Arsenal, Man City, Man United, Tottenham and the SFA all chaged their crests recently to "modernise". This was also done to ensure copyright and that the new badge was completely owned by the club. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't part of the reasoning for the change. Especially after Ashley and SD owned the rights to the badge for a while.
Also, the badge has changed several times over the years, so its not a surprise we have "re-branded". This will also be matched in the stadium, the media, merchandise, etc.. so there will be major investment involved with this.
Personally, I'm not an instant fan of it, but hopefully it will grow on me.