We’ve said it before, having a great product or service isn’t necessarily enough. In the digital age, competition is becoming more and more fierce in industries across the board. In order to stand out, your company needs a great brand behind your product or service to be competitive and that usually begins with a logo. How does a professional logo positively impact a business?
An effective logo:
- Helps define a brand
- Lends credibility
- Tells a story
- Builds brand equity
- Raises awareness
- Increases recognition
- Builds brand loyalty
- Instills pride
- Inspires trust
So without a doubt, an effective logo is certainly not worthless to a brand. It’s an important investment that should not be taken lightly. So where do great logos come from, how do they happen and how much do they cost?
It’s true that many companies pay thousands if not hundreds of millions of dollars for their logo design. For example, Accenture paid a whopping $100 million for their logo identity in 2000. However, did you know Coca-cola and Google didn’t pay a dime? Others like Nike and Twitter paid next to nothing for their logos and yet are among some of the most iconic logos today.
So what do you do? We’ll admit, most companies don’t have $100 million dollars to put towards a logo, or even a fraction of that. The good news is, great logos are not determined by their price tag. But take it easy, this doesn’t mean you should visit ”Logos R’ Us” and by the first logo you see for $20 either.
In a sense, a logo can be thought of like a tattoo. You get what you pay for. You can either go into a tattoo shop and point at the first generic dolphin design on a wall because you like how it looks. It’s not unique nor does it hold any special meaning, but it looks nice. Conversely, you can ask for something that’s well thought out, has meaning, evokes emotion and is a one-of-a-kind work of art. Like a properly designed tattoo, a great logo will stand the test of time and be appreciated for years — not to mention it will also be difficult to remove (in this case from the minds of your customers).
Bottom line: great logos have purpose and meaning. They take time, thought, creativity and skill to develop and perfect. Before a logo begins on paper, it begins with asking questions and understanding a company at every level. There’s competitive benchmarking and industry research. Then there’s conceptualizing — translating the key findings from research and interviews visually into a logo that will have impact in the market. Then we reflect and we let our ideas mature. We discuss. We refine. We ask why — and why not. Then we select the best options that we feel could best serve the client. Only then do we present — and it often doesn’t end there.
While we’re typically pretty close to the final solution at our first presentation, the process often requires additional time for ample discussion, modification and further review before the final logo is fully realized. It’s both an art and a science, not something that can be added to a shopping cart. It’s a discovery process. It’s finding out the who, what and why your brand is in business and creating a visual summary of what you stand for.
Are you ready to discover your brand? Start a conversation with us here.
Catch up on the other myths we’ve busted so far part of our summer blog series: The 10 Myths of Branding by visiting its portal here.
