Sharing Some Celebratory Logos from 2025

Did you notice any brands that celebrated milestones during 2025? If yes, did you see any new or altered logos to reflect the celebrations?

Brand logos often feature years, numbers, colors, circles, and other design elements to reflect special milestones and anniversaries. The updated logos then appear on websites, social media, collateral, Zoom backgrounds, email signatures, and more.

Here are six brands that celebrated milestones during 2025:

THE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER

During 2025, the Marine Mammal Center, based in Sausalito, California, celebrated its 50th anniversary.

According to the nonprofit's website, "The Marine Mammal Center is celebrating 50 years of creating a healthy ocean for marine mammals and humans alike. With ocean conditions rapidly changing, this work is more important than ever. From its beginnings in 1975, the Center has held marine mammal welfare at its core. This remains true today, while our organization has grown and evolved significantly over the years — especially in the last decade. We continue to respond to marine mammals in distress and provide them with life-saving care, but our mission extends beyond that now. While much of this work is about giving individual patients the care they need for the best possible second chance, it is also about populations as a whole, the health of our ocean and human health.

As we celebrate our 50th anniversary, we celebrate the growth of the Center and our successes throughout the decades — including gaining insights from the more than 27,000 patients we’ve rescued, scientific discoveries that increase the understanding of our ocean’s health, achievements in student education and public outreach, contributions to endangered species conservation, efforts to advocate for a healthy ocean and more. Through our first 50 years of research, which has been cited in scientific literature more than 2,000 times, we have learned that the fate of marine mammals is closely linked to our own. By better understanding these connections and finding solutions for the threats marine mammals face, we take action to protect our future and inspire the next generation of ocean advocates. Our ocean is in trouble, and it is more important than ever to protect the marine ecosystems that are vital to the health of all life on Earth. We must educate and inspire people to act in support of ocean, marine mammal, and human health — our collective future depends on it. Will you join us for the next 50 years and beyond?"

CANINE COMPANIONS

During 2025, Canine Companions, based in San Rafael, California, celebrated its 50th anniversary.

According to the nonprofit's website, "Founded on July 4, 1975, Canine Companions made history by creating the concept of what is now the modern-day service dog. We have celebrated many milestones over the past five decades, but our mission remains the same: To provide expertly trained service dogs to individuals with disabilities and facility dogs to professionals, free of charge."

RADIO CITY ROCKETTES

During 2025, the Radio City Rockettes, an American precision dance company based in New York City, celebrated its 100th anniversary. Founded in 1925 in St. Louis, they have, since 1932, performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. They are best known for starring in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, an annual Christmas show, and for performing annually since 1957 at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. According to its website, "Rockettes are part of a legacy of women who inspire, empower, and create change together."

GEORGIA AQUARIUM

During 2025, the Georgia Aquarium, based in Atlanta, Georgia, and containing more than 11 million gallons of water, celebrated its 20th anniversary. Its mission is to inspire awareness and preservation of our ocean and aquatic animals worldwide.

According to the nonprofit's website, "Join Us in Our 20th Year. As we celebrate this milestone, we invite you to be part of our journey. Whether you’re visiting for the first time or the hundredth, there has never been a better time to experience the magic of Georgia Aquarium. Explore our galleries, witness the wonder of marine life up close, and join us in our mission to protect and preserve our ocean for generations to come."

And here are two more brands that stood out:

FRIENDS OF FONDATION DE FRANCE

During 2025, Friends of Fondation de France, based in New York City, celebrated its 25th anniversary of French-American philanthropy.

