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The last time Walmart refreshed its brand, the Great Recession loomed large, the iPhone was only a year old and a hyphen still split the retailer\u2019s legal name. On Monday, the big-box store unveiled the latest update to its visual identity, one meant to embrace the growing role that digital and cross-channel capabilities play in an industry that has seen its makeup altered by technology over the past two decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more about aligning the visual expression with how the brand has evolved since 2008,\u201d said David Hartman, Walmart\u2019s vice president of creative, of the changes. \u201cWhat that means, in a more practical sense, is really establishing ourself as truly an omnichannel retailer versus just a brick-and-mortar retailer and being able to serve the customer no matter where or how they want to encounter the brand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Included in the 2025 refresh are more vibrant yellows and blues (technically True Blue and Spark Yellow), a bigger emphasis on the sunburst-like \u201cspark\u201d icon Walmart implemented in 2008 and a new wordmark echoing one found on a trucker hat frequently sported by company founder Sam Walton, including on the cover of his book, \u201cMade in America.\u201d The Walton nod was inspired by Hartman\u2019s team at Walmart Creative Studio taking a deep dive into the corporate archives to find something that could connect heritage to the brand\u2019s current vision. The new typography is a custom design based on the font Antique Olive that Walmart is calling Everyday Sans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a great, unique origin story about that typeface, its roots in our past and how we\u2019re bringing it forward to represent the brand where it is today,\u201d Hartman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
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\nCentral to Walmart\u2019s refresh is a bigger emphasis on its spark logo as a stand-alone piece of iconography.<\/p>\n
Permission granted by Walmart<\/p>\n
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The Walmart spark appears largely the same as before but will play a different role in branding, with wider separation from the Walmart name on assets like storefronts. It\u2019s a move intended to reinforce the logo\u2019s status as a stand-alone symbol that can shore up Walmart\u2019s brand equity, according to Hartman. Other retailers have created easy visual shorthands for their brands, such as Target\u2019s bullseye or the Amazon smile.<\/p>\n
Jones Knowles Ritchie assisted with Walmart\u2019s brand identity overhaul while Landor partnered on aspects like store executions. Publicis Groupe handles core marketing and advertising services.<\/p>\n
Digital-first evolution<\/h3>\n
While Walmart\u2019s makeover is perhaps less dramatic than some past tweaks, such as ditching its hyphen and bowing the spark, it speaks to changing priorities for a company traditionally known for sprawling superstores.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a wholesale reinvention of the Walmart identity. It\u2019s very much an evolution versus a revolution,\u201d Hartman said.<\/p>\n
Walmart\u2019s focus on digital has accelerated since the launch of membership service Walmart+ in 2020, a response to Amazon, and the larger consumer gravitation toward online shopping, which has supported the firm\u2019s bigger crack into areas like selling advertising.<\/p>\n
Walmart\u2019s e-commerce sales in the U.S. were up 22% in Q3 2024, extending a run that has dazzled investors. \u201cIf it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it\u201d is an adage that could generally apply to brand marketing, but the company still saw aspects of its appearance where modernization felt important and spent the past year-plus hashing out what those changes should look like.<\/p>\n
In a press statement, Walmart U.S. Chief Marketing Officer William White described a goal of becoming an \u201cinspirational, digital retailer\u201d \u2014 comments echoed elsewhere in the refresh announcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe updated brand identity will help Walmart build credibility and connection, become known for its convenient digital-first services and be seen as a more modern, culturally dynamic brand,\u201d states a press release.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vying for vibrancy<\/h3>\n
On the brick-and-mortar front, Walmart is introducing full-colored illustrated murals into store locations to add a pop of storytelling and aid customers in navigating different departments, a shift away from a previous system that relied on icons and line work. Some of these elements have been present at Walmart\u2019s experimental Store 4108 in Springdale, Arkansas, since October, but will roll out more widely in the months ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve heard from customers who are shopping in that [4108] store and the store associates that it\u2019s really helped improve the overall customer experience,\u201d Hartman said. \u201cCustomers describe it as feeling more warm and more inviting when they enter the store.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
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\nAn illustrated mural decorates the vestibule of a Walmart location.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Permission granted by Walmart<\/p>\n
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The embrace of elaborate, brighter visuals is part of a larger industry shift away from the minimalism that underpinned many branding efforts throughout the 2010s. For a rebrand in 2023,\u00a0Pepsi introduced electric blues and deeper blacks, a different wordmark and decorative packaging that pivoted away from a previous focus on simplicity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\nIn other areas, Walmart\u2019s aim is to deliver greater consistency and a user-friendly experience across channels like its app and Walmart.com, some of the earliest places where the refresh will go live. A modular grid system for browsing will display product images, photography and headlines, among other tweaks to what Hartman termed Walmart\u2019s \u201cbrand operating system.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen [consumers] encounter the brand on the app, what they see from a product expression and a brand identity looks very similar or close to the same as what they see in our marketing and what they see in our store experience,\u201d Hartman said of the refresh. \u201cWhen you think about digital and omnichannel, we want to make those visual connections as tight as we possibly can so it feels like a seamless experience to the customer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new look for Walmart will factor into its Q1 marketing campaign and activations, Hartman said, without offering specifics.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to be very strategic about what assets get transferred and when,\u201d Hartman added. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be an overnight change. It\u2019ll definitely be something that happens over time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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