Industry News
April 20, 1999
SGI Assumes New Corporate Identity
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Silicon Graphics Inc. is streamlining its trade name in an effort to extend its brandname recognition beyond graphics workstations. |
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, Apr. 13 -- The 17-year-old-old company formerly known as Silicon Graphics, Inc., has announced a worldwide corporate strategy aimed at repositioning the company's brand to reflect its complete range of products and services. As part of this strategy, the company has adopted its corporate initials -- SGI -- as its new trade name. The plan also includes a new corporate visual style, amplification of the master brand, and consolidation of numerous brands under three sub-brand categories
"One of the key objectives of our branding strategy is to better communicate the scope of Silicon Graphics products -- to extend the brand beyond graphics workstations to include our servers, supercomputers, and services," said Patrick Tickle, director of SGI brand management.
According to SGI, the corporate identity strategy was supported by results of global research conducted during the past year by Landor Associates, a San Francisco-based branding consultancy. This research was directed at SGI's target markets as well as current customers. Findings showed that while the company's products were perceived as innovative, Silicon Graphics was seen as a niche-oriented provider of high-performance, 3D-graphics workstations. The company said that there was little recognition in SGI's servers and supercomputers arena, from which the company generates about 50 percent of its product revenue.
"Over the past year, we've made significant progress in our turnaround strategy, from important product launches to streamlined business practices and reduced operating expenses," said Rick Belluzzo, chairman and CEO of SGI. "Accurately aligning the perceptions of the marketplace and potential customers with what the company has to offer is fundamental to effective marketing. The move to create a corporate identity that reflects our position is a logical next step in the company's turnaround."
Under the new system, products such as Cray supercomputers will be marketed as one of three primary sub-brands under the SGI "master brand" umbrella. The three sub-brands include SGI servers and services, Silicon Graphics visual workstations, and Cray supercomputers. According to SGI, these sub-brands represent consolidation of previously ill-defined brands in the Silicon Graphics product family.