History: Development of corporate and brand logos
Red Frog and Green Frog
Where does the frog prince come from? Werner & Mertz has been around for more than 150 years. The company was founded in 1867 as the wax wares factory “Gebrüder Werner” in Mainz on the Rhine. For more than 100 years we have remained loyal to the crowned frog as our brand and company logo.
As early as 1903 the frog adorned the shoe care products from our company. It all began in 1901 with the development of a completely new type of shoe polish based on wax. The Erdal brand was known for first-class quality in the practical metal tin. At that time it was customary to link the wordmark with an eye-catching symbol. The well-known and popular fairy tale figure of the Frog Prince was chosen.
Red frog as Werner & Mertz corporate symbol
At first the frog prince was a life-like green. That changed some years later. Because raw materials were not available during World War 1, companies were forced to deliver substitute goods. After the war when it was again possible to deliver goods in their original quality, management thought that products with the green frog had become discredited. So in 1918, the color of the brand logo was changed to red. A complete success! Since then the red frog has accompanied us—first only as the Erdal logo and then later as the Werner & Mertz company logo.
Originally depicted as somewhat grumpy, the figure learned over time how to smile. With precision work and lots of attention to detail, the company developed the image into our well-known red frog. One of the details is the frog’s sloped backside. Without it, the frog sat as if cemented in place. That relatively small change puts motion into the figure. As the main design element of all Erdal products, this logo has stood for brand quality from Werner & Mertz since 1971 and today stands for the entire company and all its brands.
Frosch, The Trusted Brand
In 1986 the brand family grew with the addition of the green frog. The frog called “Frosch” soon became known for its ecological cleaning products and laundry detergents and developed into a genuinely green trusted brand. Since 1986, the brand logo has remained unchanged—a smiling, optimistic-looking green frog.
