A company which started its venture by selling books is now a household name in over 50 countries of the world. Jeff Bezos’ e-commerce company Amazon, which eventually started as ‘Cadabra’ in 1994 has come a long way and is now one of the leading brands globally and provides its services to millions of its customers in almost every domain. Bezos’ claim that his company provides everything from A to Z stands true in all respects, and the same is conveyed by the logo of the company. Let us know about that the Initial Name And Logos Of Amazon.
After altering the logo multiple times, Amazon came up with its iconic logo which we know it for: an orange curved arrow connecting the letters A and Z below the name of the brand written in black and in lowercase.
Initial name and logos of Amazon
Over the 28 years since its foundation, Amazon has experimented with a variety of logos to market itself. As mentioned earlier, the company was initially called ‘Cadabra’, which is a very popular word from the phrase “Abra Cadabra”, which is a magical spell used by witches and wizards across various stories and tales. The company initially pitched itself as a brand which magically arrives at your doorstep and delivers your favourite books across all genres. Bezos however, dropped the name later when he got feedback that the name shared a phonic resemblance with the word ‘cadaver’, which means a dead body.
After adopting the mantle of Amazon, the company initially came up with a logo which showed a graphic representation of the River Amazon, with the name “amazon.com” written below it. The graphic of the river displayed a huge letter ‘A’ being carved out by the flowing river.
Later changes to the logo saw the company dropping the river graphic entirely and choosing simplification and sophistication instead. The logo released by the company in early 1998 had the name of the website, spelling “amazon.com” in lowercase, with the company’s slogan, “Earth’s Biggest Bookstore”, written in uppercase and a smaller font below it. In the same year, Amazon came out with a new logo which dropped the slogan and had the name of the company website in uppercase with a golden ‘O’ in between.
The logo again saw a change, where the letters were back in lowercase and were underlined by a curved orange line. It was finally in 2000 when Amazon came up with its current logo.
What Does The Logo Of Amazon Represent?
a) The curved arrow
Amazon, through creative visualisation, showed itself as a brand which takes care of all the needs of its consumers from A to Z, by connecting the letters A and Z with a curved arrow. A and Z are the first and the last letters of the English alphabet respectively. What Amazon is trying to say by connecting these two letters is that its range of services and products is all-encompassing. This displays that Amazon can take care of all the needs of its consumers and is a one-stop destination for its various customers with their myriad needs.
b) The arrowhead
However, that is not the only element integral to its branding. The head of the curved arrow is oriented in a way to showcase a dimpled smile. The smile is something which you notice before even noticing that it is in reality, an arrow linking A and Z, and this was the very aim that the designer of the logo Turner Duckworth was trying to achieve.
This smile initially symbolised that Amazon and its employees are happy to serve its customers, but in today’s world, when Amazon dominates a big portion of the global market, it proudly boasts that the smile represents the smiles of millions of its customers around the globe who loyally and happily continue to subscribe to the services of the company.
The arrowhead is also a marker of constant positive growth and relentlessness in meeting all the targets. This value is shared by both Bezos as well as the entire staff of Amazon.
c) Colour scheme
The colours used for the logo of the company also carry their meanings. The name of the company is written in the colour black. Black is a shade which stands for domination, perfection and supremacy. It is a colour which cannot be overshadowed by any other.
The arrow linking the letters A and Z is orange in colour, and the colour orange represents the pride the company takes in itself and the warmth and happiness that it spreads.
Conclusion
The marketing of a brand plays a huge role in its success. While customer service in itself is a very important factor of marketing, a brand must be recognisable and distinguishable from others. The logo of a company is a very role player in this area. The logo of a company is responsible for evoking a sense of belongingness and identification in the customers of a brand and Amazon understands this fact and works continuously to create an impressionable logo is proof of it when just the logo of the smile is now a very strong identification mark in itself.
