PICC logo -- Sina Finance -- Sina.com

Source: No. 22, Xijiaomin Lane

Whether good or bad, beautiful or ugly, all depends on the boss's aesthetics

Wen/Xu Xiao

PICC has changed its logo several times in the history, the most recent is in June 2021 after Lao Luo came to power, replacing PICC with "China Seal". I once saw a page of pictures that marked each generation's logo with the year of birth and death. Under the "China Seal", it was marked with "2021 -?". Some friends said that it was a very interesting "?".

Now, the question mark can be changed to "2024", because PICC has abolished the "Chinese seal" and changed back to the previous version of PICC.

In fact, the quality, beauty and ugliness of the logo is an aesthetic issue. There is no unified standard. Therefore, there is no right or wrong question whether to change or not. It depends on the boss's preference. Only one thing is certain: The logo change must be a "labor", "money" and "time-consuming" project. The larger the organization, the longer the history, and the more customers, the more numerous the project. Therefore, the bigger the company is, the more careful it is to change the standard. Minor repairs and minor changes can be made. It is forbidden to push it over and start again on a whim. With the lines in the ancient costume drama, "Think twice, your excellency!"

For example, Coca Cola, now known as the elegant Coca Cola, has existed for more than 100 years. It has only been adjusted and optimized several times in some parts, and the overall style has not changed.

More "excessive" is AIA. Its English abbreviation AIA derives from its English name American International Assurance. When it returned to Shanghai in 1992, its Chinese name was "American International Life Insurance Company", and it was a member of American International Group (AIG). Now, AIG has disappeared. AIA has "left the United States and entered Asia". The Chinese name has removed the word "America", but the English name still uses AIA, and the logo is basically the same. It is still the mountain. I joked with them: according to transliteration, you should be called "Ouch Insurance Company".

Why are big name companies cautious about "refreshing" their logos? Because the brand image is "big", it takes a long time to make a contribution, and we must not change our mind.

　　 Story 1: The golden signboard was settled in PICC by accident

　　 one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six In, the "old people's insurance" was restructured into China Insurance Group, with three subsidiaries: China Insurance Property Insurance Company, China Insurance Life Insurance Company and China Insurance Reinsurance Company. Two years later, in 1998, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) was about to be established, and the "old-age insurance" was facing another restructuring. Regarding the system reform of China Insurance Group, two ideas are proposed: one is to retain China Insurance Group and select some personnel to fill in the national insurance regulatory authority; The other is to cancel the China Insurance Group. Some of the staff are selected and assigned to the national insurance regulatory authority, while the rest are enriched and strengthened in professional subsidiaries and subsidiaries.

　　 one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight On July 16, 2006, the State Council held a Premier's Office Meeting for discussion. Ma Yongwei, Chairman and General Manager of China Insurance Group (proposed to be Chairman of the CIRC), Sun Xiyue, Deputy General Manager of China Insurance Group and Chairman and General Manager of China Insurance Property and Casualty Insurance, He Jiesheng, Deputy General Manager of China Insurance Group and Chairman and General Manager of China Insurance Life Insurance, Dai Fengju, Deputy General Manager of China Insurance Group and Chairman and General Manager of China Insurance Reinsurance, and comrades from relevant ministries and commissions of the State Council attended the meeting. The main idea of Ma Yongwei's speech is that if it is necessary to strengthen the leadership of several subsidiaries, the "China Insurance Group" can be retained; Otherwise, it is better to cancel. Although Sun Xiyue, He Jiesheng and Dai Fengju are deputy leaders of China Insurance Group, they sit on the bench of subsidiaries and don't want too many mothers in law. Of course, they can't be too straightforward. They euphemistically said that it is not impossible to retain the group, but the authority of cadre appointment and removal and management should be handed over to the subsidiaries. In Ma Yongwei's opinion, what's the use of retaining the "group" if it can't "manage people"?

Comrades from the Ministry of Finance and the National Planning Commission believe that the establishment of the CIRC based on the China Insurance Group is the most convenient choice for the country, which has people, finance and materials, including office buildings.

