The Warehouse's new logo 'unexciting'

The Warehouse's new logo.

The Warehouse's new logo has been given the thumbs-down by brand experts.

The company is spending $1 million to replace its 23-year-old logo, and the first new sign was put up above the company's Te Rapa store in Hamilton yesterday.

But while the experts dubbed the revamped design "unexciting" and lacking in character, they said it did have some good points.

Val Hooper, a senior lecturer at Victoria University and a specialist in brand management, said the script used for the tagline "where everyone gets a bargain" looked like a note specially handwritten for the customer, and the colours were good.

"Red is one of the most attractive colours - it grabs the attention more than any other," she said.

Hooper did not like the way the name was run together and was puzzled by the mis-matched yellow stripes "stuck out on the right".

"You are sending one message here - 'everyone gets a bargain'. How do those stripes reinforce that?" she asked.

Brian Richards, principal brand strategist and director of Brian R. Richards, said the new version was cleaner but lacked the personality of the previous logo.

"There's more character in the old one ... It does depict a real warehouse, more like a stencil on a woolpack."

Richards said it was evident the new logo, designed in-house, lacked the touch of a professional designer.

"It's a pity such a significant company should not seek professional advice.

"I think they could have done better. It's definitely a thumbs-down."

Warehouse marketing general manager Stuart Yorston said the company researched six designs with several hundred customers.

"We pushed the envelope quite far with some of the logos - and it was too far for the customers."

The old logo was deemed "too bold, tacky, dated and robotic". And in an age of texting, some customers found its capital letters too loud.

* The diagonal yellow stripes tie in with the "price rollback" logo and are a link to the past.

Warehouse founding director Glen Inger added them to the original logo when the company was starting out.