The Hartford has retooled its branding for the first time since 2010. The insurance company’s new logo still features the iconic stag, but now in a monochromatic black-and-white version.
“As we embrace an ambitious growth-and-innovation strategy centered on our customers and their changing needs, our brand must evolve with the business,” said The Hartford’s Chairman and CEO Christopher Swift.
Chief Marketing Officer Claire Burns says the switch reflects a change in the company’s priorities since 2010.
“As we look into the future, we are looking to contemporize our logo, demonstrate the modern company, but also draw from our 200-plus years of heritage and history,” she said in an interview with the Hartford Business Journal.
The Hartford has used a stag in its logo since 1861. “We trace it back to a policy that we issued to Abraham Lincoln,” Burns said. “That’s the first time we used the image.”
The new branding will be used on TV, digital platforms and The Hartford’s refreshed website. While the core logo is black and white, the overall branding package also features the company’s signature claret red and a fuschia pink.
“You’ll see new signage inside and outside of our offices,” Burns said. “You’ll also see it in our local presence at the Yard Goats stadium, where we are a sponsor.”
She said the company has been working with design agency Pentagram on the changes for the last nine months. One of the aims was to create a flexible suite of graphics based around the branding that could be used in a variety of digital formats.
The company is also renaming its holding company from The Hartford to The Hartford Insurance Group, to match its NYSE ticker symbol, HIG.
One thing that won’t immediately change – the sign at the top of the company’s headquarters building that’s a signature part of the Hartford city skyline. Burns said it will take a little longer for that to make the switch.
