JCPenney Redesigned Its Logo So Many Times Nearly Half Of America No Longer Recognizes It

JCPenney's newest logo may be hurting the brand.JCPenney is attempting to recover from the damaging strategies it took on during ex-CEO Ron Johnson's tenure. Its logo is one of its main concerns, with branding surveys showing JCP logo awareness dropped as much as 28 percentage points from 2010 and 2012.

In JCPenney's recent apology ad, it begged customers to "come back" to the retailer. It also featured a redesigned logo, one that used the company's whole name rather than the hip 'jcp' design taken on last year.

According to E-Poll Market Research, a trend-oriented market researcher, every redesign of the JCPenney logo since 2010 has hurt consumer awareness of the brand:

E-Score Brand

In April of 2010, JCPenney's classic logo was recognizable by 84% of those surveyed. Following a 2011 redesign, awareness dropped to 76%.

And following the radical 2012 redesign, awareness dropped to a measly 56%.

The shift back to the old logo in the apology ad is another signal that JCPenney is looking for a major upheaval of its brand. Ron Johnson-era policies have all but brought the brand to its knees—and top-level execs and market researchers alike agree that new strategies are needed all around.