A leader of the State Council said that everyone advocated the cancellation. Although it was between the "two possibilities", there was no objection. It seemed that the cancellation was the general trend.

Premier Zhu Rongji, who presided over the meeting, finally agreed to revoke the China Insurance Group.

There is also a small episode. During the discussion, Zhu Rongji interrupted from time to time. When discussing the issue of who will inherit the brand of the former People's Insurance Company of China after the cancellation of the China Insurance Group, Zhu Rongji said: "The original People's Insurance Company of China mainly engaged in life insurance business, should its brand be inherited by the life insurance company?" The leader has this impression in his mind. It is estimated that someone has given a tip off.

At this time, Sun Xiyue, the head of the property insurance company, was silent and could not speak. Dai Fengju, the head of the reinsurance company, blurted out: "No, the original business of the People's Insurance Company of China was property insurance, and life insurance only accounted for a small part." Zhu Rongji did not seem to mind at that time.

Before the end of the meeting, Premier Zhu Rongji repeated what he had just said. Dai Fengju also said again: "The former People's Insurance Company of China, the property insurance business accounted for more than 70%, with multiple departments such as the property insurance department, the international department, the agricultural insurance department, and the claims department; the life insurance business was less than 30%, and only one personal insurance department operated." At this time, some people agreed. After hearing this, Zhu Rongji thought a little and said, "Oh, I see. Let the property insurance company inherit it!"

Then the dust settled. The State Council has decided to set up the China Insurance Regulatory Commission and cancel the China Insurance Group, which is divided into four parts: transforming the three subsidiaries of property insurance, life insurance and reinsurance into tier one legal persons, and putting all overseas operational institutions under the management of China Insurance (Group) Corporation in Hong Kong. The PICC Property and Casualty Insurance Company inherited the brand of the People's Insurance Company of China and changed its name to the People's Insurance Company of China; The name of China Insurance Life Insurance Company was changed to China Life insurance company; The name of China Insurance Reinsurance Company was changed to China Reinsurance Company.

See? The gold lettered signboard "People's Insurance Company of China" almost fell to China Life Insurance today. Today, almost all the companies of the "elderly insurance" have become "full license" group companies, and everyone can afford the "People's Insurance Company of China" brand. Now looking back, it is not inappropriate to give this brand to anyone. Therefore, the former China Insurance Property and Casualty Insurance Company and the current PICC should understand that it is only an "intangible asset" of the old ancestors that you have inherited. Don't be arrogant and think that only you are the "right root", and only you are "living with the country". Don't pay attention to those brothers. All four of you are average.

　　 Story 2: "China Seal" may not be a new creation

　　 one thousand nine hundred and eighty-four When I worked in PICC's head office in, the logo of PICC was a red "palace lantern". Some people argued that it was a long life lock, and some artists treated it as a big peach.

　　 one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six During the reform of the PICC system in, the logo should be replaced. Public solicitation, numerous contributors, several rounds of screening, I am impressed, One of the finalists is the Chinese seal of "China Insurance", which is very similar to the logo of PICC 2021 (Why does the logo of PICC 2021 use "China Insurance" instead of "PICC". The new logo finally selected is a ball and a circle. At that time, there were several definitions: the ball is the earth, and the circle means that the PICC institutions are all over the world, and the service is comprehensive; When the sphere is blocked on the gap of the circle, it means that the insurance compensates for disaster losses, but it cannot completely cover them; The graphic combination is also the English letter P, representing PICC

According to folklore, because Ma Yongwei, chairman and general manager of China Insurance Group, loves table tennis, the logo is a table tennis racket plus a table tennis ball, which is purely a joke.

With the three subsidiaries of China Insurance Group, the balls are all silver balls, and the circles have different colors: Group silver; The gold color of property insurance company represents wealth; Life insurance companies are green, representing life; The blue color of reinsurance company represents the ocean.