According to a press release on the organization's website, "For more than 250 years, France and the United States have shared a long-standing partnership that continues today. With July celebrated as French-American Heritage month to honor the significant contributions made to America by people of French descent, Friends of Fondation de France, a U.S. nonprofit, is also celebrating its 25th anniversary and the strong ties between the two countries strengthened by philanthropy. French-American philanthropy has been essential in sustaining important causes — from the restoration of Versailles by the Rockefeller family a century ago to the mobilization of U.S. support for restoration efforts after the Notre-Dame Cathedral fire in 2019, Friends of Fondation de France is dedicated to advancing French-American philanthropy on both sides of the Atlantic. Friends of Fondation de France enables U.S.-based donors to achieve their philanthropic visions with tax-deductible donations that support causes meaningful to them — in France and beyond. As a trusted partner of more than 180 nonprofit organizations, Friends of Fondation de France provides nonprofits with the tailor-made guidance needed to launch or grow their fundraising in the U.S."

Domitille Marchal Lemoine, executive director, Friends of Fondation de France, explained, "Philanthropy offers a powerful pathway to foster our shared values. As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of Friends of Fondation de France, I feel honored to be part of this rich legacy as today, more than ever, we strive to strengthen the special bond between both countries."

MICROSOFT

While a new logo didn't appear, this brand changed everyone's lives and celebrated its 50th anniversary during 2025. According to one Microsoft celebratory website, "With 50 years of history, we all have a memory with Microsoft tech. We’d love to hear your favorite tech memories, moments of impact, or Microsoft story. Share it on social with #Microsoft50."

Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, shared the following remarks at Microsoft’s 50th anniversary, "Fifty years ago, Bill Gates and Paul Allen started Microsoft with a simple but powerful idea: to build technology so people everywhere could build more technology. The very first product Microsoft built was the Basic interpreter for the Altair, giving people the power to create software, jumpstarting the PC revolution, and creating an entirely new sector for our economy...This is why we are leading this new wave of AI innovation and more importantly, democratizing it, just like we did with the PC. From there we’ve gone to chat, to multi file edits, and now to agents. More than 150 million developers in nearly every country around the world are using GitHub...Ultimately, it all comes down to our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. I’ve always thought of Microsoft as a platform and partner-first company, and this has only been possible because of our customers, our partners and developers, and our 1.6 million employees, past and present, who have connected their passion with our purpose to get us where we are today. And it’s you who will continue to build this company to have impact around the world well into the future."

What other celebratory brands and/or logos stood out during 2025? Chime in and share.

SHARE THIS: Design is the silent ambassador of your brand. ~Paul Rand, designer of IBM logo #LogoDesign #DebbieLaskeysBlog

Image Credits: The Marine Mammal Center, Canine Companions, Radio City Rockettes, and Georgia Aquarium.

Learn more about the brands and their exciting milestones featured in this post:

https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/celebrating-50-years-of-the-marine-mammal-center

and

https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/timeline-of-the-marine-mammal-center

and

https://canine.org/50thanniversary/

and

https://www.rockettes.com/rockettes-100/

and

https://www.georgiaaquarium.org/celebrating-20-years/

and

https://www.friendsoffdf.org/news/

Top 10 Marketing Highlights of 2017

With 2017 now history, it's time for my annual "Top 10" marketing highlights post – incredible to believe this is my 8th annual post featuring annual marketing highlights. Without further ado, let's get to it! What campaigns were great? Which were duds? What stood out as marketing innovation, and what will go down in history as memorable as Apple's 1984 Super Bowl ad? What do you remember from the 2017 marketing reel?

With a quick nod to David Letterman for the format, here's my list:

Number 10: On January 1, 2017, residents of Los Angeles, California, were welcomed not by the well-known Hollywood sign over Hollywood, but instead, by a sign that read Hollyweed. With the legalization of recreational marijuana, some vandals thought they would play a joke on the city. Jokes of this magnitude are not funny, and law enforcement certainly didn't think so.

Number 9: In March, international brand Coca-Cola fired its chief marketing officer (CMO) and chose NOT to hire a new one. As a result, the role of the CMO was put into question not just at Coke, but at other businesses too - large and small, B2B and B2C.

