Driving Intelligent Operations So Organizations Can Be Better Every Day

Today is an important day for Zebra as the company unveils its brand refresh. While our logo hasn’t changed, our new brand platform, “Better Every Day” represents a strategic evolution and tighter alignment with modern technology trends which recognize the impact that automation and AI are having on frontline workflows.

This refresh combines new positioning, messaging and a bold visual identity to highlight Zebra’s role as the foundation for intelligent operations. What are intelligent operations, you may ask?  Intelligent operations integrate advanced technologies like AI, automation, and data with human expertise to optimize business processes.

The Zebra Blog team recently spoke with Zebra Chief Marketing Officer, Rob Armstrong to learn more about how this brand refresh came to life.

Zebra Blog team: It’s an exciting day for Zebra as we share our brand refresh with the world. Why is this an important moment for the company?

Rob: Zebra has evolved substantially over our 55+ year history. Over the last decade alone, we have transformed from a “printer” company to the undisputed leader in AIDC (automatic identification and data capture) to now being the foundation for intelligent operations. Today, we offer a broad portfolio of automation, asset visibility and connected frontline solutions for organizations of all sizes around the world who count on us to deliver immediate outcomes and innovate for what’s next.

Zebra isn’t just about capturing, analyzing and mobilizing data. Instead, Zebra is truly changing how work gets done on the frontline of business. Our brand refresh is all about ensuring our identity reflects our role in enabling intelligent operations where people, technology, and workflows come together seamlessly to create new ways of working that drive efficiency and growth for the organizations we serve, while also improving everyday life for all of those around us.

This moment is pivotal because businesses across many industries are navigating unprecedented challenges, from labor shortages to increasing customer expectations. Our goal is to further raise the awareness of how Zebra empowers organizations to simplify complexity and thrive amid rapid change with much more than just hardware, fully leveraging our powerful portfolio of solutions, software, AI, services, automation systems and more.

Zebra Blog team: How does the new brand platform reflect Zebra’s broader vision and commitment?

Rob: The heart of our new brand platform lies in the goal of being "Better Every Day." It’s not just a tagline; it’s a philosophy that reflects our commitment to helping customers optimize workflows, harness real-time data, and unlock the power of automation and AI to continuously improve.

It’s become so expected and typical in the B2B technology sector to talk almost exclusively about “the future,” and while it is important for every brand to have a point of view on where the world is headed, it’s even more important for every brand to be able to deliver real outcomes today while investing for the future. We fundamentally believe the future is achieved by stringing together tangible improvements that are made over time through relentless commitment toward “better” and dedication to relentless innovation.

When we talk to our customers and partners about what they appreciate the most about Zebra and about what they are most concerned about in their jobs, we hear two things that really stand out:

- They really appreciate how committed and reliable Zebras are (along with our products and services) to their success, day-in and day-out. While there are some newcomers in our industry with narrow portfolios, and others who have been here for a while but are struggling and therefore reconsidering their commitment to this category, we are “all in” and continue to innovate and invest, as evidenced in our announced acquisitions this year of Photoneo and Elo Touch and our launch of Zebra Companion. 

- Our customers aren’t comfortable betting their careers on big transformative projects with promises of results in the distant future but with significant disruption or delays in the near term. By and large, our customers are senior decision-makers in IT and operations across the end-to-end supply chain and mission-critical industries like healthcare and the public sector. What do companies and senior executives in these industries hate? They hate assuming significant risk for delayed returns. 

When organizations need to deliver real results today and evolve for tomorrow, Zebra is there to power workflow transformation to elevate outcomes on the frontline and beyond.  This is why we’ve introduced industry-specific frameworks like the Modern Store and the Connected Factory, meeting customers in these industries where they are and providing a roadmap for how they can improve operationally over time instead of relying on “big bang” promises of transformation in an undefined future.  

For example, the Zebra study with Oxford Economics titled, “Impact of Intelligent Operations” unveiled today highlights that industries like retail, manufacturing, and transportation and logistics (T&L) cite significant productivity gains, up to 21% in some cases, by digitizing and automating their highest-priority frontline workflows. These results validate our belief that modernizing operations isn’t about a one-time transformation. It’s about embedding continuous improvement into daily processes.

Zebra Blog team: What role did customer feedback and industry research play in shaping Zebra’s brand refresh?

Rob: Our customer insights were foundational. Our study provides a treasure trove of data about how organizations are leveraging automation, AI, and real-time visibility to improve their operations.

For example, we found that retailers optimizing inventory workflows reported a 21% improvement in customer satisfaction, while manufacturers optimizing their top workflow of quality control and assurance saw revenue growth uplift by 2.4 percentage points and profitability improvements of 1.4 percentage points. Meanwhile, T&L firms that optimized key delivery and inventory workflows experienced a revenue growth increase of up to 3.4 percentage points and similar profitability increases. This research confirmed the tangible impact of intelligent operations and many areas where our solutions add the most value.

