MapQuest rolled out a new brand identity this week along with a website redesign in an effort to take some market share from online mapping leader Google Maps. Check out the old and new MapQuest logos below:
According to an entry on the MapQuest blog, the new brand identity and logo story is as follows:
“Our new brand identity resonates with our core value of helping people find places. The Quest in our name evokes a spirit of inquiry and exploration, whether it is a trip down the street or a journey across the country. Like the new site, the updated brand is simple, clean and modern. We also introduced a new icon that can mean different things to different people. No matter what it means to you, we hope that the user experience helps you more easily navigate your world – Whatever your Quest, MapQuest.”
The new MapQuest website tries to take getting directions to a new level of localization and personalization. Not only can visitors find local establishments easier than before, but they can also personalize, save and share searches and information. This is MapQuest’s attempt at making the site and its services more social.
Overall the changes to MapQuest.com should be welcomed by users and certainly the site overhaul makes the brand seem more up-to-date than the previous version did. The new logo is also modernized. You can follow this link to watch a video that shows how the new logo can be animated into some kind of elephant-like animal that is still up for debate across the social web with no one quite certain what it’s supposed to be and many people more than a little creeped-out by it.
However, I expect that in time the animated character will be accepted by the masses and the new brand identity will have a positive effect on MapQuest overall.
What do you think?
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
