1995, North America
Nike embarks on an unprecedented strategy, that of the removal of the brand name from the swoosh logo. It was the first time that a company had implemented debranding, the strategy where the public would not exposed to the brand name but only to the logo.
Debranding refers to the process of removing or minimizing the prominence of a brand's identity from its products, marketing materials, or overall image.
Debranding usually takes place when the company is well known and either wishes to appear ''less corporate'' (e.g. the brand name may create unpleasant feelings to the audience) or aims, by adopting a more plain logo to reduce advertising expenditure. Companies
Starbucks adopted Nike's example in 2011, when they de-branded in an attempt to be more evocative a local coffee shop, not a faceless chain.
One of the most successful applications of debranding took place in 2013, in Australia, when Coca-Cola's campaign 'Share a Coke'', replaced its logo with the 150 most common first names of the country. The campaign, which encouraged young people to buy soft drink for his/her friend, was so successful (sales increased by 7%), that the American giant soon extended it to other countries.
Another widespread version of debranding is when a small company (e.g. a microbrewery), having been sold to another company, continues not to prominently display the name or elements of the other, larger company on the packaging.