Gol Score Own-Gool

Brazilian carrier Gol recently announced their new brand image, refreshing a brand image that has lasted for 14 years. Whilst there is perhaps very little that has changed on the surface, the new logo with its repositioned silver ring element somehow now manages to spell ‘GOOL’ instead of Gol. This could be construed as brand suicide, where your logo doesn’t actually visually spell your name. For consumers in-or-around airports who may spot one of these new aircraft and haven’t seen the brand before, could google ‘Gool’ and find a wide range of subject matters, including Urban Dictionary terms, however, one thing they won’t find, is an airline (probably until this article goes up.)

People may respond saying, ‘everyone knows who Gol is in Brazil’ and that may be the case, but the point of a livery is to actually try and attract new consumers, and reinforce your brand image. Gol seem to have missed the point on this. Although they still believe they’ve created something quite spectacular.

A translation of their recent press release states, “The links were intertwined to represent the essence of GOL, which remains the same since its foundation: bringing together people, stories and destinations.” They go further, “The new logo GOL now has now a symbol in addition to the name, which will be easily understood by customers and associated with all the company’s values ​​and attributes” says Marcus Sulzbacher, design creative director of AlmapBBDO and responsible for the project of brand. “This link also represents the union, after all, GOL brings people to your dreams and destinations.”

Whilst that might be the case, they may want to consider changing their name to Gool. Don’t get us wrong, we actually like the design and its a great modernisation, and we would be applauding it for its aesthetic if the name issue wasn’t so obvious.