The whole group changed its logo from top to bottom, because there was no e-commerce at that time. All kinds of "promotional materials", such as doorheads, signboards, advertisements, various bills, envelopes, letter papers, letterhead papers, from sun hats to socks, had to be changed. What's more, the design company designed the ball to be very "three-dimensional", with highlights, shallow shadows and gradations. The general small advertising company can't make the effect... It's a terrible toss up and down.

The result of this struggle only worked for two years. In 1998, PICC reformed its system again, the group was abolished, and the three subsidiaries were set up separately. At the time of "separation", the "patent" of the logo was distributed to China Reinsurance Company as an "intangible asset" and registered with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

However, instead of continuing to use this logo, China has designed a new one. He Jiesheng, the top leader of China Life Insurance, called Dai Fengju, the top leader of China Life Insurance, and asked, "Can you sell us the badge at a price?"

Dai Fengju said generously, "What is the trade of melons on a vine? As another generous gift from China, give it to National Life!"

After receiving this "generous gift", Guoshou made a slight adjustment, turned 180 degrees, turned the sphere upward, and let the circle hold it steady, so as not to fall down like before. Then, it is still in use today.

Failing to share this "intangible asset" PICC The logo is designed separately, so the logo of PICC version is enabled after "separation".

　　 Why do you change?

It is said that there are two obvious reasons for the replacement of the logo in 2021: first, with the "rising in the east and falling in the west", the English alphabet has become unpopular and replaced with "Chinese elements" to show cultural confidence; Second, the original logo is just a combination of letters, no graphics, not rich enough.

Well, as has been said, there is no right or wrong problem. Leaders can change it if they want. However, for these two reasons, one personal opinion may be expressed:

The so-called "self-confidence" does not matter what others think. The key is "self" and "trust". With my limited life experience, I often shout what I lack. In the past, a leader of the unit shouted all day long, "People respect me!" Actually, colleagues know that he is very inferiority. If you are not confident enough and always feel or fear that others will look down on you, even if you talk about "confidence" every day, you are still not confident in your bones. On the contrary, people who are not afraid of others' words, dare to laugh at themselves, and have stable emotions are just those who have strong hearts. This has nothing to do with whether the logo is in English or not, and whether it has "Chinese elements".

As for whether the logo must contain graphics, it is a matter of different opinions. Both the pros and cons can cite a lot of examples.

As mentioned above, changing the logo must be a "labor", "money" and "time-consuming" project, which will hurt the muscles and bones.

Although electronic office and e-commerce have become popular, such as documents and insurance policies, which can be easily changed without paper carriers, there are still many entity logos that need to be replaced. At least there must be thousands of subordinate organizations at all levels of PICC Group. Their doorheads and signboards are physical, which is not easy to replace, and it costs manpower Spending money is inevitable. It is also in consideration of the cost problem that PICC has set a principle when implementing the new logo of "China Seal" in 2021: "No change, no change, no change". Only the office buildings of the group and subsidiary headquarters are required to replace the logo within a limited time, and the door heads of the lower branches can not be replaced until they need to be changed. It should be said that this is more pragmatic and sensible. Of course, there are also smart things below. For example, if you know where the "boss" is going to inspect, you can casually "refresh" the logo there. Everyone knows that the "boss" has a bad temper. Who wants to hit the gun?

Also, the original PICC combination has been used since 1998 (actually 1999). Although there has been slight adjustment in the middle, the overall image has not changed. By 2021, it will have been used for more than 20 years, which can be said to be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Once the logo is changed, the original brand image will have to be "pulled out" from the public's eyes, and then the new brand image will be "planted", Without eight years of effort, it is difficult to achieve results.

It is also because of the pragmatic policy of "no change, no change" that the following institutions have not made a big deal of trouble. Now they have decided to change back to the original logo, "it is not too late", or they can stop loss in time.

When talking about the change of PICC logo in just three years, a department general manager of a foreign-funded insurance company left a message in my circle of friends: "In the view of the marketing department, the brand logo is a big thing. It's very difficult to change the color and font, not to mention the language switch."

An old leader of the "Old People's Insurance" left a message:

　　 "It's hard to achieve something in your career; it's very easy to change the icon. What changes others now will be changed by others in the future, which means' reform '!"