According to Fergus Jarvis on Campaignlive.com, "Once upon a time, the chief marketing officer was a simple custodian of a brand. But the role is changing rapidly. Nowadays, they are more deeply involved in a business’ proposition, customer journey, technology and sales. Consequently, marketing functions face immense pressure on resources and bandwidth. But on the flip side, never before has the function been so business-critical or the CMO’s importance to the chief executive so self-evident. Ironically, while the function’s work is becoming more strategically important to the business, CMOs are running to keep up with the tactical demands of a vast and fast-changing digital landscape."

Number 8: In April, United Airlines forcefully removed a passenger from one of its airplanes, and in the modern social media and smartphone era, the violent action was taped by many passengers and picked up by major news sources. The public relations crisis that followed did nothing to restore the public's confidence in United Airlines or its personnel. According to Steve Barrett of PR Week, "Communication, especially in a service business such as an airline, starts with every member of staff that interacts with the public. You earn your reputational chops every day, from the CEO down."

Number 7: In May, after a year of working with guest hosts, Kelly Ripa of morning TV talk show fame finally welcomed a new co-host, Ryan Seacrest. The ABC morning show was quickly and seamlessly re-branded from "Live with Kelly" to "Live with Kelly and Ryan."

Number 6: In June, to celebrate the legacy of Adam West, better known by his alter ego Batman, the city of Los Angeles became Gotham City for one night, when the bat-signal was projected, aka, lit, against City Hall.

Number 5: In August, Discovery Channel's annual Shark Week launched a slew of co-branded partnerships - some more appropriate than others - that included Southwest Airlines, Oceana, Georgetown Cupcake, Lokai, Coldstone Creamery, and the National Aquarium located in Washington, D.C.

Number 4: Did you see the total solar eclipse in August? According to NASA, "Experiencing a total solar eclipse where you live happens about once in 375 years. So, unless modern medicine advances considerably in the next few years, you might not make it to the next one. The last time anyone in the United States witnessed a total solar eclipse was almost 40 years ago, on February 26, 1979. It's been even longer - 99 years - since a total solar eclipse crossed the country from the Pacific to the Atlantic. The total eclipse on June 8, 1918, passed from Washington to Florida." So, with all the buzz about the eclipse, how did brands capitalize on the buzz and also join in the fun? One brand in particular has hit a home run with its marketing campaign to promote the eclipse. For the first time, Krispy Kreme’s Original Glazed Doughnuts was "eclipsed by a mouth-watering chocolate glaze" that coincided with the solar eclipse on Monday, August 21, at participating United States shops. (Click here to read my post on the eclipse.)

Number 3: In September, Paris won the 2024 Olympics, and Los Angeles won the 2028 Olympics in an unprecedented joint decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). While the Paris logo incorporated the Eiffel Tower and was an overall good logo, the LA logo was not such a good choice. Designers explained that the setting sun was the inspiration, but it had no references to either the logo from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics or the city overall.

Number 2: Also in September, Hillary Clinton's long-awaited book entitled WHAT HAPPENED about the 2016 presidential election was released. The title could have been What Happened? or even What Happened!, but without any punctuation, the title was not as powerful as it could have been. The jury remains out about the book, and as 2017 drew to a close, Hillary's impact on the future of the Democratic party was still unclear.

And Number 1 on my 2017 Marketing Highlights List:

Drum roll please...
 
While the expected birth of Prince William's third child and Prince Harry's engagement were announced during 2017, the birth and wedding will take place during 2018, and as a result, will appear on 2018's marketing highlights list since they will have countless marketing influences on products, news, and more. However, Pantone chose to highlight the royal family and its upcoming eventful year by naming the 2018 Color of the Year as Ultra Violet, otherwise known as purple - for royalty, perhaps?

According to Pantone's website: "A dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade, PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us toward the future. As individuals around the world become more fascinated with color and realize its ability to convey deep messages and meanings, designers and brands should feel empowered to use color to inspire and influence. The Color of the Year is one moment in time that provides strategic direction for the world of trend and design, reflecting the Pantone Color Institute’s year-round work doing the same for designers and brands."

What would you add to this list? Here's to 2018 and another year of marketing highlights. Happy New Year!

Image Credit: Pantone.