The last time Walmart refreshed its brand, the Great Recession was already foreseeable, the iPhone was only a year old, and the retailer’s official name was still separated by a hyphen. On Monday (January 13), the big box store unveiled the latest update to its visual identity, designed to reflect the growing role that digital and cross-channel capabilities play in an industry whose composition has been transformed by technology over the last two decades.

“It’s more about aligning the visual expression with how the brand has evolved since 2008,” David Hartman, Walmart’s vice president of creativity, said of the changes. “In a more practical sense, this means we are truly establishing ourselves as an omnichannel retailer rather than just a brick-and-mortar retailer, able to serve the customer wherever and however they want to experience the brand.”

The 2025 update includes bolder yellows and blues (technically True Blue and Spark Yellow), greater emphasis on the sunlit “Spark” symbol that Walmart introduced in 2008, and a new wordmark reminiscent of a wordmark that Company founder Sam Walton can be found on a frequently worn trucker hat, including on the cover of his book “Made in America”. Walton’s nod was inspired by Hartman’s team at the Walmart Creative Studio, which delved deep into the company’s archives to find something that could connect the legacy with the brand’s current vision. The new typography is a custom design based on the Antique Olive font, which Walmart calls Everyday Sans.

“There’s a great, unique origin story about this font, its roots in our past and how we move it forward to represent the brand where it is today,” Hartman said.

The Walmart spark appears to be largely the same as before, but will play a different role in branding, with more separation from the Walmart name on assets like storefronts. According to Hartman, this move is intended to reinforce the logo’s status as a standalone symbol that can strengthen Walmart’s brand equity. Other retailers have created simple visual shorthand for their brands, such as Target’s bullseye or Amazon’s smile.

Jones Knowles Ritchie helped revamp Walmart’s brand identity, while Landor served as a partner on aspects such as store execution. Publicis Groupe takes over the core services in the areas of marketing and advertising.

Digital-first evolution

While Walmart’s redesign may be less dramatic than some previous tweaks, such as ditching the hyphen and bowing to the spark, it suggests changing priorities for a company traditionally known for sprawling superstores.

“It’s not a complete reinvention of the Walmart identity. It’s more of an evolution than a revolution,” Hartman said.

Walmart’s focus on digital has accelerated since it launched membership service Walmart+ in 2020, a response to Amazon, and consumers’ increasing turn to online shopping has supported the company’s greater push into areas such as advertising sales .

Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce sales rose 22% in the third quarter of fiscal 2025, continuing a rise that has stunned investors. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is a saying that could apply to brand marketing generally, but the company still saw aspects of its appearance where modernization was important and spent the last year making those changes should look like.

In a press statement, Walmart US CMO William White described the goal of becoming an “inspiring, digital retailer,” and the comments were repeated elsewhere in the update announcement.

“The updated brand identity will help Walmart build credibility and connections, be known for its convenient digital-first services, and be perceived as a more modern, culturally dynamic brand,” said a press release.

Competing for liveliness

In brick-and-mortar stores, Walmart is introducing full-color illustrated murals in stores to give customers a sense of storytelling and make it easier for them to navigate different departments – a departure from a previous system that relied on symbols and lines. Some of these elements have been present at Walmart’s experimental store 4108 in Springdale, Arkansas since October, but will be rolled out more widely in the coming months.

“We have heard from customers who shop at this (4108) store and the store associates that it has really helped improve the overall customer experience,” Hartman said. “Customers describe it as having a warmer, more welcoming feeling when they enter the store.”

The move toward more elaborate, brighter images is part of a larger industry shift away from the minimalism that underpinned many branding efforts in the 2010s. For a 2023 rebrand, Pepsi introduced electric blues and deeper blacks, a different wordmark, and decorative packaging that moved away from an earlier focus on simplicity.