How exactly Xiaomi derived benefits from the new $7b logo

The round, delicate brand-new logo of Xiaomi is a simple retouch from its predecessor.

What Xiaomi has done for a successful branding campaign

It just took Xiaomi 4 years to make a move that had been expected to be revolutionary (the Chinese giant started their rebranding process in 2017). $7 billion was spent refining the logo, turning it from a square to a squircle, while retaining the original orange colour and the font of the letters 'Mi' inside the squircle. By and large, this is considered too much time and too much money for a minimal change. 

Inside-the-box marketers would attach a style, a meaning, and a purpose to each of their brand identity elements. Or at least the brand overhaul should revolve around a visible and recognizable adjustment. What Xiaomi has done with its logo thus goes against conventional branding rules, but the benefits reaped from such a move are unquestionably great.

Without any new products or services, Xiaomi has urged almost everyone to talk about them once again. Between 31/3 and 6/4/2021, there were 534 mentions of Xiaomi's rebranding exercises, marking a 761% leap compared to the same period in 2020. 327 tweets were made, along with 99 official articles and 76 news columns. 72% of the consumer feedback concerning the new brand identity was neutral, which means the public neither hugely liked it nor hated it. 

After the logo was released, articles about Xiaomi’s smartphones sold out drew significant attention. On 21/4, 30,000 Mi Mix Fold units were sold in roughly 1 minute, at $1,520 ($500 less than Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Huawei Mate X2), dragging the public attention back to articles on 300,000 Redmi K40 units bought in 5 minutes in April.

How did Xiaomi do such a thing? First, they placed more of an emphasis on the overwhelming, extravagant and seemingly unnecessary $7 billion. Second, Kenya Hara, the President of Nippon Design Center, was told to partner with Xiaomi in the campaign. The public should have seen greater changes in a campaign involving Lei Jun, Kenya Hara and $7 billion of investment. All these drive us to a perfect paradox related to an enormous amount of money, a team of admired intellectuals and a close-to-nothing change.

In short, Xiaomi was mentioned more, managed to spread the news on how popular their products are, and dropped a hint about what they would do if they no longer adopted the price-competitive strategies – smart marketing, boosting a high-end, generous brand of pride.

A "disposable" campaign and marketing lessons learnt

The move from Xiaomi has raised a worthy question. Do customers buy your goods because of a beautiful logo? And if Xiaomi had unveiled a more good-looking and traditional-marketing-oriented logo, would it have made such a far-reaching impact?

It is not about how well-designed or glamorous the logo is, but what matters is how a brand showcases its distinctions from the rest and creates an entire story that stirs the audience of the respective market. Xiaomi has done it very well. Another advantage of their new logo is that the customers do not have to get accustomed to a new brand identity, while an average and modest logo has sparked discussions.

Xiaomi has turned itself from a manufacturer of affordable smartphones and an owner of a home-appliance ecosystem into an interesting brand to watch, interacting with its audience smartly and instilling emotional elements in the public mind. Rebranding campaigns typically emphasize a shift in a brand’s valuation, orientation and business philosophy. The picture of Xiaomi inside our minds has changed, with only a nearly unchanged logo.