Yell rebrands as hibu
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The Yell Group is set to be renamed hibu, with the new identity created by Landor.
The Yell Group, which operates the Yellow Pages and Yell online in the UK, as well as a portfolio of brands around the world, is to adopt the hibu name internationally as its corporate identity and for all consumer-facing activities, although all hibu’s print products will continue to be sold under their existing names.
According to Yell, the new hibu brand is built around the positioning of ‘connecting communities’ and also reflects the company’s increasing focus on the digital consumer.
A statement from Yell says, ‘Communities are built on the connections people make and people are connected at the heart of the hibu logo.
‘The identity utilises typography with soft shouldered edges like the human body and coloured dots represent the people behind the identity, diversity, connections and conversation.
‘By using bold lower-case typography with soft edges we project a human and approachable company.’
The new name and branding will be taken on subject to shareholder approval at Yell’s annual general meeting on 26 July.
Landor was appointed to the work last autumn following a pitch, and was tasked with reviewing Yell’s global portfolio of brands and creating a consistent international message.
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Readers' comments (17)
Richard Holt | Tue, 22 May 2012 10:55 am
Awful. If they weren't in trouble before, they are now.
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Jason Hunt | Tue, 22 May 2012 1:10 pm
Couldn't agree more @richard! Yell is following Yahoo into onscurity. Which is fine.
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Anonymous | Tue, 22 May 2012 2:20 pm
Not sure if this is a keeper. Font seems a little forced, and just seems like they're jumping on the social band wagon with all the colour accents (Obvious colour segmentation = consistency). I can just imagine how it will look once the collateral is released. I expect better things from Landor.
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Gopinath Kandukuri | Tue, 22 May 2012 4:07 pm
Great Job done by Landor!!! Thanx for giving us an awesome "Logo' - Gopinath K
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James | Tue, 22 May 2012 4:45 pm
Does the new name with addittion of ü (Umlaut) suggest that the Yellow Pages is giving up on the UK market?
Either that or it's a tribute to heavy metal, röck döts as in Mötley Crüe!
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ashishsainik | Tue, 22 May 2012 7:23 pm
Why such strong reactions!
The name does sound shocking and especially when you know that a name like Yell is rebranded to “Hibu”! but that was the point.
A company does not necessarily have to be in trouble to be rebranded as some of you have suggested. The traditional paper directory business is taking a giant leap to digital media and that is why they needed to rebrand it.
And this would not be the first time when you have heard of an outrageous brand name, here are some now very famous brands but surely when they first came out similar reactions would have been noticed.
Fubu, Fcuk, Gucci, Mango ( a fruit name for clothes!!), Faygo, 7up, Virgin Mobile, Micro – Soft (Really!), And the top most brand in today’s world in digital world “Apple”
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Anonymous | Wed, 23 May 2012 9:10 am
wtf??? Well I expect the agency is really chuffed with selling this pathetic 'word art'. Instantly forgettable.......
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Anonymous | Wed, 23 May 2012 2:15 pm
According to today's Telegraph (Business, front page), Mike Pocock, chief executive, admits the name is meaningless. The company has also warned of "material uncertainty" about its future.
Says it all, really.
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Anonymous | Wed, 23 May 2012 11:53 pm
hibu? Really? Give it a month. It'll be rebranded to bybu.
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Ian West | Thu, 24 May 2012 4:13 pm
Am I being cynical or does this smack of the college project where you write the design rationale after drawing the logo?
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