Question

Topic: Branding

Can I Make A Different Logo For My Subsidiary

Posted by us.stan on 12/12/2014 at 2:21 PM ET 250 Points
I just registered a limited liability company so i am designing a logo for it, but i have registered a subsidiary company under it, should i use the same logo for the both parent company and its subsidiary? help answer this question for me please.

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  • Posted by mgoodman on 12/13/2014 at 9:05 AM Accepted
    It depends on two things: (1) The target audience and positioning benefit of the subsidiary, and (2) the communications objective of the logos, If the target audiences and/or benefit promises are very different, then you probably need separate logos.

    Why a subsidiary company? What drove you to that structure/decision?
  • Posted by telemoxie on 12/13/2014 at 9:38 AM Accepted
    I am not a branding expert, but it seems to me that logos are tied to marketing efforts and not to corporate entities.

    General Motors has a logo... and so does Chevrolet and Cadillac. And what about Procter & Gamble?

    If you are going to market the subsidiary separately (stressing different benefits or targeting a different market) it might very well make sense to have a separate logo.
  • Posted by us.stan on 12/13/2014 at 10:22 AM Author
    Thanks for your answers, I appreciate. To answer your question mgoodman why a subsidiary? What drove me to that decision? My company is into general contracts, I'm a contractor, so is a private liability limited company. I registered the company with the initials of my names. Now I want to register a subsidiary that will be creating softwares, I derived the same name of my company to form the software business name. I want to trademark the software business name that I derived from my company name and make it the face of my company with the logo that I'm creating. So that's why I asked the question if the subsidiary should have different logo than the company itself. Note I have not created a pofessional logo for my main company before so I'm creating logos professionally for the first time! us.stan@yahoo.com
  • Posted by mgoodman on 12/13/2014 at 2:12 PM Moderator
    Why does the parent company need a logo at all? What is the objective of that logo? Why not just have one logo -- the one you want customers/consumers to see and remember?
  • Posted by us.stan on 12/13/2014 at 3:01 PM Author
    Okay I should use one logo for the subsidiary, since it will be the face of the company and the one my potential customers will be dealing on. So if I'm creating business letterhead, will i use the same logo for the subsidiary or I should creat another logo for the parent company? Or everything will have to be the subsidiary?
  • Posted by us.stan on 12/13/2014 at 3:08 PM Author
    Please help me with answer to my question, Can I use 2 slogans/taglines? One for my company and one for its subsidiary?
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 12/13/2014 at 3:56 PM Accepted
    Yes - you can use multiple logos & taglines, which makes sense if each entity is conveying a different messages to different audiences.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 12/13/2014 at 4:26 PM Accepted
    "Can I use 2 slogans/taglines? One for my company and one for its subsidiary?" Yes and yes.

  • Posted by mgoodman on 12/13/2014 at 8:30 PM Moderator
    Two different logos are fine (if you really need a logo for the parent company), but it will probably confuse people if they ever see both of them together. Just show each one to the target audience for that business. If that means two different letterheads and business cards, that's fine.

    I suspect I am not fully understanding the issue. There is no requirement that every business entity has to have a logo. And if the businesses and their target audiences are different, they should have separate/different logos. I just wouldn't put two different logos on the same material. That could be confusing.

    From what you've shared so far, I still don't understand why the parent company needs a logo. What do you expect it to accomplish?
  • Posted by us.stan on 12/14/2014 at 12:56 AM Author
    Okay thank you so much mgoodman you're really a good man and have being helpful too. Theirs no specific goals that the parent company's logo will achieve! Just that I'm curious for it to have a logo since is the parent company where the subsidiary derived its name from! And the company is the one that has coroporate bank account. Do you still think I should use one official logo for the both? Or two but similar logos just like microsoft and windows logos! us.stan@yahoo.com
  • Posted by us.stan on 12/14/2014 at 1:01 AM Author
    Thank you Hamilton-Roth for your answer. Mgoodman what do you say about me having two slogans/taglines for both parent company and the subsidiary? Thank you in advance!
  • Posted by mgoodman on 12/14/2014 at 4:50 PM Moderator
    Jay Hamilton-Roth wrote: "Yes - you can use multiple logos & taglines, which makes sense if each entity is conveying a different messages to different audiences."

    I agree completely with Jay. What he didn't say explicitly is that you don't HAVE to have logos and taglines for both companies. If, as you say, there is no purpose for a logo for the parent company then why spend time, effort and money developing one. Anyone who sees both logos is likely to be confused.

    The fact that the parent company has the bank account is irrelevant. Your bank could care less whether you have a logo or not.

    In legal documents you might want to spell out the relationship like this: ABC Construction LLC d/b/a ABC Construction Software. Then anyone with whom you are dealing understands that there is a relationship or correspondence between the two entities. You certainly don't NEED two logos, even if it's OK to have them.

    And if you do have two logos make sure they don't appear together on any materials facing your target audience. That could be confusing.

  • Posted by us.stan on 12/15/2014 at 12:47 AM Author
    Thank you so very much Mgoodman, you're wonderful. Thanks Jay & gary I appreciate.
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 12/15/2014 at 1:07 PM Accepted
    You definiteness can have different logos. Even different names.

    I consulted with a company who had one business, which they had set up as an LLC corporation, I was working to start a new business for them, only partially related to the old. Rather than create a new business, they set this up as a business wholly owned by the LLC. But the business had a different name, logo, tagline, web site, etc. A person looking at the new company would not see any connection to the parent LLC.

    If there is a benefit to using the same or similar logos, then by all means do so. but if no benefit, then you don;t have to. And if it would confuse things, use different logos.
  • Posted by logozaur on 12/15/2014 at 11:46 PM Accepted
    Look at VW in US: they established themselves as a company who makes an affordable and good car: the beetle. When they introduced cars for the upper class they didn't have the same success.
    On the other hand, Toyota, when they wanted to introduce luxury cars they gave it another brand: Lexus. Even if everybody knows is basically the same company, the branding makes a difference.
    So if you have different target audiences you should make 2 brands.
  • Posted by us.stan on 12/16/2014 at 12:54 AM Author
    Thanks for your response peter and logozaur
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