmark customers?
Hamblin: With the launch of the new Lexmark brand, we are making a very visible statement to the world that this is a renewed company — an innovative global technology leader with a broader vision and bigger portfolio that goes beyond the many current expectations of Lexmark. This is reflected in the aperture feature of our new visual identity and in our tagline, “Open the possibilities.”
Lexmark: What’s happening to Perceptive Software?
Hamblin: Perceptive Software will transform from a company or division brand to a product brand. We will retain the equity of the Perceptive Software name, one that many customers know and respect, and will continue to use the Perceptive name for many of our lead enterprise software products. We will create a naming hierarchy so we can clearly communicate our full technology portfolio, and the end-to-end solutions we build from that technology, to solve our customers’ challenges.
To be consistent with this branding strategy, we are changing the internal team name of Perceptive Software to Enterprise Software.
Lexmark: What else would you like to say about the Lexmark’s new brand?
Hamblin: We feel really good about where we’ve landed. It feels true to who we are and the messaging that we want to provide. Refreshing and linking our brand messaging with our visual identity is really exciting.