Additionally, we want to elevate our brand visibility and preference across industries. We know from our research how well-known Zebra is today, and how we are perceived across personas and end markets. With a strong foundation in place, we can invest in targeted ways to fuel growth in our brand awareness and our business results in the segments where we have the greatest opportunity for growth.

Zebra Blog team: The phrase “intelligent operations” has been central to the refresh. Could you elaborate on its significance?

Rob: Intelligent operations represent the convergence of advanced technology, data, and human expertise to optimize workflows and deliver tangible outcomes. It’s about moving beyond traditional approaches to create systems – alongside people – that are adaptable, automated, and insight driven.  Technology is only as good as the impact it has in the real world, and the best systems will fall flat if they aren’t thoughtfully integrated into operational processes in a way that creates durable competitive advantage. 

Case in point: you don’t have to look any further than the opportunity to align IT and OT within the manufacturing sector to know that those who get this right will win in the market.

Our study revealed that companies adopting intelligent operations report higher revenue growth and profitability. For instance, T&L firms optimizing delivery workflows achieved revenue growth increases of up to 3.4% percentage points. These results underscore how rethinking processes at the workflow level can drive enterprise-wide improvements.

Whether it’s a nurse at a patient’s bedside or a production manager optimizing quality and throughput on a manufacturing line, operations leaders (and their teams) count on Zebra’s solutions every day to get things done. Our new brand platform reflects how technology empowers people on the frontline to work smarter and deliver better outcomes in ways that are highly reliable, uniquely innovative, and easily scalable. 

Zebra Blog team: What challenges did you encounter during the brand refresh process, and how did you address them?

Rob: The biggest challenge was ensuring the refresh wasn’t just cosmetic. We didn’t want to limit ourselves to updating visuals and messaging. We aimed to redefine how we communicate our strategy, our purpose and our values. This required collaboration across teams, from marketing to human resources to corporate strategy to product development and others. Anything as subjective as a brand can be challenging to get so many people aligned on a single answer, but it’s a necessary and worthwhile undertaking. Once we shared our rationale, our research and our proposal, things went smoothly with strong cross-functional support.

Another challenge was ensuring consistency and applicability across diverse markets. With operations in more than 100 countries across a multitude of vertical markets leveraging an extremely broad portfolio, it was vital to create a unified brand platform while allowing for localization as well as personalization into different business units and industry segments. I’m extremely proud of how we were able to achieve this as a marketing team and as a business.

The final challenge was just one of timing. We kicked off the project at the beginning of 2024, so just managing the scope and scale of the project during a period of significant market uncertainty and keeping everything on track (and under wraps) over such a long period of time to allow for proper change management and market testing was a real test of our patience and commitment to our vision. So, I can’t overstate how glad I am that we are finally at this point where we get to launch the refreshed Zebra brand into the market!

Zebra Blog team: How has the market responded to the refresh so far?

Rob: The response from those who had a “sneak peek” has been overwhelmingly positive. Customers have shared that the new brand platform resonates with their challenges and aspirations, and that it “rings true” for who they know Zebra to be and where they know we are going (with their support and encouragement) in the future.

Our partners have also embraced the refresh, as it provides a clearer framework to communicate the value of our combined offerings impacting frontline operations every day.  Some of the partners on our advisory council had input and helped shape our new brand, so it’s exciting to see it come full circle.

Internally, our employees are excited to see our purpose and values come to life. The brand refresh has been a unifying force, further enhancing our strong culture and reinforcing our shared purpose to create new ways of working for those we serve.  We now look like and sound like no one else – breaking out from the perpetual “sea of sameness” that is so dangerous to fall into in B2B marketing – and there is real pride in being distinctive. We’re Zebras after all!

Zebra Blog team: How does the refreshed brand prepare Zebra for the future?

Rob: Our new brand platform better positions us to lead the conversation about how digitization, automation and intelligence (both real and artificial) are shaping how work gets done on the frontline, both now and into the future. As industries continue to evolve, our focus will be on enabling organizations globally to adapt and thrive through better workflows, smarter decisions, and continuous improvement. That’s the whole idea behind “intelligent operations” and “better every day” and the uniquely powerful role that Zebra plays at the intersection between them.

It’s important to note that our brand isn’t static; it’s a living, evolving entity. This brand refresh is just the beginning, and we’re excited to see how it expands our opportunities to work even closer with our current customers and partners as well as new organizations for years to come.

Learn more about Zebra’s new brand platform, “Better Every Day” by clicking here.