SEOUL, South Korea (March 3, 2004) — Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. has redesigned its corporate logo in line with a new corporate identity program aimed at making the company “more future-oriented, innovative and willing to take on any new challenge.”
Dubbed “Proactive Tireship,” the new philosophy is the firm's “determination to grow with the customers, creatively taking on any challenge to emerge as one of the world´s foremost tire makers in the 21st century,” Hankook said. More concretely, Hankook said the policy reflects “a commitment by every employee to stay ahead of market trends and to anticipate customer needs accurately in order to be the industry leader.”
The new corporate image represents a change in corporate vision and goals and is the firm's attempt to distinguish the Hankook brand from the competition.
The new company logo features a stylized tire tread geometrically altered to suggest wings, flying, aerodynamics and speed – characteristics that symbolize dynamic movement and activity, the firm said.
The stylized tread element is orange—seen as youthful and representing technology and speed—next to the word Hankook in white italic sans serif type on a black background. The word Hankook is a blend of capital and small letters – HanKOOK – chosen to enhance legibility and project an image of products that are appropriate and reliable.
The design is crafted to project an image of a company with industry-leading technology, progressive thinking, innovative and specialized technical capabilities, passion, sophistication, vitality and multi-national operations, Hankook said.
The new design replaces the one Hankook has used for a number of years that uses the images of two tires, one overlapping the other, as the double letter “o” in the name.
The new logo will debut in the U.S. April 4 at an exhibition baseball game in Philadelphia's new Citizen Bank Park as part of Hankook Tire America's sports marketing program, according to Bill Bainbridge, marketing director, and will be phased in in other media and venues on a rolling basis.