SEATTLE--Jan. 25, 2000--Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN) today introduced a new company logo designed to better communicate what customers have come to expect at Amazon.com -- a great shopping experience and Earth's Biggest Selection.
Only four-and-a-half years after it opened its virtual doors, Amazon.com has become the most widely recognized e-commerce brand in the United States, as rated by online shoppers in a nationwide survey by Opinion Research Corporation. Some 117.8 million adults, or 60 percent of the adult population in the U.S., recognize the Amazon.com brand, according to the survey. In addition, Amazon.com was ranked the 57th most valuable brand worldwide, ahead of Hilton, Guinness, and Marriott, in a June study of global brands by Interbrand Newell and Sorrell.
To reflect Amazon.com's brand and its relationship with its more than 16 million customers better, the familiar logo was changed to communicate the company's mission of being the most customer-centric company in the world, most notably by depicting the ultimate expression of customer satisfaction: a smile. Instead of a downward curve underlining amazon.com, a smile now begins under the a and ends with a dimple under the z, emphasizing that Amazon.com offers anything, from A to Z, that customers may be looking to buy online. With the capability of animation, a welcoming and friendlier logo will now greet existing and new customers at Amazon.com.
"In a very short period of time, Amazon.com has become one of the world's most recognized brands," said Jaleh Bisharat, vice president, marketing, Amazon.com. "We updated our logo to match the vitality of the brand and to reflect our most important core value -- customer satisfaction. We believe the new logo exudes happiness, is fresh and unique, and has the potential, over time, to join the world's great consumer marks."
In just over 18 months, Amazon.com has grown from selling primarily books to selling CDs, toys, electronics, videos, DVDs, home improvement products, software, and video games. The company has also launched e-cards, Auctions, and zShops. The A-to-Z emphasis in the new logo communicates this expanded selection.
About Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com (Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries) is the Internet's No. 1 music, No. 1 DVD and video, and No. 1 book retailer. Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection, along with online auctions and free electronic greeting cards. Amazon.com lists more than 18 million unique items in categories including books, CDs, toys, electronics, videos, DVDs, home improvement products, software, and video games. Through Amazon.com zShops, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com's more than 16 million customers, and with Amazon.com Payments, any seller can accept credit card transactions, avoiding the hassles of offline payments.
Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they may want to buy online. Amazon.com's All Product Search scours the Web to help customers find merchandise that is not available at Amazon.com, Amazon.com Auctions, or Amazon.com zShops, making Amazon.com the shopping destination to find anything.
Amazon.com operates two international Web sites: www.amazon.co.uk in the United Kingdom and www.amazon.de in Germany. Amazon.com also operates PlanetAll (www.planetall.com), a Web-based address book, calendar, and reminder service. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 150,000 movies and entertainment programs and 500,000 cast and crew members dating from the birth of film in 1892 to the present. Amazon.com also operates Amazon.com LiveBid Auctions (http://livebid.amazon.com), the leading provider of live-event auctions on the Internet.
Amazon.com has invested in leading Internet retailers that are improving the lives of customers by making shopping easier and more convenient: drugstore.com, an online retail and information source for health, beauty, wellness, personal care and pharmacy, at www.drugstore.com; Pets.com, the online leader for pet products, expert information, and services, at www.pets.com; HomeGrocer.com, the first fully integrated Internet grocery-shopping and home-delivery service -- with operations in Seattle; Portland, Oregon; and Southern California -- at www.homegrocer.com; Gear.com, which offers brand-name sporting goods at prices from 20 to 90 percent off retail, at www.gear.com; and Ashford.com (Nasdaq:ASFD), the leading Internet retailer of luxury and premium products and the Web's No. 1 retailer of watches and jewelry, at www.ashford.com. Amazon.com also has a minority interest in Della.com, which brings together leading retailers with gift registry, expert advice, and personalized gift suggestions to help everyone give better gifts, at www.della.com; and NextCard, Inc., considered the industry's leading issuer of consumer credit on the Internet, at www.nextcard.com.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's limited operating history, anticipated losses, unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results, seasonality, consumer trends, competition, risk of distribution center expansion, risks related to fourth quarter performance, risks of system interruption, management of potential growth, risks related to auction and zShops services, risks related to fraud and Amazon.com Payments, and risks of new business areas, international expansion, business combinations, and strategic alliances. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 1999, June 30, 1999, and September 30, 1999.
Editor's Note: Please contact Shelley Diamond at 206/266-7180 or shelleyd@amazon.com for digital copies of the new logo.