Global Corporate Rebrands and Identity Evolution
Rakuten Advertising
Why this project is featured:
Each logo update and rebrand requires hundreds of creative touchpoints from websites, collateral, business cards, email signatures and much more, all need to be redone, reworked, and reissued.
Throughout Rakuten Advertising’s expansion and evolution, it was critical to provide the creative tools and resources along with continual communication to existing business units and acquired companies to escalate company-wide brand adoption.
Brand Evolution Timeline
2005-2010
In 2005 Rakuten (Japan) acquired US-based Affiliate Marketing company LinkShare.
In 2007, Rakuten LinkShare acquired TrafficStrategies to add Paid Search services and technology.
In 2010, there were more than 12 different collateral templates, inconsistent logo and logo color usage that all needed to be coordinated.
2011
In 2005 Rakuten (Japan) acquired US-based Affiliate Marketing company LinkShare. In 2007, Rakuten LinkShare acquired TrafficStrategies to add Paid Search services and technology.
2012
Rakuten LinkShare begins to acquire businesses to broaden their service offerings and incorporate more sophisticated technology on a global scale. Each company is brought into the Rakuten LinkShare business strategy evolves within a complex corporate ecosystem.
2013
Rakuten LinkShare rebrands to Rakuten Marketing and rebrands their business units totalling six logos – migrating from a house of brands to a branded house.
2015
Rakuten Marketing continues its brand migration to changing the business unit names to align with the service they provide. This was integral in developing an omnichannel marketing solution strategy.
2018
Rakuten Marketing aligns with the corporate restructuring and logo update by dropping the service logos to unify under a single brand.
2019
Rakuten’s corporate strategy receives a complete rebrand as global sports partnerships emerge with FC Barcelona and the Golden State Warriors. As a result, Rakuten Marketing rebrands to align.
2020
Rakuten Marketing rebrands to Rakuten Advertising and overhauls its creative identity.
