NEWS
Johnson & Johnson Updates Logo, Ditching Cursive Script After More Than 130 Years
Courtesy of Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is updating its iconic script logo after more than 130 years, the company announced Thursday.
The 137-year-old health care giant said its new, modernized logo “brings the Company’s warm, caring nature to life.”
The brand refresh comes as the company moves to bring its pharmaceutical and medical technology segments under the Johnson & Johnson brand name. Janssen, the company’s pharmaceutical segment, will be renamed Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, while the medical technology segment will keep the name Johnson & Johnson MedTech.
The company announced in 2021 it would spin off its consumer health business, which includes familiar brands like Band-Aid and Tylenol. Renamed Kenvue, it held its IPO earlier this year.
“Our exclusive focus on Innovative Medicine and MedTech solutions enables us to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare in ways no other company can,” Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato said in a statement. “Uniting our diverse businesses under an updated Johnson & Johnson brand reflects our unique ability to reimagine healthcare through transformative innovation, while staying true to Our Credo values and the level of care that patients and doctors expect of us.”
The new logo ditches the old cursive script, which was based on co-founder James Wood Johnson’s signature, and updates the ampersand to be more universally recognizable.
“Each letter is drawn in one pen stroke, creating a contrast that delivers both a sense of unexpectedness and humanity. The Company will embrace both the long- and short-form versions of the logo, expanding and building more equity around a short-form ‘J&J’ to show up in a more personable, contemporary way—especially in digital interfaces,” the company said in a statement.
“The new ampersand captures a caring, human nature. It now presents itself as a more globally recognizable symbol and represents the openness of the brand, as well as the connections that bring the Company’s purpose to life,” the statement read.
The company said its logo and brand identity “will continue to leverage the color red, leaning into a refreshed, bright, and contemporary color that speaks to the ability to urgently respond to health challenges, evolve with the times and set the pace.”
“Ask 1,000, no 10,000 consumers after looking at J&J’s new logo if they feel the behemoth’s new focus is now on ‘innovative medicine and Medtech company,’ as stated by CEO Joaquin Duato,” said strategic communications consultant Robbie Vorhaus, founder and CEO of Vorhaus Communications, Inc.
“Consumers don’t notice and don’t care. Some logos evolve, but this logo change is signaling a new corporate directive, not a consumer focus, that’s yet to be revealed,” Vorhaus said.
The company said its new logo, font and colors will be rolled across all company materials and product packaging over time.
TMX contributed to this article.
