Stalwart Nielsen reimagines itself as ‘playful, optimistic and smart’ company with new logo, branding

Nielsen, the company perhaps best known for providing TV ratings data, has rebranded with a new look that it says is aimed at representing its commitment to innovation and forward thinking approaches.

The company dropped its more traditional gray and blue serif logo design in exchange for a colorful new lockup that features a distinctive sans serif typeface and four arrows.

Previous Nielsen logo.

The company calls its new logo “playful, optimistic and smart” and says inspiration for its design came from the global “play” button and concept of ratings. 

The four arrows, each a different color, create an “N” in the negative space — creating an icon that’s remarkably similar to Newsy’s new logo.

The hidden “N” helps convey the idea of the insights revealed by Nielsen’s data and the constant momentum in media, according to the company.

“The multitude of fresh colors speaks to the diversity and richness in media representing or containing a piece of data, a piece of music, a show, a content creator, or a member of the audience, all working together to move media forward,” the company says.

Green and orange were selected for triangles that can be read as “up” and “down” movement when viewed “off axis,” which is essentially an expression of popularity of content, while the red one represents “content not seen or heard,” according to Nielsen.

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No specific explanation was given for the purple color, though it is the most traditional representation of the “play” button. 

The new branding centers around the line “Powering a better media future for all people.”

The rebranding comes as Nielsen is facing challenges to its business model of selling ratings data to TV stations and networks to help them, in turn, understand their audience and sell advertising.

Many traditional broadcasters have been dropping Nielsen as questions arise about its data accuracy and completeness in a shifting media world.

Nielsen has also lost its Media Ratings Council accreditation at the national level and media giant NBCUniversal has started to look for a way to build its own measurement system; having requested RFPs from multiple companies, including Nielsen, for such a solution.

In response, Nielsen has been developing its Nielsen One platform that is reportedly aimed at addressing concerns raised by broadcasters about audience measurement — but it’s not expected until late 2022.

Nielsen Holdings, which owns the media research division, is owned by the Dutch company VNU. 

The company, which is publicly traded on the NYSE under NLSN and is also a component of the S&P 500, didn’t fare well in 2020 but has seen upticks in its revenue in 2021.